Sorry but your post has me somewhat confused? - if the S2 App works with a product that has not been updated it’s not the same thing as it working with a device that’s received the latest firmware updates?
Presumably all the recent firmware changes are for the new Sonos App, as that moves forward. So clearly as that happens the S2 App functionality is maybe at a point where it’s getting depleted, both on the products themselves and through any changes in the Sonos cloud.
I assume at some stage, the S2 App may just stop working altogether. My own thoughts are the development has perhaps reached a point of no return, particularly in regards to the software running on the older Sonos products with less storage capacity. It’s therefore a case of "out with the old” and "in with the new”.
I’m not sure where the Sonos lies are in all that, if that’s what’s perhaps happening?
Clearly there are issues when running the Sonos App and S2 App side-by-side, but at least we now know that Sonos did explore that as an interim solution for the users who maybe encountering some issues with the new App. Those issues are hopefully due to be resolved anyway with the fortnightly updates that were announced.
One thing I know for sure : I had to upgrade to the new App beginning of August, and use the new App for a few hours on my phone. I guess this upgraded the firmware, no ? But I gave up (no queue management !). A few days after I tried with my old device that still runs the 16.1 S2 app and it works fine.
What I say is : this new app is just horrible and may have issues but above all it misses important features (queue management for me is not negotiable).
It’s been months, now Sonos should reissue the old app, reissue old firmware if necessary and let people choose between the new app and the old one. Is that so much to ask ? If it is not possible to mix both old and new, that’s fine for me, I can certainly understand that.
We dont want to hear about fortnightly updates and wait until october, we want to use our systems now.
If Sonos needs more months to solve its issues, I have no problem with it, as long as I can use my speakers.
There should be someone at Sonos to understand that ? No ?
Sorry but your post has me somewhat confused? - if the S2 App works with a product that has not been updated it’s not the same thing as it working with a device that’s received the latest firmware updates?
Hi @Ken_Griffiths, there’s some confusion around the statement that the old app is now “less reliable and less stable” with the latest v16.3.1 firmware … implication being that the old device APIs are now wonky. Yet the Windows/Mac desktop apps continue to rely exclusively on the old APIs and they are super stable, and ditto for SonoPhone.
I’m not arguing for anything here, just explaining why some of us are a touch perplexed.
One thing I know for sure : I had to upgrade to the new App beginning of August, and use the new App for a few hours on my phone. I guess this upgraded the firmware, no ? But I gave up (no queue management !). A few days after I tried with my old device that still runs the 16.1 S2 app and it works fine.
What I say is : this new app is just horrible and may have issues but above all it misses important features (queue management for me is not negotiable).
It’s been months, now Sonos should reissue the old app, reissue old firmware if necessary and let people choose between the new app and the old one. Is that so much to ask ? If it is not possible to mix both old and new, that’s fine for me, I can certainly understand that.
We dont want to hear about fortnightly updates and wait until october, we want to use our systems now.
If Sonos needs more months to solve its issues, I have no problem with it, as long as I can use my speakers.
There should be someone at Sonos to understand that ? No ?
Yep, I’m missing the queue management too, but that’s in the pipeline - I can’t think of anything else I need personally, for how I use my Sonos Setup .
In the new Sonos App I use Amazon, Apple, Plex, Sonos Radio, Podcasts, local NAS SMBv2/3 Shared library and plenty of other things besides, including…
I appreciate though that some users are having device discovery issues and in some cases LAN/WAN issues too, but otherwise there’s still plenty of options to help keep the music playing, even without the App, which is just a ‘remote’ anyway, rather than an audio ‘player’ in its own right.
Sorry but your post has me somewhat confused? - if the S2 App works with a product that has not been updated it’s not the same thing as it working with a device that’s received the latest firmware updates?
Hi @Ken_Griffiths, there’s some confusion around the statement that the old app is now “less reliable and less stable” with the latest v16.3.1 firmware … implication being that the old device APIs are now wonky. Yet the Windows/Mac desktop apps continue to rely exclusively on the old APIs and they are super stable, and ditto for SonoPhone.
I’m not arguing for anything here, just explaining why some of us are a touch perplexed.
It’s quite difficult to judge @press250. I don’t know what the actual issues are with running the S2 App and new Sonos App side-by-side, especially with the older Sonos products that show in @controlav’s chart (see an old copy of his chart attached) as some do have rather limited storage - I can only guess that it may create more problems for some users, than in solves, particularly as Sonos drive forward with their planned firmware/cloud updates. I am guessing the S2 App functionality will soon be depleted and over-time obsoleted.
I guess there’s no point handing back the S2 App with one hand, to then quickly take it away again with the other.
My speakers are up to date and the S2 app on an old phone works just fine.
My speakers are up to date and the S2 app on an old phone works just fine.
Is that with hardware that has the lesser storage available, as shown in the chart?.. What’s perhaps more interesting, is if the S2 App will continue to work as each new Sonos update is released.
Hi @Ken_Griffiths, fwiw it is very easy to judge: running SonoPhone/SonoPad in parallel with the new Sonos app works flawlessly, as happily reported by many users, with zero indication of “less reliable and less stable”. And the same goes for the desktop apps, which Sonos itself continues to recommend as an avenue to workaround issues. Plus users like @MoPac who are running the v16.1 Sonos app without issue.
This is actually kind of funny when you think about it: those of us with ongoing snafus with the new app are reporting that old apps “work great here”! 
I totally agree with your thoughts on devices with less memory. If resolving the vexing device firmware issues (speakers disappearing, et al) requires more memory, Sonos may remove ‘legacy’ functionality like the old APIs. Hopefully such a move would be carefully coordinated with upmarket third-parties like Roon and Cresron who rely on the old APIs. 
All my downgraded systems work great over here on S1 including SMBv1 support, no screenshots provided.
@press250
i never updated the application or the firmware, I stopped using the Sonos app a while ago as I prefer WiiM mini UI however as a test I opened the Sonos app and played random playlists from Qobuz,Amazon,Spotify and Deezer
all played instantly and the app worked flawlessly
no need for me to update anything 
Hi @Ken_Griffiths, fwiw it is very easy to judge: running SonoPhone/SonoPad in parallel with the new Sonos app works flawlessly, as happily reported by many users, with zero indication of “less reliable and less stable”. And the same goes for the desktop apps, which Sonos itself continues to recommend as an avenue to workaround issues. Plus users like @MoPac who are running the v16.1 Sonos app without issue.
This is actually kind of funny when you think about it: those of us with ongoing snafus with the new app are reporting that old apps “work great here”!
I totally agree with your thoughts on devices with less memory. If resolving the vexing device firmware issues (speakers disappearing, et al) requires more memory, Sonos may remove ‘legacy’ functionality like the old APIs. Hopefully such a move would be carefully coordinated with upmarket third-parties like Roon and Cresron who rely on the old APIs.
Yeah I recall prior to May, that some users with Connect:Amps (gen2), Playbase and Play:3’s were having some audio interruption issues and they were saying their situation was improved when the downgraded to the S1 App, that had lesser features.
No evidence of this, but I thought back then, it might perhaps be a case that those older devices were perhaps running into storage issues, particularly if some space had been marked as having some bad sectors etc. due to their age/use.
If more features are able to be moved server-side with the new Sonos App it will greatly benefit those users, plus they will probably go onto get further ‘new’ features too in the months/years ahead. Trying to keep both the S2 App and the new Sonos App running now, might interfere with things, if that’s the long term plan that Sonos are looking to achieve.
I reckon anything that seems slow at the moment (due to Sonos cloud involvement) with the new Sonos App, will also get optimised later and then we all (hopefully) have a working system that will last for years.
That’s my thinking on the current situation with the Apps, but it’s just a guess on my part.
i never updated the application or the firmware, I stopped using the Sonos app a while ago as I prefer WiiM mini UI however as a test I opened the Sonos app and played random playlists from Qobuz,Amazon,Spotify and Deezer
You are better than me, @skullc! In a moment of weakness/curiosity, I did a system update to the v16.3 firmware … which killed my v16.1 Android app. Ouch.
I replaced my bedroom setup with a WiiM Amp, driven via Chromcast by the fabulous Audirvana Studio.
Yeah I recall prior to May, that some users with Connect:Amps (gen2), Playbase and Play:3’s were having some audio interruption issues and they were saying their situation was improved when the downgraded to the S1 App, that had lesser features.
No evidence of this, but I thought back then, it might perhaps be a case that those older devices were perhaps running into storage issues, particularly if some space had been marked as having some bad sectors etc. due to their age/use.
The issue with the connect amp and connects was a firmware bug from a June 2023 update. This issue was finally fixed in July 2023. The s1 downgrade worked because the s1 firmware didn’t have the bug, not because the devices were overloaded or other made up issues to blame owners
It took forever for Sonos to acknowledge the bug likely because:
- Blamed it on the network. Need to reboot. Set static ips. Upgrade your hardware.
- Blamed it on the age of the device
- blamed it on hardware failures
Kind of like what’s going on with the new app and firmware.
i never updated the application or the firmware, I stopped using the Sonos app a while ago as I prefer WiiM mini UI however as a test I opened the Sonos app and played random playlists from Qobuz,Amazon,Spotify and Deezer
You are better than me, @skullc! In a moment of weakness/curiosity, I did a system update to the v16.3 firmware … which killed my v16.1 Android app. Ouch.
I replaced my bedroom setup with a WiiM Amp, driven via Chromcast by the fabulous Audirvana Studio.
I use WiiM app as my main music source now and Sono+ widget app for volume and grouping around the house works rather well tbh
I am going to replace the mini with a pro next week now testing phase is over , and then will have room correction and channel peq settings 
The issue with the connect amp and connects was a firmware bug from a June 2023 update. This issue was finally fixed in July 2023. The s1 downgrade worked because the s1 firmware didn’t have the bug, not because the devices were overloaded or other made up issues to blame owners
It took forever for Sonos to acknowledge the bug likely because:
- Blamed it on the network. Need to reboot. Set static ips. Upgrade your hardware.
- Blamed it on the age of the device
- blamed it on hardware failures
Kind of like what’s going on with the new app and firmware.
I’m not sure what the outcome overall was @almazri, but the Staff did state the matter would be handled on a case-by-case basis…
I’m a big fan of WiiM. App updates are a regular occurrence. The updates are improvements, not fixes for something that is broken.
Two things I really like about WiiM is that they can be grouped with Amazon Echo devices and the newer WiiM devices can be SqueezeBox players.
Only complaint would be the weak queue management.
Ohhh… Almost forgot. You can even setup and index shares… Sound familiar?
I still hold hope that Sonos will get it together. I have no issues operating from either S2 ( old phone ) or 80.x. But 80.x has quirky issues and needs work. 16.3 firmware needs work as well for those with many compilations.
Hi @Ken_Griffiths, there’s some confusion around the statement that the old app is now “less reliable and less stable” with the latest v16.3.1 firmware … implication being that the old device APIs are now wonky. Yet the Windows/Mac desktop apps continue to rely exclusively on the old APIs and they are super stable, and ditto for SonoPhone.
I’m not arguing for anything here, just explaining why some of us are a touch perplexed.
Thank you for this input @press250 . I also admire and envy the moderation of your expression “some of us are a touch perplexed”.
I personally can’t trust anymore anything from Sonos communication and think this “less stable” argument (that may probably be true in some cases) should not be a reason to deny customers from the old good full featured app.
My speakers are up to date and the S2 app on an old phone works just fine.
Is that with hardware that has the lesser storage available, as shown in the chart?.. What’s perhaps more interesting, is if the S2 App will continue to work as each new Sonos update is released.
I think it is just sad to admit that we just can wait for Sonos to break eveything that is still working.
If this configuration works now but does not continue to work as each new Sonos update is released it means that someone at Sonos broke something either intentionally, either not caring for existing customers. I understand they need to change things to develop the new app, but it’s not like they’re working separately in a test environment. There is a large base of existing customers who would like to use their speakers the way they like. Sonos staff is testing and breaking things live for 4 months now. And I dont see any better.
Can’t someone at Sonos just freeze all that, hire real professionals, let us use the only app that is working and do the development and testing on a dedicated environment ? It will take more months, we know it.
Clearly the CEO is living on another planet and has no power of decision over the technical staff. I only hope now the board and investors will stop the disaster.
End of August and their new app is still trash. What a joke.
End of August and their new app is still trash. What a joke.
For you maybe, but it’s working for some people, myself included. If not done already, it maybe best to reproduce any issue(s) seen and then immediately submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see what the Staff can perhaps suggest to help you to resolve the matter.
End of August and their new app is still trash. What a joke.
For you maybe, but it’s working for some people, myself included. If not done already, it maybe best to reproduce any issue(s) seen and then immediately submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see what the Staff can perhaps suggest to help you to resolve the matter.
What about the missing features ?
While they are working on fixing bugs and crash, we are still waiting for the features they removed 4 months ago. Who can still possibly think at Sonos that is acceptable ?
End of August and their new app is still trash. What a joke.
For you maybe, but it’s working for some people, myself included. If not done already, it maybe best to reproduce any issue(s) seen and then immediately submit a Sonos system diagnostic report from within the Sonos App, note it’s reference and contact/chat with Sonos Support Staff via this LINK and see what the Staff can perhaps suggest to help you to resolve the matter.
What about the missing features ?
While they are working on fixing bugs and crash, we are still waiting for the features they removed 4 months ago. Who can still possibly think at Sonos that is acceptable ?
The only thing I’m missing now @rvxtrm is the queue management and even by that I mean the option to reorder a queue, rather than just shuffle it. I don’t use Sonos playlists as I store my own playlists in both Amazon/Apple Music (synced using Soundiiz) and I use .m3u playlists for the local library. I can’t think of anything else that’s now missing that I need, personally.
I have always had access to my local library as I’ve been using SMBv2/3 since 2019/2020. I also find the Sonos search quick and easy too across all the musuc services and local library. As per attached clip from an iPad controller.
All my downgraded systems work great over here on S1 including SMBv1 support, no screenshots provided.
That is not relevant to this thread: we are talking about S2 and its compatibility with the v79 app
My unofficial bug tracker https://github.com/amp64/sonosbugtracker/issues shows 25 items active.
The only thing I’m missing now @rvxtrm is the queue management and even by that I mean the option to reorder a queue, rather than just shuffle it.
Oh yeah, queue management, please !
And the ability to browse an album from the song you are listening to, or to add it to a playlist.
Waited almost 4 months already, now they promise this for October.
What a mess, really, this not respectful.
