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The app update has made our speakers almost worthless from the standpoint of how we use them.  We have three Sonos speakers.  They sound great, look good but here’s the catch.  We are a multi user household.  The updated app as I am told by Sonos customer services is designed for protection in public use.  So they require the “owner account” to add music and content services to the app as well as to add or remove devices from the system.  Previously I have always been able to use our system as a guest while logged in to the Sonos app on my own email/account.  This allowed me to add and access my own personal Apple Music catalog and other app services independently of my wife who simply by default when setting up the system used her email/account.

 

With the recent update I can no longer do this.  The app instructs you to log out and log in with the owner account to add services or devices.  If I do so I cannot add a second Apple Music service to the system.  My wife and I have our own catalogs and playlists as well as other audio apps that we use that the other may not care for at all.  The new app essentially makes the Sonos a one user product instead of allowing the app to be personalized for the current user of the speakers.  What a complete blunder on Sonos end!

 

  1.  Every system should be expected to have multiple users who want to interface only with the content and apps they select.  This was how it worked before as a guest.
  2. If the rational for requiring owner account access is protection from manipulation of the system by outside users… there should be an opt in security selection not a default restriction of multiple users with no apparent opt out.  My guess is most Sonos system owners are on private WiFi networks so access is already firewalled by the network not the device or the app.  In the instance of a a public network I am sure the devices and app can be configured to prevent unauthorized users from accessing the devices.
  3. The speakers should operate as hardware. Period.  They should be accessible from multiple devices and users and it should be as easy as possible for multiple users to access and link their preferred content to their app settings and the speakers have one job… play sound.
  4. somebody really screwed this up and they should fix it or refund the cost of our devices so we can take our business elsewhere.

 

 

Logging in with the account email/password to access most of the setup menu has been in place since 2017.  You may not realize it because if you log in once, you never have to log in again unless you reset the app.  Here’s a thread discussing the account requirement back then:

 

 

I have a Sonos account… you misunderstood my post.  I have been able to access our speakers and link my personal Apple Music service, playlists and other audio apps without being logged in on the “owner account” for years.  I cannot add two Apple Music services from one owner account nor can I add other audio apps I like to use from my Sonos account.

The more I try to solve this issue and read other problems people are having with the app update the less faith I have in Sonos.  This is a huge mess.  Simple fix… make available on the App Store a revert to the previous version while they scrap this idiotically engineered update.  Really, this is too much and people deserve a fix and fast.  These things aren’t cheap and now I have to use a crappy little blue tooth speaker to listen to my playlists. Sorry jgatie… your no help.

There are things on the new app that are not in the old app. It isn’t just a simple ‘roll back’. 

Sonos was so good and now it is almost unusable. Are they trying to sabotage their company? If so you are succeeding!

Airgetlam,

Judging by the litany of problems that are elucidated in these community threads, the added features whatever they may be don’t appear to outweigh the faults or the damages to users who were accustom to preferable functionality… and suggesting a roll back or revert to the previous app does not mean they cannot continue to re-program the app and apply the positive additions to a future update but my complaint and those of others are valid rationales for a at least temporary return of the  previous app version, or at least the choice to do so until our voices are heard and sensible return of previously operational needs are met.  Otherwise this product and company will and ought to suffer.  The value and quality of the product is diminished.  A fix needs to happen sooner than later.  The best temporary solution is making the previous app version available and that ought to be obvious.  I cannot speak for any complications in doing so but I think we can wait for a better update with whatever improvements are in this one while we continue to use the system as we may have for years.
 

 

Highwood,

 

we shale see what happens but yes… this is hopefully a productive failure and not a permanent one… otherwise Sonos is certainly headed for the dustbin.

@Thaddletar 

The issue becomes two fold, then. How much effort is needed in back-porting all the new changes into ‘the old app’, along with how to maintain two apps that work in the various stores, along with the need for separate firmware versions on the speakers. The latter has some history, as Sonos does supposed S1 and S2.

I don’t know how large a programming team Sonos maintains, or how they could be split in to two groups, in order to maintain an older version of the application, as well as continue to make the new version feature compliant. I’d assume programming resources are not infinite, and that right now, given that there are only bug fixes applied to S1, the vast majority of code effort is on the ‘new’ version 80.x of the controller.

Sonos has never in the past acceded to the demands of a ‘rollback’, despite many calls for it, it’s hard to conceive of that now, but I suppose anything is possible, although I’d have thought if they had a up consideration to do so, they would have already done so. Version ip.x of the controller has been out for a long time, relatively speaking, and there has been no indication that Sonos has any interest in going back to an older version. But not being a Sonos employee, I only have previous experience as a long time customer, in addition to my own software management experience, some of which parallels Sonos’, except in the gaming sphere. There’s no doubt that people want their experience to be better, certainly. 

There’s very little effort required. Put 16.1 back on the app stores. We know 16.1 still works on current firmware  because people are still using them. there’s no programming of the old app required.

Owners can choose which app to use.

It’s crazy they expect owners to wait months and months while they fix this trash. 

The more I try to solve this issue and read other problems people are having with the app update the less faith I have in Sonos.  This is a huge mess.  Simple fix… make available on the App Store a revert to the previous version while they scrap this idiotically engineered update.  Really, this is too much and people deserve a fix and fast.  These things aren’t cheap and now I have to use a crappy little blue tooth speaker to listen to my playlists. Sorry jgatie… your no help.

The company appears to either not care or are not able to resolve this. It was clearly not ready for rollout and now they are burying their heads in the sand. The so-called customer service is swamped and just leaves customers hanging. I pity anyone who is buying Sonos equipment now as they are in for a lousy experience

@Thaddletar

The issue becomes two fold, then. How much effort is needed in back-porting all the new changes into ‘the old app’, along with how to maintain two apps that work in the various stores, along with the need for separate firmware versions on the speakers. The latter has some history, as Sonos does supposed S1 and S2.

I don’t know how large a programming team Sonos maintains, or how they could be split in to two groups, in order to maintain an older version of the application, as well as continue to make the new version feature compliant. I’d assume programming resources are not infinite, and that right now, given that there are only bug fixes applied to S1, the vast majority of code effort is on the ‘new’ version 80.x of the controller.

Sonos has never in the past acceded to the demands of a ‘rollback’, despite many calls for it, it’s hard to conceive of that now, but I suppose anything is possible, although I’d have thought if they had a up consideration to do so, they would have already done so. Version ip.x of the controller has been out for a long time, relatively speaking, and there has been no indication that Sonos has any interest in going back to an older version. But not being a Sonos employee, I only have previous experience as a long time customer, in addition to my own software management experience, some of which parallels Sonos’, except in the gaming sphere. There’s no doubt that people want their experience to be better, certainly. 

The difference with previous rollouts is that this one is rending their systems unuseable for many, so you have an expensive product which their own incompetence has killed overnight. They have to do something. Sitting there pretending they are cool and cutting edge won’t work

I’ve been investing in my Sonos system for the last decade and through the time have paid attention to all the gripes and problems through my own troubleshooting. The app has always been between at least mildly annoying but like OK fine tolerate it.  This time is different level of bad & is the first time that I’ve ever made a comment. In a time when all other technology has been getting smoother easier to use and more seamless, Sonos has gone the other way and that wreaks of a leadership problem. I own a business and if I had one customer speaking about my company the way masses are about Sonos, it would simply just get fixed no matter what, failure no option.  Seems like they have lost the vision and passion to be what they wanted be so never quite made it.  I’ve listed my 11 Sonos products on eBay and making the exodus. I would love to change my mind. ✌🏽

The final straw was the woman I’ve been dating for six weeks said a few days ago, “you’re always messing with your speakers.” I had become Sonosified and didn’t even realize it. 

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