Can Sonos Recover From This?

I’ve been using Sonos products for many years through company ups and downs. I can’t wrap my head around why this software was released. It’s not like Sonos didn’t know about the problems, short comings and removed functionality before it was released. But it was released anyway. Why?

It doesn’t matter that it could be a better app in the long run. It was released before it could replace the previous app. Why?

I’m sure the developers didn’t want it released as is. Someone forced this to be released like this. Why?

I can’t answer the question “Can Sonos recover from this?”, but I can say they have lost my confidence in the leadership at this firm.

Ken

This app’ update obviously has not gone as planned. It is a debacle. The fix: FIRST provide another update OR OPTION for us to return to the functioning app that most of us were accustomed to and happy with as recently as last week; THEN in the meantime, sort out the failed update (especially reinstating features like alarm, sleep timer, volume numbers at the ends of the volume sliders) and re-release only after EXTENSIVE Beta testing

It just needs a change of top management - Spence and VPs.

Blackberry went down on Spence’s watch; he never made it to CEO but was very much part of the leadership team at the demise.

Sonos is nowhere near facing the Blackberry kind of challenge from Apple, but Spence is taking it to a place of being vulnerable. 

Agree with
@Kumar that this is not Blackberry territory yet, it does have shades of Gerald  Ratner in the UK as a very self inflicted wound. What to me is most galling is that this will have been a very conscious decision at the top. This was not a poorly tested software release it was deliberate decision taking, I am sure, the risks into account. There is some form of pressure here with the next product release which might give rise to concern about the company's internal income projections.

Will it come OK come June/ July when there are further releases of the app possibly. Has it harmed the brand - undoubtedly. It is not terminal but it is difficult to see why we are here.

To@GuitarSuperstar original questions I am on S1 so the immediate issues are not a concern. I would think that rolling out updates quickly is the order of the day  that might mollify people a bit. It might delay the headphones after all, as someone may say releasing the product while we are fighting fires is not a good move.

Headphones would have been my driver to replace my s1 only kit and move to S2. Not now,  it will be a least 6 months before I dip my toe in the S2 market and in 6 months who knows what options might arrive from elsewhere.

Trust - while the current senior management are in place I see no hope of a trust return. They effectively  lied in their description of the new App, we had the s1/s2 debacle how could you trust them or recommend their company.
 

I decided in 2020 after the S1/S2 event that I will not buy another bit of Sonos kit ever, and that I will wean my Sonos hardware from being dependent on Sonos software for it to continue to work as it had since 2011.

Debacle isn't the word for the cynical moves surrounding S1/S2 that showed just how much hypocrisy is there in a lot of the words from Sonos top management, including their swearing by a touted commitment to the environment.

By the way, all my Sonos kit from 2011 continues to work as well as it did when new, under S1. That speaks volumes for the character of the company that Macfarlane built. 

Sonos fanboys and public defenders may claim different, but this Sonos isn't that company, and Spence isn't a worthy successor to Macfarlane.

All that Spence and co have done with this app underscores that for me. I no longer advocate Sonos kit to anyone, although many of my posts here since 2020 to help users to the extent that an S1 user can, convey my abiding respect for Sonos hardware.

The only short-term solution is to rollback the app to the 16.1 version (iOS).  If the current app (80.00.04) is what we’re stuck with, my Sonos gear is headed to the local e-Waste site. The new app is THAT bad.

Even if they do that, the reputational damage to the Sonos brand is significant and it will take a lot to earn back my trust.  And the fact that even with all they know about how unhappy users are and what a piece of s**t the new app is, they keep prompting and pushing users to download the new one.

SONOS - when you find yourselves in a massive hole of your own making, STOP DIGGING.

COURAGEOUS?  What in the world is that dude high on?

So if Ford was equally courageous with a software update for my Mach-E, I wouldn’t be able to unlock the doors or put the car in drive.

Sonos has options. If could roll back the update today. Actions speak louder than words.. If they choose to forge ahead then that shows what they think of their customer base. 

After 7 hours of troubleshooting with customer support chat, 2:30 hours on hold and 2 hours with tech support and still... nothing. Just my Arc working, no surround, no sub. This has been horrible

One issue I encountered on Friday is that my router died.  When I replaced it with the same ID and key code (which worked for lots of Apps), Sonos rightly identified it as different.  However, the new App won’t let you update credentials, at all.  So, I am using one speaker hardwired that only one speaker in my home can pick up wirelessly.  The alternative is to factory reset the whole thing and reinstall and hope it works.  However, others have noted that they did this and it did not work.  I cannot imagine that Sonos released this app and it can’t allow people to replace their routers if they stop working or they change providers.  It’s pretty basic.