“This Beta be good” nailed it

edit here’s the link if you don’t know what a Peter Pee is and don’t want to risk the google search

I thought Peter Pee’s video was a fair review and at least ‘balanced’ and ‘constructive’, which is more than I can say for some one-sided posts online. 

I think his own thoughts ‘might’ be right too, right at the end of the video, where he gives a considered reason why the new App might have been released early, before it was finished. That in itself made me think that Sonos could have an incredible new product that they may be releasing in the near future and that it’s going to be supported by the new App only. We shall have to wait and see, in the coming weeks/months, if the new App is perhaps the first part of a much bigger plan by Sonos.

Anyhow, this was another similar balanced ‘written’ review that I stumbled on when browsing online, so I’ll just post that link here too…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/faster-to-use-but-missing-many-features-the-new-sonos-app-is-a-work-in-progress/ar-BB1mar6y

This doesn't change the fact that so many people are having very negative experiences.

In what way? …only it’s quite difficult to respond to your post without any detail being provided. Have the reviews, linked above, not covered some points? If not, then perhaps you can elaborate on the issues you are referring to and maybe give some examples. At least that way Sonos can then perhaps begin to address whatever those negative experiences are.

I'm not sure more detail is required, there are so many issues and bugs being raised now. 

I honestly don't see Sonos’ stance on this release being tenable without an actual apology and getting the previous app reinstated, it's an incredible and unprecedented approach. I can't imagine how pissed off and demoralised the Dev team(s) are.

Regarding your specific link, it wants an App installing for me to read it so I won't be doing it.

Will watch the Peter Pee article in the morning…

I don’t get asked to install an App to read the article - it just opens in Safari web browser on my iPad, so that’s odd you’re seeing that? Also, I’m still not sure, personally speaking, which negative experiences that @Topbrick1 is referring to that are not covered by the reviews - if there are others, then that’s what I’m suggesting to detail here. Otherwise the reviews seem (to me) to cover what everyone else is saying about the new App(s).

@Topbrick1 mentioned that many people are having negative experiences, that's pretty indisputable surely so I don't know why you need elaboration. I certainly wouldn't expect them to detail them individually again and I don't understand why you are insisting their comments are related to issues not covered so far, they have simply made a general and accurate observation.

On the app thing, I don't know but it appears as though m$ want something..  Could be me though!

But the reviews above are each balanced (pretty much) @sjw and the negative experiences are mentioned - read his post again, it says …"This doesn't ‘change the fact’ that so many people are having very negative experiences”.
 

I’m just asking what negative experiences (that perhaps tip the balance) is @Topbrick1  referring too, that are not already mentioned in those reviews?
 

I think both reviews cover the negative experience already and if they don’t, then (s)he can perhaps add them here for the Sonos Staff to perhaps see.

@sjw

By the way that screenshot you posted is a web page - it just provides the reader with a choice to read it in the browser, or use their App. Some sites that also use Apps ‘may’ have that option … I’d just ignore the option to use their App and simply stay in the browser.

OK, as I've said, I've not watched the article but I don't see how the post preclude the poster's comment that many users are having negative experiences.  There are so many bugs or issues being raised now it's almost impossible to know what's deliberately left out or a bug….

Is missing artwork or volume adjustment or adding new devices or App crashing or slow performance or missing/corrupt playlists mentioned in whatever you're referring to?

I may stand corrected here, but… from the issues you have listed above, I can’t recall seeing the following mentioned in those reviews…

• App crashing - but admittedly I’ve not personally seen that.
• Missing playlists - not seen that myself either. 
• Problems when adding new devices - I’ve not had opportunity to even test that one myself.

…but I believe all the other points are covered, directly or indirectly, but …this is exactly what I was asking @Topbrick1 for, as they were inferring (to me at least) that there were people having negative experiences, which presumably were not covered by the reviews posted here … That said, the reviews actually cover a lot of other things, that we’ve both not mentioned here too in our posts aswell, including missing playback options, Trueplay not working and the lack of queue editing, to name but a few.

I thank fellow contributors for pointing out the obvious.

That being so is the only way this fiasco may be justified in the days or months ahead. The thing is that this is what they held out when they unleashed S2 in 2020, and there has been nothing incredible from Sonos in four years since then.

I would therefore not hold my breath for the quoted.

Nothing I have seen from Sonos makes me yearn to move from S1 to S2, and at the present moment, I am again glad that I did not succumb to Sonos marketing in 2020. 

I still have an S1 setup here, but I much prefer S2, because of the Sonos Arc, Beam2 and Era 300’s for Atmos and Amazon Ultra HD playback in all the main rooms of our Home, particularly as the Apps on our TV’s support those audio formats these days, but I guess it’s each to their own @Kumar. 

Also… if Sonos headphones are coming next, then that will be in the mix for me too.

I do tend to move forward with such tech, rather than standing still, or looking back. The only reasons I still have S1 is because my Sonos hardware keeps on going, reliably, plus it helps me to assist others here in the community who may be looking for some help as I can refer quickly to my S1 setup, take screenshots etc. but it’s not in any way superior to my later Sonos products.

I will also include all the Sonos portable products too in that comment, as a stereo pair of Roams on a computer desk, or Move 2’s outdoors in the Garden for family BBQ’s, each sound great to my ears and I like their portability. You just can’t get any of those things with an S1 setup without resulting to stepping outside the Sonos eco-system and I prefer an all-in-one integrated solution here.

Those that have not handed over control of their entertainment experience to Sonos as @Ken_Griffiths has, have not stood still either; they, like I, just have moved forward without an all pervasive Sonos in their lives, and are just as happy for it, as Ken says he is. For instance my TV sound in different parts of the home is delivered by speakers from Elac, Bose, KEF with a Yamaha Sub in the patio as well, and I reckon I enjoy TV just as much as the next man, from the augmented sound that I get for it.

I also use a Mac and an iPhone, but I do not use HomePods for TV or Apple TV; I don’t believe in surrendering control of my entertainment environment to Apple either. In the bedroom that my son uses when he is with us, TV/sound is all Apple. But we see no value in integrating that solution with the rest of the home.

Perhaps some of us do not trust corporations to place our interests above their own.

And in times like these and in 2020, we are/were not hostage to their decisions.

Ironically, there are many Sonos fans here that are hyper critical of Apple because Apple is a walled garden. I have never understood how one can run down one while being fervent defenders of the other, with both being walled gardens.

Of course I also understand that the preference for all in one solutions that do not need exposure to what else is out there may also deliver progress. Case in point, my first router was an Apple Time Capsule because I knew little about how to set these up in 2011, and Apple was known to work out of the box, as it indeed did, where the setting up computer was a Mac. But my next router in 2024 was TP Link; had Apple continued with routers, I doubt I would have spent money unnecessarily on an Apple premium, I had learnt enough about routers from 2011 to 2024 to see that they are commodities.

Where audio components go, long before Sonos I was a audiophile hobbyist for a decade or more and and very well versed with the use of different components from different makes coming together to make for a stellar experience, so I never felt the need to rely on one ring to rule them all - one all integrated solution from any maker for my audio needs, be it for music or for TV, where all soundbars are compromised by definition for instance, so I was never going to have a solution for TV based on any sound bar from any make.

The bottom line is that staying with Sonos on their bandwagon from S1 to S2 and now to this latest Frankenstein is not the only way to “move forward with tech”. Even if that is the Sonos pitch these days. IMO that is just Sonos Kool-Aid.

I guess you’re perhaps only a hostage to these tech. things, if you ever find yourself in a position where you cannot easily replace the goods/services in and around the Home, either over time, or in one fell swoop. 

Some folk are fortunate enough to not be in that position, but either way, I personally remain happy with my chosen lot anyway. There are certainly no hardware-purchase regrets here.

Before Sonos (just as an example) my all-in-one home integrated TV/audio solution was B&O - I still have the Beolink system in place in some rooms, plus the Beocenter, speakers (8+), deck, Sub etc. are held in storage. It all still works too, as I discovered recently.

If Sonos, Apple or LG (my chosen TV manufacturer these days) were to go bump tomorrow, then I’d move onto what I thought might be the next best integrated solution. 

From many posts here about the present chaos, I sense that many posters do come from a place of being such hostages, and not all of these seem to be due to just financial reasons. As always, some posts are just venting, but many seem genuine.

I get that not all may be fortunate enough to placed as you seem to be.

(Sorry, TL;DR if you don’t want to)…I’ll just give my own personal perspective here. Other users aside, I continue to see the Sonos App/software as the system ‘remote’ (obviously). I’m really more invested in the Sonos hardware, so I’m not overly bothered by this software update, compared to the S1/S2 split, which took me on a bit of a device-replacement journey, from which my children/grandchildren benefitted. I handed them at least 12-14 speakers Play:5’s/1’s/Beams etc. They do love it when I replace/upgrade my hardware. I tend to have a 5-year cycle of electronic stuff though in anycase.

I do use the Sonos App a fair bit, but I also use 3rd party Apps too and more and more voice control these days. I’m finding the new Sonos App, on the iOS platform stable (despite others saying differently). Also, I can happily wait for each of the missing features currently being discussed. The new App does need optimisation though, but I’m sure that will come along later.

I don’t use Sonos Alarms, but use Alexa alarms on Sonos instead and they still work fine.  I have three local library NAS boxes (one is dedicated to S1 system only) and the other two work with the new App. I use my own .m3u playlists with the main library and mostly browse it by Album/Artist or Folder anyway. So I’m not missing it being part of the App search facility. I didn’t use the ‘classic’ search much in the S2 App either. I also use Plex, Emby, iBroadcast and iCloud (Match) for my main NAS library aswell.

So the issues with the App, at this moment in time, are minimal for me and admittedly I’ve not seen issues like some users are reporting, such as lost speakers, missing music services etc. Apart from the general ‘missing bits’ we’re now all aware of, it’s otherwise certainly all working here on my Home setup.

The more I use the App and gain familiarity too, the more I like it. It’s certainly nice to use on an iPhone, but some iPad screens/overlays need resizing, better positioning.

So I can live with the changes and I feel reassured that the App will get much better over time.

I should just clearly add that I am totally sympathetic however to those users that have issues with the new App, particularly those with vision impairment and it not yet having full voice-over functionality, those with alarms they cannot switch off etc. and I’m just as upset as the next person for the App being launched without users being informed about some of the missing features. That really is for Sonos to now resolve.

I’m here to now to encourage users to report/detail these things constructively and maybe courteously too in some instances and to try to help those users who are having issues and think the blame lies with the new App, when there are perhaps clear signs, in some cases, that it’s more-likely a local network issue etc.