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Windows 10 Controller

colinbowern
Userlevel 5
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Do you have plans to ship a Windows 10 Store app which can be used from multiple Windows devices (PC, Phone, Xbox) to control the Sonos experience?

We are a Windows household and the desktop controller that exists for PC today is heavy and not very touch friendly. The third party Windows Phone app, Phonos, is fills a void, but not nearly as feature rich as the Android or iOS app. This has been requested for several years (https://en.community.sonos.com/controllers-software-228995/support-windows-8-rt-for-surface-tablet-and-windows-phone-8-for-mobile-devices-4593709) and the product management team does not address this gap beyond a blanket we have no news statement. I understand that choices have to be made. If you do not plan to address this in the net 12 months then can you at least make your API public with your apps being first and best examples of how to use that API so others can fill the gap for you?

Instead of a lot of "+1" and "me too" threads please show your support by voting on the poll below so we can get a count of the number of people who are interested in a Windows 10 app.
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Best answer by Kenneth R 15 April 2016, 19:05

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Would you use a Windows 10 Sonos controller app?

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411 replies

L
Userlevel 3
Badge +1
Windows Mobile has a market share of 2-3 %, according to http://www.idc.com/prodserv/smartphone-os-market-share.jsp . It is not very economical to create a Sonos client for such a small minority. As Windows Mobile user, you should be aware of that and should have been aware before you purchased such a device.
Always these market share discussions. These are statistics. Nothing more. Are they really relevant for Sonos?
First of all your statistics show only the worldwide average. In Europe for example you can find a market share above 10% for windows phones:
http://www.kantarworldpanel.com/global/smartphone-os-market-share/

Second. The potential clients for Sonos. The high market share of Android phones is mainly due to low budget phones. I think we can say that the potential Sonos clients would invest in a high-end or at least mid-range phone.
Just a calculation example with stats from the play store. Comparing one of most used apps (whatsapp) against the Sonos app.
Whatsapp: 1-5 billion downloads
Sonos: 1-5 million downloads
Assuming that all android users use whatsapp (which is surely not the case), results in 0.1 % sonos customers over all Android users.
As no download stats are available from the appstore i cannot do the same comparison, but i guess the sonos customers % over all ios users is higher.
Market share stats might be interesting, but they do not mean much for a specific app.

Sonos wants to sell a product. And if they do only offer to control it via an app, it is up to them to assure that every potential customer is able to use their products. You cannot expect, that the customer is adapting to fit into Sonos requirements. This is not customer friendly. This would be different if they would still offer the Sonos control. But they don't.
The 2000 votes from the former ask sonos topic for a windows phone app show already that there was a big interest in this app. It was the most requested feature since 3 years, followed by the request for an windows 8 app.

Anyhow we've seen that they had an app in pipeline for windows phone 8.1. But for whatever reason it has not been released.

The constant ignoring of this topic from sonos side shows only one thing. They give a sh** on their customers.

In this context i would like to quote from the Sonos website:
At Sonos we're committed to providing a ridiculously high level of service to all of our customers [...]


I do not want to know what it would look like if they would invest less in their customers...
E
Userlevel 2
It is about time that a universal app is developed. It is time to drop the old windows app and move across. As the original post stated write once and run in multiple places. This would even give the 10 ft UI other threads have asked for.
LocoMortis
Userlevel 1
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Maybe the whole situation will change with Windows 10, I would not yet count on it.


It would make perfect sense for Sonos to make an Universal App for Windows. They could reach Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows Phone and Xbox with a single app.
S
Userlevel 1
Amazing that the most installed OS in the world (see Gartner) has little support from vendors like Sonos, anything but windows mentality, ignoring the fact that it's used by millions and with Windows 10 and the unified app you'd think they'd cotton on that this is the future. Get a shift on Sonos and get an app out!
M
Userlevel 2
Market share has already surpassed Mac OS users actually (I also have a Mac in addition to multiple Windows 10 devices). It has also surpassed Vista and Windows 8 users as well I believe.
Chris
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
There have been many requests for a Windows Metro controller. There is a very long thread here on the subject.

Everyone was expecting a Windows10 controller around the launch (there were some screenshots of developer version). I guess still expected although Sonos won't confirm. I believe there are several 3rd party ones.
Respect the Queue (1)Move (2)Beam (1)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1)Connect:Amp (3)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings
D
Just got my Microsoft Lumia 950XL. One of the few apps that is missing is the Sonos app... Currently using Phonos, but it doesn't offer the great user experience of the regular Sonos app.

Indeed, a Universal Win10 app would make a lot of sense. Hoping that Sonos comes up with one soon!
Kenneth R
Userlevel 5
Badge +2
Some of you have been asking about a native Windows Phone controller app for Sonos, and we’ve been slow to provide a clear answer. We’re sorry about that. The truth of the matter is that up until now we’ve been unclear internally on this very question. In fact, it’s been the source of many passionate debates because we recognize that some Sonos owners are also Windows Phone users.

In the end, however, we’ve made a decision that Sonos is not going to build a Windows Phone 8 app nor are we planning to build a Windows 10 “universal” app. We’ll of course continue to support the Windows desktop controller. We’re big fans of the work Microsoft is doing across many areas, including mobile, voice control, AI, VR and of course the Groove music service, available on Sonos.

We know this is super frustrating for Windows Phone owners anxious for more native apps on the platform, but like other companies we've had to place our bets. Our focus right now is on Voice and Paid Streaming Services, and we’re exploring quite a few innovative ways to experience and control your music – on your device and off.

We’ll be sure to keep this group informed of our progress.

Thanks,
Kenneth
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D
Userlevel 1
What do you think you are doing ?!?! Soon 300 MILLION Windows devices and you do not intend to make a decent Windows app?? The current UI is totally outdated. Just try to finetune the volume on a touchscreen display, Close to impossible!!

Give Windows 10 Mobile a try and see that this by definition outperformes Android and Ios and will definetely be growing.

Not to mention the fact that by building a universal app you only have to do it once to support both Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile....

SONOOOOOOOS WAKE UP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
R
When will Sonos release a Windows 10 app?
D
Userlevel 1
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Ryan, your response is the typical canned gibberish that I have learnt to expect from Sonos, it's ineffective and shows the lack of commitment your organization has to a loyal customer base. Your windows desktop client is archaic and in my case non functional. This response "We make sure to pass on the interest to our project management teams too" is infuriating, for years its a canned response to an obviously ineffective program management team who have chose to ignore Windows. The fact that you offer an iOS or Android App is of no interest to me, I use Windows.

Sonos wake up, listen to your customers.
Sam Goddard
Userlevel 3
Badge +1
Hi guys. It's all the more frustrating because it's so easy to port the app from iOS! Tell you what Sonos. You give me the source code and I'll have it ported in a few days.
L
Userlevel 3
Badge +1
Lieing to a customer would be saying they would support windows mobile and not. Sonos has never implored they were in anything I have seen.
Oh they haven't? And how would you call this:

All, It's been a little while since our last update and we know that many of you are keen to learn more about the direction of this request. In short, the direction we're headed in is a good one, but we're not yet ready to share any details at this time. Until we have more to share, we're going to keep this topic marked as Under Consideration. Thank you for your continued support and for sharing your comments with us.
https://en.community.sonos.com/controllers-software-228995/support-windows-8-rt-for-surface-tablet-and-windows-phone-8-for-mobile-devices-4593709/index12.html#post12440442

As indicated in the last official response, we're headed in a good direction but not ready to share any specific details about a Windows Phone or Surface RT control app yet.
https://en.community.sonos.com/controllers-software-228995/support-windows-8-rt-for-surface-tablet-and-windows-phone-8-for-mobile-devices-4593709/index13.html#post12653204

We're not in a position in the moment to go into that much detail about our internal process but we understand the request for more communication. As remarked earlier in the topic history, we're positive about the future but not ready to share any detail at this time.
https://en.community.sonos.com/controllers-software-228995/support-windows-8-rt-for-surface-tablet-and-windows-phone-8-for-mobile-devices-4593709/index13.html#post12653227

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your continued feedback and ideas regarding a Windows Phone controller for Sonos. We’re listening to your suggestions and will be looking for some more detailed feedback on how you use Windows Phone in your home soon.

We don’t have any updates or details to share at this time, and the request will continue to be marked as Under Consideration, but please keep an eye on this space in the near future.
https://en.community.sonos.com/controllers-software-228995/support-windows-8-rt-for-surface-tablet-and-windows-phone-8-for-mobile-devices-4593709/index29.html#post13891817


This was 1 to 2 years ago. Doesn't sound like a no? It's more like we have something in development and are happy to tell you in near future more details about it? We all know that this didn't happen. Instead we got this a few month later:


We’ve created a brief survey which has some questions on what Windows Phone you currently use, what Sonos components you have, and what features are important to you. When you have a few minutes, we’d appreciate any feedback you can provide us via the survey.

You can take it by following this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/AskSonosWindowsPhone
https://en.community.sonos.com/controllers-software-228995/support-windows-8-rt-for-surface-tablet-and-windows-phone-8-for-mobile-devices-4593709/index30.html#post13959538

and then finally

We know this is a highly requested feature and that many of you are hoping to hear an acknowledgement from us on potential plans.

We have no news to share with you about support for Windows Phone on Sonos at this time, and do not expect to have an update in the near future. We are always testing ways to improve your experience with Sonos, and while we do not comment on what we're working on, this group will be among the first to know when we have more to share on this topic. Thank you for sharing your comments with us and we hope you'll continue to do so in the future.
https://en.community.sonos.com/controllers-software-228995/support-windows-8-rt-for-surface-tablet-and-windows-phone-8-for-mobile-devices-4593709/index37.html#post15343854

So tell me is this lying? Manipulating customers? in any case this is not how a professional company should treat their customers. They marked the former topic as under consideration, told us that they are on a good way and positive for the future. They created a survey showing furthermore their interest in the windows phone customers. And based on this i have bought a sonos system, assuming it will only be a short time the app will be released.
Well i was wrong. and a few month later sonos stated there is nothing and there won't be anything in the near future.
So maybe they did not lie directely, but they did their best to keep the windows phone customers believing in a short time app release. And that's what I Sonos blame for. A clear yes or no would have been far better. We know they are able to do so, as they did it for dts support.

and to Ryan S.
Yes there are controllers from other companys. But they are not free and also limited in functionality, compared to the official apps. So double penality for using an os your company doesn't want to support? Are you going to refund at least the price we spent for these apps? Shouldn't be that much, following the statistics of some of your fans here.
U
I stopped buying Sonos products about 1.5 years ago because of their lack of Windows support. I even wrote the company a letter stating my reasons, foolishly thinking it would somehow matter. It's very disappointing watching a company ignore users like me. My wife and I are somewhat platform agnostic. We have kindles, android phones and devices, iPhones, etc., and while we can use our surfaces to access Sonos through the desktop app, touch would be much better, I was hoping that windows 10 would finally usher in an touch friendly app. Ultimately, I voted with my wallet 1.5 years ago. I still have my Sonos devices and do enjoy them. But I have not purchased any more. There have been at least three times where I have chosen not to give a play3 or a play1 as presents to family.

I can't help but see Sonos' decision as some bias against MS products. They appear eager to service Apple products and I wasn't too surprised to see them eagerly work with the apple watch, despite whatever reason may be plausible for facilitating that. As others have said, there have been hundreds of posts over many years by windows users expressing a desire for a windows touch based app. Yet, Sonos just gives what in my opinion is some BS answer about not commenting on products in development. It's clear that many users want it. It's also (becoming) clear that Sonos isn't serious about meeting this desire. So, for now, I continue voting against Sonos by not buying any more of their products.
Thunderbyte
Userlevel 3
Badge +1
Windows Mobile has a market share of 2-3 %, according to http://www.idc.com/prodserv/smartphone-os-market-share.jsp . It is not very economical to create a Sonos client for such a small minority. As Windows Mobile user, you should be aware of that and should have been aware before you purchased such a device.

Improving the Android and iOS client will reach way more people than a Windows client.

On your desktop you can use the desktop controller. Touchscreen Windows devices are still a minority as well, albeit possibly rising in number.

Maybe the whole situation will change with Windows 10, I would not yet count on it.

28 Votes? Sonos is not going to write an app for 28 votes. Come on people if you really want the app then you have to do something about it.
VOTE!!!!

Oh! Seems you found all the 28 people using Windows mobile! Congrats! 😉
1 Playbar | 1 Sub | 2x Play:5 | 1x Play:3 | 2x Play:1 | 1x Sonos One
D
Userlevel 1
Windows Mobile has a market share of 2-3 %, according to http://www.idc.com/prodserv/smartphone-os-market-share.jsp . It is not very economical to create a Sonos client for such a small minority. As Windows Mobile user, you should be aware of that and should have been aware before you purchased such a device.

Improving the Android and iOS client will reach way more people than a Windows client.

On your desktop you can use the desktop controller. Touchscreen Windows devices are still a minority as well, albeit possibly rising in number.

Surely there should only be android controllers based on this assumption then as IoS accounts for a tiny % of shipments too....

Maybe the whole situation will change with Windows 10, I would not yet count on it.

28 Votes? Sonos is not going to write an app for 28 votes. Come on people if you really want the app then you have to do something about it.
VOTE!!!!

Oh! Seems you found all the 28 people using Windows mobile! Congrats! ;)

Get your facts together !!! By making a Universal Windows App, they get both Windows AND Windows Mobile.... Combined still easily the nunber ONE OS worldwide !!
L
Thank you for finally answering this question. I now know to leave sonos behind, sadly. I have loved my sonos system but it's clear you are moving in a direction that doesn't value customers like myself. I have used the windows desktop controller on a windows 10 tablet and the touch experience is terrible compared to the touch-specific controllers for other platforms. It's clear that Sonos is on the decline as a company and I can't continue to buy expensive hardware from a company that I don't have confidence in.
B
Userlevel 1
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I think Thunderbyte you are missing the point made by the original poster. He was referring to a Windows 10 app. This would then be available to desktop, tablet, Xbox and mobile. It would be the same app for each as, with the exception of XBOX, they run the same operating system. Xbox uses HYPER-V which is part of their Server technology so presumably they have virtualised the environment. In fact soon users will be able to stream content including games to windows 10 machines from an XBOX. This is an interesting point as the hardware on phones has caught up recently meaning that users running windows 10 on their phone will be able to connect a mouse, keyboard and monitor and use it as a desktop PC. So any discussion should be related to the OS as the lines are now becoming a little blurred, especially with Continuum allowing users to continue where they left off on any device running windows 10.

Of course win10 mobile has not yet been released but whether it is successful or not is probably down to Samsung...
R
Many folks posting replies here... are going "off-topic" (topic is Windows 10 Sonos Controller...which focuses on needs for desktop/laptop controller in Windows 10 OS environment). Comments about Windows phone, iOS, Android ... while interesting and even insightful... are "off-topic". We need a Windows 10 Sonos Controller app... and the PC market is HUGE for that set of users.

As soon as Sonos notifies me they have finally "woken-up" and created a Sonos Controller native to Windows 10... I will download & use it!...!!!
J
this is a thread for people who want a windows app. if you are one of those people who don't... go away. your opinion is not constructive, or welcome to us who do. why do you think you have the right to tell us we should not ask for something we want. you should stop putting you nose in where its not wanted. I am fed up with windows bashers, trolling the web looking for somewhere to "have a voice". more than happy for you to be droids or apple fans, but just go so it somewhere else where you are welcome.
simple facts are...
1) I would like a Sonos system, but will not buy one, UNTIL there is a windows app! and one that supports Microsoft Groove.
so there is £2500 that Sonos is not getting from me! 10 more people like me world wide and that would pay for any DEV/support costs.
2) there clearly is a sustainable market for a windows app seeing as controlAV has one! isn't it embarrassing for Sonos that a third party is doing what they aren't?
3) competition is hotting up, windows 10 phone/Xbox is coming, it will only take someone like Bose to write a cheap app, and Sonos will end up loosing out, possibly never to recover.
4) security holes being exposed on iOS and Android, about to go nuclear... so you might want to think about what that might mean!
D
Fun reading about all the people here NOT using the windows stuff talking about windows stuff...
And all the English speaking people talking about how awsome voice controll is gonna be...

As someone not living in US or a english speaking country (speaking english fine though), I can tell you that all voice controll up until now (Siri, google now, Cortana, Alexa) is utter crap outside of the US.

All we (people who DO use the windows stuff) want, is a modern, touch friendly, multi search interface on oure modern, touch friendly windows PC's 🙂
L
Userlevel 1
[quote=Jeff S][quote=nutterguy]
Hi Nutterguy,

It's our company policy not to comment on possible future features and products. While we can note your interest in new features such as a Windows Phone controller, we can't officially comment on them.

I understand that you can´t comment on specific features and products. But I do think you should be able to communicate a roadmap for OS support.

Several people in the thread are missing the point with a Windows 10 app.
Today we have a Windows x86 app that works on Windows 10. That is true. However this app lacks touch support.

If you develop an app for Windows 10 you would make an “Universal Windows App”. The universal apps works on all Windows 10, PC, Phone, Xbox. With only one line of code it is possible to adjust for screen size (PC vs Phone). This means that the number of 2-3% market share is incorrect. With one application you can target way over 110 million devices (110 is the number of Windows 10 installations a month ago), phone, tablets, PCs and Xbox. Only one codebase to maintain.

Develop once, run on many.

A quick look at UWAP…
https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2015/03/02/a-first-look-at-the-windows-10-universal-app-platform/
S
Userlevel 1
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There are some controllers developed by other companies that might work for you, and of course, we offer our own free controllers for Android, iOS, Mac and Windows PCs. There isn't a universal Sonos app available for Windows 10, but the Sonos controller for Windows will run on Windows 10 computers.

Ryan, for those of us who need to make purchasing decisions, it would be very useful to understand how (or if) Windows will be a supported platform going forward.

In addition, If the current Win32 app is going to lose support, can you please tell us so we can make plans accordingly.
L
Userlevel 2
Dear Sonos

Take the opportunity to support a very fastly growing oecosystem and to keep its users as customers.

The possibility to support a whole bunch of devices (phones, tablets, xbox, computers) with one single app is just great

We've been waiting for too long!!
S
Userlevel 1
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I have to say that the responses form Sonos regaring the status of Windows as a supported platform is deeply unsatisfactory. I don't care about getting commitments to deliver software by any given date, I just want to know if Sonos plan to support the Windows 10 platform going forward. That is not an unreasonable question for a customer to ask and there is no sensible reason why Sonos cannot respond in a meaningful and helpful way.

Deliberately avoiding making a clear statement on this is very unhelpful to Sonos customers who have invested in Windows 10 as a platform. Why does it appear so difficult for Sonos to appreciate why the current uncertainty over windows support is unsatisfactory to its customers?

I`m getting ready to abandon the platform because of this. I am not prepared to waste money on additional Sonos units which may or may not work for me going forward.
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