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Today is the day of the AMA!

The new app design has been out for a week, and most of you have had a chance to get used to the new UI.

Some of you might have questions when you have had a week to get to know the new Sonos App interface. Because of that, we want to give you all a chance to ask some of the people who were integral in its creation and design, the questions that have come to mind while you have used the app.

As we mentioned in the event.

Our panelists will be:

  • Diane Roberts, Senior Director of Software Development
  • Kate Wojogbe, Senior Director of User Experience
  • Tucker Severson, Director of Product Management

It will be hosted on the 14th of May from 11:00 until 14:00 GMT -07.

But instead of me telling you what they do and what their role with the app update has been, here are their own introductions:

 

Diane

Diane Roberts is the Senior Director of Software Engineering and Product Management at Sonos responsible for the Sonos Apps. Her group of cross-disciplinary teams build Configuration, Control, and Content experiences on a foundation of Core mobile application technologies. She received dual Bachelors’ of Science in Computer Science and Music from WPI. Diane holds 6 granted patents as a co-inventor.

 

Kate

As Senior Director of User Experience, Kate leads the UX team responsible for Sonos’ home audio hardware, software, and app user experiences. This includes user interfaces on speakers and soundbars, setup for hardware and services, first and third party content experiences, and a variety of methods of control of the Sonos system. Kate graduated from the University of California Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Design.

 

Tucker

Tucker Severson is the Director of Product Management and leads the PM team responsible for the Sonos Apps. Tucker received his BA from Bates College and his MBA from the University of Vermont.

 

We will do our best to answer as many of your questions as possible within the 3-hour window, but we can’t promise to answer every question, especially those you know we can’t discuss.

But if we see a question repeated or a reply getting a lot of likes, don’t worry. We will prioritize those to ensure that many people get the answers they seek.

 

Remember, we can’t talk about things on the roadmap - but if you have questions or feedback about the app redesign, want to know more about our panelists, like their background or favorite band, then the sky is the (cough cough.. NDA) limit!

Thank you, everyone, for participating. We covered as many of the most asked questions as possible. We know tracking the responses wasn't as easy as we had hoped. But we wanted to let the community air frustrations and have their questions answered.

I got a lot of DMs during the AMA, and I will be sure to answer them when I can. Thanks for reaching out!

Keith and I will work on recapping all the questions and feedback we have responded to, and we will update the post here when that is complete. If we didn't get to your question, don't worry. Keith and I are grabbing all the feedback from this thread, even the things we didn't respond to, and ensuring the right people will see the message. This was the first time we created a live AMA in the community, and we learned a lot for future AMAs.

We appreciate all the feedback and questions you gave through this AMA. It helps us understand your most significant feedback and your reasoning. We hear you, and we will ensure the right teams get your feedback. They are listening.

We look forward to rolling out the updates with features (new and old) as soon as they are ready. Keith shared an overview of the timeline for expecting these features to return to the app. Today was the first update, reintroducing alarms and improving the iOS voiceover.

We look forward to seeing your reactions to our future app developments. We hope you all appreciate the work our developers are putting into making the app as fast and easy to use as possible for the general user.
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when will I be able to hide Sonos radio from my system?

I don’t think anyone is coming guys. 
Pack it up, this clearly isn’t the place to AskMeAnything. Shame 

where is the link

 

Couple of issues with the latest release;

1. I like to adjust treble, bass etc like most, to get to this in settings is so many more clicks than before. I liked the short cut from volume to these settings as before. Step backwards from UX perspective.

2. I have arc set up and my family often switch between streaming music and TV. There is now no 'source' option anywhere, so you can not switch back to TV without switching everything off. This is a major problem! 

 

3. The 'refresh' of the app every time it is opened or returned to is a major problem from a UX perspective makes the app appear buggy having to re find your sonos system (initial page is system can not be found, for me anyway) every time focus is turned back it. All previous versions did not do this. I get technically what is going in here but it needs to be seemless or return to previous state.

 

As a VoiceOver user on iOS, I have tried the new app on a test environment and am dismayed at the lack of accessibility built into it; also, where sections are partially accessible, they are not particularly usable. Sonos have stated they are committed to improving accessibility in the new app but, inevitably, this means there is a timelag before improvements can be made. Given that the poor accessibility design is locking users out of their products they have spent thousands of pounds on, is there a way, please, that the two apps can coexist so that people can still use their systems?

When are you going to remove local API access for good? I’d appreciate a timeline for migrating to another solution. The only reason I still have Sonos devices in use is that I don't rely on that “app” for basic functionality.

The silence is deafening…..

THIS IS SO LAME!  AMA? Interact with the leads??? HOW???

Sonos has lost is way! (again). 

More like malware than an update IMHO! 

So it’s not really an *Ask* Me Anything as much as it is a “yeah, we don’t wanna do that anymore.”

I understand those responsible for this screwup not wanting to face the actual users, but this non-event is incredibly disappointing.

But not surprising - correct? I am coming to expect this level of service, it appears this company is now clearly focused on things outside of music.

 

This AMA is going as expected = dumpster fire

How will you balance improving the quality of what has been delivered in the new app with adding the missing features quickly?

Why are you refusing to re-introduce the prior version of the app for download? Users can get Sonos S1 for old hardware, why not last week’s app so that people can get back features we depended on (NAS music collections in search, alphabetical navigation of music library, etc.)? 

I’ve never had a product before where the vendor TOOK AWAY features on which I was depending, and which were the reason I’d bought the product in the first place.

Greetings. As a blind Sonos user, I have a question and a comment.

                My question: There are rumors that Sonos opted to use React Native as the framework for the user experience for the iOS and Android apps. Is this true? If it is, I am aware from software development circles that retrofitting accessibility will be a serious challenge which I’d like to know how you’ll meet.

                Sonos makes a lot of statements supporting the ideas of Diversity, equity, and inclusion. Unfortunately, because of a lack of diversity of thought, we who use screen readers escaped inclusion at the design process, rendering equity of outcomes and experiences impossible. That talk feels extremely hollow today.

I just want to say there has been allot of negativity surrounding the new app launch. I just want to say the app is fantastic. I've been using it everyday since it came out last week. I know there is some future additions coming in the next weeks and will just be patient with the future roll out. Thank you Diane, Kate, Tucker, and the rest of the Sonos development team for everything you do. 

This is a joke - correct? We should be patient while we wait to get back to where we were? 

I suppose if you have one speaker and use Sonos Radio alone, it’s probably a great release.  

 

When you have 20 speakers, a NAS, and multiple streaming services, it is...not so much.

The app crashes on my Chromebook, where Android apps are supported as a first-class feature. Sonos has always acted like Android on ChromeOS doesn’t exist - will you fix this please, as at least the v16 app loaded and worked even if it wasn’t ideal.

I don't see my devices on the new App, but it shows up on the old App. The new App shows the devices if I am connected to the same VLAN/SSID. I think the mDNS forwarding or something like that has changed. Any idea? 

This discussion is like the new app. Customer preferences or inputs go unanswered. It’s time to move on from SONOS. Sadly, because I enjoyed it so much when it was functional.

This is a joke. Let’s repost all the previous posts so we won’t get any answers

Is this the actual AMA? WTF?

When will the app accommodate two systems again, currently unable to add the second system in the house due to the inability of the app to add the 2nd system.   Please confirm an update to the new app for multiple systems.  Thank you,

I thought this was going to be a live speaking event Q & A but it seems like it’s just another void for customers to voice their concerns with no response from Sonos. This is a waste of time. 

Where is the AMA? Is this actually it? Is anyone from Sonos here to comment?

I give up on this AMA. What is it you are trying to do? There is only the opportunity for us to vent. No interaction? No responses? No real live event? You are wasting our time. I’m done. 

Has the AMA team been sacked?

 

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