Your thoughts on the new S2 app?

B
Userlevel 1

Ive just updated to the new S2 app and wanted to share some of my thoughts and hope to hear other peoples opinions since updating. 
 

Positives:

  1. Sound quality seems to of improved following the update, I’ve tested home cinema and music and there seems to be an improvement in clarity, seems richer. I don’t know if this is my ears playing tricks on me but I’m as happy as ever with the excellent sound quality. 
  2. App opening, search and general usability/navigation seems faster.
  3. Room groups is a good feature and welcomed although I would love to see this working with Alexa so I can summon a group change via voice! Is this coming? 


Not so Positives:

  1. The update process is very cumbersome and should be completely automated, instead your community is left faffing about trying to work out what order to update things. I was stuck being told my system wasn’t compatible for s2 for some time with no clear instruction of what to do to update! 
  2. All the hype and the chance to reinvent the UI and excite their loyal community and the app is practically the same with only minor tweaks...we were all so excited for a new and shiny Sonos app! 
  3. The new colour scheme is hard on the eyes, why grey with a white menu bar? It all just blends together and looks so dated!
  4. No Dark mode….seriously? Give users the option, I assume you feel this will mess with your new colour scheme, personally I think it’s just lazy...design something that works light and dark. The now playing screen is better and clearer with the black menu bar and a coloured background drawn from the album art.
  5. The new mini now playing bar looks messy. When you are scrolling through albums they can be seen either side of the mini now playing bar now you have this new floating look and it just looks too busy, especially with the light grey dark grey white colour scheme, it all just blends together.
  6. Still no Spotify genre browsing - many of your Spotify community customers want the ability to browse Spotify genres back and were hoping for this functionality restored with this update. Instead when browsing Spotify through your app we are presented with our most listened to genres but with no options to browse all genres unless you exit your app and browse directly though the Spotify app. This has made music discovery from within your app pretty much obsolescent!
  7. What is with the new icon colour??? Very strange colour choice, and the colour isn’t replicated anywhere within your new app colour scheme other than the splash screen? This just doesn’t make sense? I would of thought you would at least inject it here and there within your app to keep some consistency in your design language….baffled? 

Hopefully this is the first update of many and more tweaking will come over the coming months based on your users feedback but I won’t hold my breath based on previous major updates. 

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32 replies

U

One would think it might be a simple coding problem to not separate the old hardware users on a separate app. The app could recognize the old equipment and apply different rules to it.

But it seems Sonos is intent on forcing a lesser experience on the legacy owners, plenty of whom own multiple units new & old, and notably who helped build this company up by their enthusiasm over the years.

Fully agree with remark about legacy owners. I shall shun Sonos products from now on.

Ken_Griffiths

Just to clarify, I have both an Apple Music (Annual Subscription - £99) and their iTunes Match (Annual subscription £21.99) and currently see all my uploaded music through the Sonos App Apple service, but I’m not sure if one service works without the other.
 

I do know that the cheap iTunes Match subscription is required to see your own uploaded music on other devices, but you may need to check with Apple to see if it works without the Apple Music service, although as I mentioned earlier, I’m sure in the past that when I’ve let my Apple Music subscription lapse, that I’ve still had access to my uploaded music on my devices in the past, but that was a few years ago, so not sure what the position is these days.

Ken_Griffiths

Just subscribe to Apple‘s iTunes Match and you can play your Apple Music Library through the Apple Music service built into the Sonos app. It maybe £/$/€25 per year (annual payment), but it’s a small price to pay to access your iTunes library from virtually any device whilst at home or on the go. I have thousands of ‘ripped’ tracks that are accessible using that method. They’re also playable on any Airplay device too using the Apple Music App.

@Ken_Griffiths  can you do this without an Apple Music Subscription. ie just Apple Match? I’m trying this and when trying to add Apple Music the flow from Sonos S2 app is asking me to subscribe to Apple Music. I get message:

You are not an

Apple Music

Subscriber

 

But I do have an Apple Match subscription that you describe above.

I don’t know, as I use both of the Apple services and not really tried one without the other (however see below). It seems like it should work reading this article ... https://www.imore.com/itunes-match

You may need to check with Apple Support. In the past when my own subscription to Apple Music has expired and lapsed I’m fairly sure that the iTunes Match service continued in my case and that I still had access on my mobile devices to music that I had uploaded through iTunes on my PC, but can’t say if that is also the case with the service that Apple provide through the Sonos App. 

S

 

#7.

I literally would not care about the upgrade except for the baby crap brown orange color they chose. Honestly why do companies think that these jarring changes are acceptable? Leave the S1 and S2 icon both black. If you’ve come this far you know exactly what it is you have.

E

Just subscribe to Apple‘s iTunes Match and you can play your Apple Music Library through the Apple Music service built into the Sonos app. It maybe £/$/€25 per year (annual payment), but it’s a small price to pay to access your iTunes library from virtually any device whilst at home or on the go. I have thousands of ‘ripped’ tracks that are accessible using that method. They’re also playable on any Airplay device too using the Apple Music App.

@Ken_Griffiths  can you do this without an Apple Music Subscription. ie just Apple Match? I’m trying this and when trying to add Apple Music the flow from Sonos S2 app is asking me to subscribe to Apple Music. I get message:

You are not an

Apple Music

Subscriber

 

But I do have an Apple Match subscription that you describe above.

I have an Apple Music account 

C
Userlevel 6
Badge +11

@craigski, iTunes Match is not supported, you’d need an Apple Music subscription; it’s worth the money, in my opinion.

Thanks for confirming my understanding, I (wrongly) got excited with Ken’s comments above.

Smilja

@craigski, iTunes Match is not supported, you’d need an Apple Music subscription; it’s worth the money, in my opinion.

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)
C
Userlevel 6
Badge +11

Just subscribe to Apple‘s iTunes Match and you can play your Apple Music Library through the Apple Music service built into the Sonos app. It maybe £/$/€25 per year (annual payment), but it’s a small price to pay to access your iTunes library from virtually any device whilst at home or on the go. I have thousands of ‘ripped’ tracks that are accessible using that method. They’re also playable on any Airplay device too using the Apple Music App.

@Ken_Griffiths  can you do this without an Apple Music Subscription. ie just Apple Match? I’m trying this and when trying to add Apple Music the flow from Sonos S2 app is asking me to subscribe to Apple Music. I get message:

You are not an

Apple Music

Subscriber

 

But I do have an Apple Match subscription that you describe above.

E

The right hand line of letters on Albums is not responding. I can only view those under A and B

C
Userlevel 5
Badge +9

Unfortunately...or fortunately...I have no desire to learn code or how to set up complicated systems. I bought SONOS originally because it was very simple to set up. Sadly, as they lard up the software it has become nothing I would want to attempt as a new user. I still miss being able to play my Apple music library directly…..the original sin. The free Google Music sucks. 

I don’t understand - all music I have purchased via Apple is available in itunes (and thus part of my Sonos Music Library), and also that same music is available through the “Apple Music” service tied into Sonos.  So it is all there to be played.  Alternatively, if you are looking to play via the Apple Music app itself (and not while using the Sonos app), you can send it via Airplay to Sonos speakers (assuming yours are the Airplay Sonos capable speakers).

Ken_Griffiths

Unfortunately...or fortunately...I have no desire to learn code or how to set up complicated systems. I bought SONOS originally because it was very simple to set up. Sadly, as they lard up the software it has become nothing I would want to attempt as a new user. I still miss being able to play my Apple music library directly…..the original sin. The free Google Music sucks. 

Just subscribe to Apple‘s iTunes Match and you can play your Apple Music Library through the Apple Music service built into the Sonos app. It maybe £/$/€25 per year (annual payment), but it’s a small price to pay to access your iTunes library from virtually any device whilst at home or on the go. I have thousands of ‘ripped’ tracks that are accessible using that method. They’re also playable on any Airplay device too using the Apple Music App.

P
Userlevel 2
Badge

Unfortunately...or fortunately...I have no desire to learn code or how to set up complicated systems. I bought SONOS originally because it was very simple to set up. Sadly, as they lard up the software it has become nothing I would want to attempt as a new user. I still miss being able to play my Apple music library directly…..the original sin. The free Google Music sucks. 

Ken_Griffiths

I discovered that the only way S2 would load onto my devices was to download it, scroll to the terms of use screen, then get out and log into SONOS on my browser, then go back to the S2 app and wait….I have no idea why this seemed to work because it didn’t the last three trys. Why doesn’t SONOS tell you that you have to log into your online SONOS account first???

That’s strange and it definitely wasn’t my experience. Having initially upgraded all devices to S1, I chose to switch off my old legacy devices and then updated my remaining powered on devices to S2.

I then reset my S1 App and old legacy devices and set those up on an entirely separate household and both systems are working fine. I have left both on the same subnet with a Boost operating as the root bridge for my S2 household ...and a wired device to run my S1 household on SonosNet aswell. I did not have to login online using my browser just both Apps required my account credentials for product registration purposes.

 

One helpful thing I would like to now see is the online account ‘system tab’ reflect the households I have and to show which devices are in each created household.

P
Userlevel 2
Badge

I discovered that the only way S2 would load onto my devices was to download it, scroll to the terms of use screen, then get out and log into SONOS on my browser, then go back to the S2 app and wait….I have no idea why this seemed to work because it didn’t the last three trys. Why doesn’t SONOS tell you that you have to log into your online SONOS account first???

P
Userlevel 2
Badge

My S1 now says  it is incompatible with my system, forces me to upgrade to S2 and the S2 app won’t get past the Terms of Use screen. I am so fed up with SONOS. First they stop supporting direct play of my Applemusic library on all of my Apple devices, now this?  A wonderful product has  been just destroyed with the worst software rollouts ever. Who’s running this company now? Now I get to spend dozens of hours trying to fix this POS system. I have a dozen devices and I’ll bet I will be forced to set them all back up again individually. 

jgatie
  1. Get’s in the weeds about how Sonos should be able to keep legacy and modern devices working together.
  2. Is corrected about how the weeds work.
  3. States that they don’t want to get into the weeds. 

 

Damn, is the pandemic over?  Because I swear this exchange means I’m right back in a meeting at work!

 

 

melvimbe

I am not happy that there are now two apps. SONOS was founded on the orchestrating multiple units simply on a single app.

 

 

So you would be ok with 2 separate systems that don’t communicate with each other as long as you can control them from the same app.

 

I really don’t care to go into the weeds on how the unit delivers sound; that is irrelevant. My hyperbole doesn’t deserve pedantic scrutiny. The simple fact is that SONOS can manage the two systems but has chosen not to. The evidence of that is that they are producing two apps and have dedicated teams to supporting both. That same effort could be spent making the apparent distinction seamless and invisible to us as users.

 

 

Your claim was that software could make make it all work the way you think it should.  I don’t see how you can confidently make that claim without some understanding of how Sonos works.  First I’ve heard of Sonos having dedicated support staffs for the different systems.  Not sure where you got that information from, but anyway...I don’t see how support for 2 systems is equivalent in effort to combining two systems to work on a single app.

(I suppose it is entirely possible that SONOS isn’t actually managing the S1 app in an earnest way and is just going to let it die on the vine; in which case, that would add insult to injury.)

 

Sonos was very clear about their intentions for S1.  It will not receive any functionality updates, only bug fix and securty updates within the limits of the hardware.

Danny
A
Badge

I do care & I want both. Software has the ability to distinguish and make it happen.

I seriously doubt you WANT two separate apps to control the hardware that you bought on the premise that it worked as a system, together or in parts, as determined by the single app on your device.

 

 

Are you complaining about the split of S1 and S2 systems, or about the need to use 2 separate apps for the 2 separate systems?   

 

The legacy speakers are still capable of streaming a feed, however that happens. That’s what they do. They may not be able to take voice instructions or order me a magazine subscriptions or listen to a family argument over which video to watch to determine how to sell stuff to me; but they can still stream a feed. And the “controller” can help manage the way in which it does that. If SONOS wanted to.

 

The introduction of S2 has nothing to do with voice control, which will be operating the same as it currently does in S1.  No Sonos can’t use the controller to manage communication between devices.   Since it’s inception, the controller has never been involved with audio playback, and was not even required to be present for the speakers to operate even. 

I am not happy that there are now two apps. SONOS was founded on the orchestrating multiple units simply on a single app.

I really don’t care to go into the weeds on how the unit delivers sound; that is irrelevant. My hyperbole doesn’t deserve pedantic scrutiny. The simple fact is that SONOS can manage the two systems but has chosen not to. The evidence of that is that they are producing two apps and have dedicated teams to supporting both. That same effort could be spent making the apparent distinction seamless and invisible to us as users.

(I suppose it is entirely possible that SONOS isn’t actually managing the S1 app in an earnest way and is just going to let it die on the vine; in which case, that would add insult to injury.)

melvimbe

I do care & I want both. Software has the ability to distinguish and make it happen.

I seriously doubt you WANT two separate apps to control the hardware that you bought on the premise that it worked as a system, together or in parts, as determined by the single app on your device.

 

 

Are you complaining about the split of S1 and S2 systems, or about the need to use 2 separate apps for the 2 separate systems?   

 

The legacy speakers are still capable of streaming a feed, however that happens. That’s what they do. They may not be able to take voice instructions or order me a magazine subscriptions or listen to a family argument over which video to watch to determine how to sell stuff to me; but they can still stream a feed. And the “controller” can help manage the way in which it does that. If SONOS wanted to.

 

The introduction of S2 has nothing to do with voice control, which will be operating the same as it currently does in S1.  No Sonos can’t use the controller to manage communication between devices.   Since it’s inception, the controller has never been involved with audio playback, and was not even required to be present for the speakers to operate even. 

Danny
A
Badge

One would think it might be a simple coding problem to not separate the old hardware users on a separate app. The app could recognize the old equipment and apply different rules to it.

 

How would that work for people that are running slit systems S1 and S2?  As well, it would also mean that as S2 gets new features, S1 would have to be retested to verify nothing broke.  With separate apps, there is no chance of that.

 

if it can be done in separate apps, it can be done in a single app...the old stuff just gets sandboxed. Sonos engineers will be doing the work either way working on both apps.

 

 

Wrong.  I have a split system.  When I want to control my S2 speakers, I use that app.  For S1, the S1 app.  I do not want to have to open the app and then chose which system I want to control.  And again, if control of both systems was available in the same app, then every update to Sonos on S2 would require testing to make sure S1 still works.  This is particularly true if S1 is getting the updated experience you’re saying that you would want.

 

At the end of the day, the app is just delivering music to the speakers. The old hardware can handle that just fine. Sharing between legacy & new hardware is exactly the kind of thing software is good at.

 

The app does not deliver music to the speakers.  It’s a controller only.  The devices communicate directly with streaming services and each other.  Software has been keeping legacy and new hardware working together for a long time now, But hardware can only go so far in keeping up with software and functionality improvements.  If you don’t care for the functionality improvements that go beyond what your legacy hardware can handle, then an S1 system is your better option.

I do care & I want both. Software has the ability to distinguish and make it happen.

I seriously doubt you WANT two separate apps to control the hardware that you bought on the premise that it worked as a system, together or in parts, as determined by the single app on your device.

The legacy speakers are still capable of streaming a feed, however that happens. That’s what they do. They may not be able to take voice instructions or order me a magazine subscriptions or listen to a family argument over which video to watch to determine how to sell stuff to me; but they can still stream a feed. And the “controller” can help manage the way in which it does that. If SONOS wanted to.

 

melvimbe

One would think it might be a simple coding problem to not separate the old hardware users on a separate app. The app could recognize the old equipment and apply different rules to it.

 

How would that work for people that are running slit systems S1 and S2?  As well, it would also mean that as S2 gets new features, S1 would have to be retested to verify nothing broke.  With separate apps, there is no chance of that.

 

if it can be done in separate apps, it can be done in a single app...the old stuff just gets sandboxed. Sonos engineers will be doing the work either way working on both apps.

 

 

Wrong.  I have a split system.  When I want to control my S2 speakers, I use that app.  For S1, the S1 app.  I do not want to have to open the app and then chose which system I want to control.  And again, if control of both systems was available in the same app, then every update to Sonos on S2 would require testing to make sure S1 still works.  This is particularly true if S1 is getting the updated experience you’re saying that you would want.

 

At the end of the day, the app is just delivering music to the speakers. The old hardware can handle that just fine. Sharing between legacy & new hardware is exactly the kind of thing software is good at.

 

The app does not deliver music to the speakers.  It’s a controller only.  The devices communicate directly with streaming services and each other.  Software has been keeping legacy and new hardware working together for a long time now, But hardware can only go so far in keeping up with software and functionality improvements.  If you don’t care for the functionality improvements that go beyond what your legacy hardware can handle, then an S1 system is your better option.

Danny
P
Userlevel 1
Badge +1

Underwhelming.

Also now, whenever I play a new album I have to choose which room to hear it in? It doesn’t default to the last played any more.

Regarding this - try to disable the App setting “Confirm location”

That should fix this issue.
​​​​​

Thanks :thumbsup:

A
Badge

One would think it might be a simple coding problem to not separate the old hardware users on a separate app. The app could recognize the old equipment and apply different rules to it.

 

How would that work for people that are running slit systems S1 and S2?  As well, it would also mean that as S2 gets new features, S1 would have to be retested to verify nothing broke.  With separate apps, there is no chance of that.

 

if it can be done in separate apps, it can be done in a single app...the old stuff just gets sandboxed. Sonos engineers will be doing the work either way working on both apps.

At the end of the day, the app is just delivering music to the speakers. The old hardware can handle that just fine. Sharing between legacy & new hardware is exactly the kind of thing software is good at.

 

melvimbe

One would think it might be a simple coding problem to not separate the old hardware users on a separate app. The app could recognize the old equipment and apply different rules to it.

 

How would that work for people that are running slit systems S1 and S2?  As well, it would also mean that as S2 gets new features, S1 would have to be retested to verify nothing broke.  With separate apps, there is no chance of that.

 

Danny
A
Badge

One would think it might be a simple coding problem to not separate the old hardware users on a separate app. The app could recognize the old equipment and apply different rules to it.

But it seems Sonos is intent on forcing a lesser experience on the legacy owners, plenty of whom own multiple units new & old, and notably who helped build this company up by their enthusiasm over the years.

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