Interview

Sonos App Redesign AMA

Sonos App Redesign AMA
Mike R. H.
Userlevel 5
Badge +12

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.
​​

How we survive is what makes us who we are - Rise Against
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770 replies

E
Userlevel 5
Badge +4

 

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!

Hello and welcome everyone,

Before getting started I’d like to thank you all for RSVPing and attending. This is the first of many events going forward where members of our Community can talk directly to members of the Sonos team and learn about the development and design behind our products. Keep in mind that@Mike R. H.  and myself will be heavily monitoring this topic to ensure we keep this train on its tracks. Please keep the conversation respectful and constructive.

It’s not lost on me (or the team) that this most recent Sonos app update has caused a torrent of feedback topics here on the Community and across the web. We want to make sure you get the most out of the next three hours, so we’ve decided to focus our efforts on the questions with the most likes. Please use likes to “upvote” the question you want answered. By combining similar topics and questions, we will be able to cover more and hopefully cover the wide breadth of conversation you are looking for.

Note: Be sure to check out our most recent update to the Future Feature Update post where we will continue to update you on the road going forward.

Thank you and see you around the Community!
Keith

Is this going to happen as a discussion of some sort? How do we join? Or have you guys chickened out? What happens next - if anything?

A
Userlevel 5
Badge +5

Wow this is the AMA? 48 minutes into it and I’m scrolling through hundreds of posts looking for answers? What a waste of our time. This is not going to go over well for you Sonos. I’m truly disappointed (again).

A
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

You’ve made our speakers open to the internet via the new web app without our consent and without two-factor authentication for security.
You’ve demoted local library music so much that it’s practically impossible to find our music (no search, poor A-Z scrolling) plus there is no way to update the index of the library.

 

Bring back the old Sonos app. It was clunky, but it actually worked!
G
Userlevel 7
Badge +8

Is this really all about a pair of headphones?

C
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

Fellow Customers,

 

We don’t matter anymore. No reason to show up if the priority has moved on to headphones. 
 

 

B
Userlevel 4
Badge +1

Can you describe what the user stories were that you intended on capturing with the app at launch??

R
Userlevel 2

What was the thought process behind releasing the app update in an obviously unfinished state, instead of waiting for critical issues to be resolved?

Thank you @veryblocky @YorkSteve @umiami91. Since you all had similar questions, I’d like to answer them together.

An app is never finished! 

It’s probably a good idea to give you some background. This is a new app - we started from an empty project file. As the project progressed, we stopped investing our time in the old app code. Over time we “cross-faded” our engineering attention into the new app. We need to make the new app be the app going forward so we stop splitting our attention.

We decided that now is the moment to bring you the new app. This is the beginning, and we will be continually iterating going forward. As I said - an app is never finished.

Things You Should Never Do, Part I

M
Userlevel 4

The lack of responses from Sonos staff concerning accessibility are quite telling.

S

What was the thought process behind releasing the app update in an obviously unfinished state, instead of waiting for critical issues to be resolved?

Thank you @veryblocky @YorkSteve @umiami91. Since you all had similar questions, I’d like to answer them together.

An app is never finished! 

It’s probably a good idea to give you some background. This is a new app - we started from an empty project file. As the project progressed, we stopped investing our time in the old app code. Over time we “cross-faded” our engineering attention into the new app. We need to make the new app be the app going forward so we stop splitting our attention.

We decided that now is the moment to bring you the new app. This is the beginning, and we will be continually iterating going forward. As I said - an app is never finished.

“Cross fade”.  Does this mean “dump all the things that everybody uses every day, and then release it”?  Please don’t use market jargon words on us.  Treat us with some respect.  AND LISTEN TO US.  It’s not all about you.

 

They were getting cross faded in the office probably, too high to think straight unfortunately 

M

What was the thought process behind releasing the app update in an obviously unfinished state, instead of waiting for critical issues to be resolved?

Thank you @veryblocky @YorkSteve @umiami91. Since you all had similar questions, I’d like to answer them together.

An app is never finished! 

It’s probably a good idea to give you some background. This is a new app - we started from an empty project file. As the project progressed, we stopped investing our time in the old app code. Over time we “cross-faded” our engineering attention into the new app. We need to make the new app be the app going forward so we stop splitting our attention.

We decided that now is the moment to bring you the new app. This is the beginning, and we will be continually iterating going forward. As I said - an app is never finished.

What hockum new age mumbo jumbo claptrap is this for an answer? I see a word salad that ignore the question. “Here’s the app, take it or well, we don’t care what you do, we’re doing what we want.” is what you might as well have said. 

It’s great that you thought to include us at the start of what is going to be a looooong journey, but you might have leaft us with a usuable product until you got to the first milestone.

C
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

Do you think it’s fair to put you in front of this crowd?

I mean, they don’t appear to be actually putting anyone in front of this crowd at all...

Yeah, my mistake. 

D
Userlevel 4
Badge +1

What was the thought process behind releasing the app update in an obviously unfinished state, instead of waiting for critical issues to be resolved?

Thank you @veryblocky @YorkSteve @umiami91. Since you all had similar questions, I’d like to answer them together.

An app is never finished! 

It’s probably a good idea to give you some background. This is a new app - we started from an empty project file. As the project progressed, we stopped investing our time in the old app code. Over time we “cross-faded” our engineering attention into the new app. We need to make the new app be the app going forward so we stop splitting our attention.

We decided that now is the moment to bring you the new app. This is the beginning, and we will be continually iterating going forward. As I said - an app is never finished.


I appreciate that, but as I asked in the original question, why didn’t you wait until critical issues were resolved?

Cleary, the prior App was “finished”. So we got this half baked garbage app and are now subject to business jargon that is supposed to make us happy. 

D
Userlevel 5
Badge +2

FOLKS, IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR ANSWERS, YOU WON’T FIND THEM HERE. MAINLY EXCUSES AND INCOMPETENCE.

U
Userlevel 7
Badge +3

What was the thought process behind releasing the app update in an obviously unfinished state, instead of waiting for critical issues to be resolved?

Thank you @veryblocky @YorkSteve @umiami91. Since you all had similar questions, I’d like to answer them together.

An app is never finished! 

It’s probably a good idea to give you some background. This is a new app - we started from an empty project file. As the project progressed, we stopped investing our time in the old app code. Over time we “cross-faded” our engineering attention into the new app. We need to make the new app be the app going forward so we stop splitting our attention.

We decided that now is the moment to bring you the new app. This is the beginning, and we will be continually iterating going forward. As I said - an app is never finished.

Okay - I was one of the original questions.  And I get that, but losing features suggests rollout was driven by something other than providing an excellent product.  This isn’t personal and not an attack on any one person.  I just don’t get why you went with a CALENDAR-DRIVEN release versus an EVENT-DRIVEN release.  I suppose that’s your prerogative, but going from a nearly bulletproof system to something that doesn’t work at all half the time isn’t useful to me.  I just want my speakers to work as something more than an AirPlay speaker.

Y
Userlevel 1

Final nail in the coffin. I will be moving to Roon, so I am not tied down to a single manufacturer.

I will be flogging my equipment on ebay if any of you are interested. This shower of sh!t are a disgrace.

Actually roon (and MediaMonkey, USB Audio Player and others) will play through Sonos speakers. I almost never used the old  Sonos app and have no plans to use this new dog's breakfast. Keep the speakers, ditch the app.

U
Userlevel 4
Badge

“An app is never finished! It’s probably a good idea to give you some background. This is a new app - we started from an empty project file. As the project progressed, we stopped investing our time in the old app code. Over time we “cross-faded” our engineering attention into the new app. We need to make the new app be the app going forward so we stop splitting our attention.We decided that now is the moment to bring you the new app. This is the beginning, and we will be continually iterating going forward. As I said - an app is never finished.”

 

Can you tell us WHY you started from scratch?  What was the reasoning?  What DROVE this decision?

S
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

Is this really all about a pair of headphones?

Buying a pair of Sonos headphones is the last thing I am thinking of right now!

T
Userlevel 5
Badge +4

What was the thought process behind releasing the app update in an obviously unfinished state, instead of waiting for critical issues to be resolved?

Thank you @veryblocky @YorkSteve @umiami91. Since you all had similar questions, I’d like to answer them together.

An app is never finished! 

It’s probably a good idea to give you some background. This is a new app - we started from an empty project file. As the project progressed, we stopped investing our time in the old app code. Over time we “cross-faded” our engineering attention into the new app. We need to make the new app be the app going forward so we stop splitting our attention.

We decided that now is the moment to bring you the new app. This is the beginning, and we will be continually iterating going forward. As I said - an app is never finished.

@tuckerseverson you do know that answer will be quoted on all the main tech news websites tomorrow?  Would you care to add more details?

I
Userlevel 5
Badge +2

Maybe this…..: 

should be removed from the website until those of us with our own libraries are able to use them again in the way we want… (i.e search, update etc.) and if an app is never finished.. can people have the one that worked back ? 

C
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Bunch of BS and wasted time for everyone here. Not sure what their goal of this AMA was. I suggest Everyone move to Roon. Much better experience and player options.

✌🏽

Move to Lyrion Music Server. (LMS). FREE & OPEN SOURCE.  🎶🎶🎶😁

It's the courageous bee's knees - all 6 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝. - - - - - Make Sonos Great Again - - - - -
S
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

This event was starting at 7pm in the UK, so I have sat here like a mug for 55 minutes waiting for...what?

I am actually disbelieving at the incompetence.

S
Userlevel 5
Badge +2

Final nail in the coffin. I will be moving to Roon, so I am not tied down to a single manufacturer.

I will be flogging my equipment on ebay if any of you are interested. This shower of sh!t are a disgrace.

Actually roon (and MediaMonkey, USB Audio Player and others) will play through Sonos speakers. I almost never used the old  Sonos app and have no plans to use this new dog's breakfast. Keep the speakers, ditch the app.

I would not count on that continuing to work going forward.

 

Jacob ATX
Userlevel 4
Badge

The format of this AMA event is very confusing and not productive. There’s threads on X, Sonos Community, and Reddit that all posted mostly constructive comments/concerns and we were told that Sonos would be reading those posts and addressing them at the AMA. After 45mins of the AMA starting and no communication from Sonos we are finally are getting responses from them and they are just focusing on the posts in this thread which at this point are posts of pure frustration and angry, and rightfully so. There was no proaction or respect from Sonos that I can see.

KateW
Userlevel 2
Badge

Please describe what the thought processes was, going into the re-design. I understand the value of launching something new, but as a designer, I also understand that function always outweighs design.

@Bliss752 The refreshed UI design is rooted in the needs that we’ve been hearing from our listeners for years. We heard from users that the information architecture of the S2 app felt like work, particularly in navigating between multiple tabs to get core jobs done. The intent of the new app home feed is to put the most useful content and controls immediately within thumb’s reach, offering quick access to the content that means most to users, and enabling them to drive what is prioritized in their personal home experience.

UX at Sonos
tuckerseverson
Userlevel 2
Badge

Please upvote this post: Can you please provide an immediate easy way to rollback the mobile app to the prior version for those who can’t make the current version meet their needs.

Thanks @bkk. Also, @nelliott and others had similar questions.

Rolling back to the previous version of the Sonos app is likely to cause issues. As Sonos continues to advance forward with new updates to the firmware, the old apps will fall out of compatibility quickly. Our priority is to release improvements to the Sonos app rapidly to address your needs.

Product at Sonos
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