Lead Maestro

Can Sonos Recover From This?

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So it has been about two days since the launch of the new Sonos app. Judging by the number of negative posts on this community forum and on the Sonos subreddit, I think it is pretty safe to say that the app launch has been a pretty massive failure.

This is a very critical moment for Sonos. The Sonos app is the core of their ecosystem. I can imagine tensions are running high at the Sonos headquarters as they try to figure out what went wrong and how they need to respond. A moment like this can sometimes be the beginning of the end for a company and Sonos knows this.

Consumer trust is the most important thing a company needs to remain successful and to grow. Sonos dropped the ball with the new app and has lost the trust of many new and loyal customers. And the timing cannot be any worse with the upcoming release of their new headphones.

So what does Sonos need to do next? What kind of response would ease your anger and frustrations? How much time are you willing to give Sonos to bring back the many missing app features? How will this bungled app launch affect the launch of the new headphones? Will it be delayed until the app situation has been resolved? Has the new app launch changed your mind about purchasing new Sonos products? What does Sonos need to do to earn back your trust?

Sonos App

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castalla

Local Superstar

I don’t see Sonos rolling back to S2 as I think that likely creates a lot of other problems we just aren’t aware of.

There are a lot of people on this forum which have rolled back to the previous version of the app (Android) or who have stopped updating their devices after the first one have been updated (iOS), and they do not seem to have problems.

Go figure, they even seem to have less problems than the people who updated.

@melvimbe.

Are those problems like Rumsfeld's 'known unknowns' or 'unknown unknowns'? That some posters sort of hint that they 'know' what's going on, and all will be relieved in due time and place, is infuriating for the bewildered users left with broken systems.

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It's the courageous bee's knees - all 6 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝. - - - - - Make Sonos Great Again - - - - -

Bumper

Sonos sent an email hyping the app on April 23. I don’t think the app roll out is going as planned. Unless they intentionally mislead/lied.

How will this affect my system?

We've taken great care to ensure that this update only enhances your Sonos experience. Your products, features, and services will work as they always have, and all your settings will be saved.

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stein067

Enthusiast I

Regarding the Verve article, to self-label this stupid move as "courageous" is just ridiculous and sounds like chief product officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin is just trying to spin this colossal mistake. And to say that it may require taking a few steps back to ultimately leap into the future also seems like trying to spin the fact that they did not understand just how far back in time they were pushing the application. This gives the competition a 10 year headstart. And why couldn't they just keep supporting all existing features in parallel with developing the new technology that will have us all "leaping into the future" together? This feels more like tripping and falling into the past.

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cjhnj2020

Lyricist I

So it has been about two days since the launch of the new Sonos app. Judging by the number of negative posts on this community forum and on the Sonos subreddit, I think it is pretty safe to say that the app launch has been a pretty massive failure.

I think it’s a failure in the sense that many people are vocal about their disappointment, but that was expected. I don’t think the launch is really much different that what Sonos expected. They knew features were going to be missing, so in that regard, it went ‘as planned’.

So what does Sonos need to do next?

I think we are seeing it. Sonos staff has responded here and there but it is usually getting lost in the midst of the other complaints. Sonos is going to be rolling out much more rapid changes to replace missing features in the next few weeks, likely prioritizing features that are complained about the most. I’m sure they would really like this issue to have died down before the next product release, at least to the point where there is some level of confidence.

What kind of response would ease your anger and frustrations? How much time are you willing to give Sonos to bring back the many missing app features? How will this bungled app launch affect the launch of the new headphones?

The timer is missing and needs to be put back

I’m not personally angry or frustrated, but I don’t know that there really is going to be too much to appease those that are. This is not the first time that a group of customers have expressed high levels of frustration with Sonos. Some will buy elsewhere, and some will just cool down with time. I don’t see Sonos rolling back to S2 as I think that likely creates a lot of other problems we just aren’t aware of.

It won’t have a positive impact on the new headphones, that’s for sure, but I don’t think it will hurt sales in the long term. Ultimately, the success or failure of the headphones is going to depend the features of the product itself, rather than app. Sound quality, noise cancellation, atmos, bluetooth connectivity, battery life, etc.

And to be clear, I am not personally frustrated with the app because I don’t really use the features that are missing on a regular basis. I don’t use local libraries, alarms, or the queue. I do basic playback, a lot of shuffling of radio stations, TV audio, basic grouping. I like the new web app more than the desktop for my needs. I am NOT saying that others have no reason to be frustrated. I’m just not really going to join in the chorus of complaints as nobody really needs that from me.

Will it be delayed until the app situation has been resolved? Has the new app launch changed your mind about purchasing new Sonos products? What does Sonos need to do to earn back your trust?

I really doubt the headphones will be delayed...again. It’s been rumored for a very long time and surely they want to get it out. I suspect that the setup of the headphones works well, as Sonos has stated in the past that they see that it’s very important to make that first impression. I do also believe that Ace requires the new app. I haven’t changed my mind about purchasing new products. That does not mean I’m definitely purchasing any new product as that will depend on features and what I ‘need’.

I have not lost trust in Sonos personally. I completely understand why others have lost trust, but I just honestly haven’t. I’ve been following the company for years and have seen other issues pop up that they have moved past. This is a UI, and while it looks bad, it’s something that they can fix. This is not like other cases where apple/google changed their OSs, old device hardware can’t handle new features of the system, or a protocol is out dated an no longer secure. I don’t expect others to agree with that.

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TomSzr

Lyricist III

Unless they go back to the app from 48hrs ago I am not sure whether Sonos will be a viable option in my household.

Exactly right. I will definitely leave. Been a loyal customer with 4 devices. But this app is deeply, deeply flawed and needs to be fixed immediately or withdrawn until it is. If not, see ya.

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Jason_54

Trending Lyricist I

How do they win back their customer’s trust? Perhaps by being courageous and admitting wrong here? And announcing a plan that quickly restores the variety of essential functions lost by their shortsighted update (e.g. rerelease of the S2 app). Then full transparency on the updates. No announcements that everything is improved, or generic “updates to features” but specific notes about what is happening and a full timeline for updating to restore features.

I know you don’t get your CEO position by ever saying sorry or admitting error but it would go a long way here to them telling their customers they are actually listening to them. Leaving us with dead hardware for months while they try to re-add in the lost functions will only tell me that it was a huge mistake to buy hardware locked to a company that could destroy its function at any time (and this isn’t the first!).

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GuitarSuperstarAuthor

Lead Maestro

A good article from Forbes:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanreichental/2024/05/09/4-lessons-from-sonos-app-upgrade-fiasco/?sh=4766a8c756ad

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"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi

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Mtmtn

Contributor I

They need to roll back to the old version of the app, immediately. It must be such a comedy, whatever is happening in the company Slack channels right now. A dark, dumb comedy.

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Mtmtn

Contributor I

It's gonna be hard to sell this *. But I will, even if it's for pennies on the dollar.

How much do CDs cost nowadays?

*Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.*

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ydharuna

Contributor I

This redesign is nothing but a DISASTER. Very non-intuitive, InTune Custom URLs are all greyed out, Very hard to find most functions. What was SONOS thinking ?

SONOS APP was one of their USP but they destroyed this with new design.

SONOS should accept their mistake, revert back and go back to drawing board!

I hope they listen to customer voice.

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