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Your feedback on the new Sonos App

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M
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

I dunno what you guys are complaining about, this app is flawless.  Listening to a Play:1 right now.

 

J
Userlevel 1
Badge

A question to Sonos moderators (or others):

I have a library with music from about 1700 artists. If I want to choose a specific artist, I have to scroll starting from the letter ‘A’ currently. It now takes me 10 thumb swipes to just get to the letter ‘C’.

There used to be a little vertical alphabet to the right that made this considerably less painless. It’s now gone. This has resulted in frustration virtually every time I’m forced to use the iOS app.

I didn’t see this feature addressed in the linked official statement. Is it ever coming back? Or is there another shortcut/workaround that’s not so ridiculous?

If not, the app is near-useless for my use cases.

J
Userlevel 1
Badge

I dunno what you guys are complaining about, this app is flawless.  Listening to a Play:1 right now.

 

I’m tempted, but would greatly resent having to pay $150 per year for something that was working just fine a few months ago.

A couple questions MatF if you have a minute--and happen to know.

  • On the mobile version, when presented with a list of artists (e.g.), is there an alphabet slider or chooser available (so I don’t have to scroll through dozens of pages)?
  • Can it access a library served up on an ubuntu machine?
O
Userlevel 6
Badge +8

A question to Sonos moderators (or others):

I have a library with music from about 1700 artists. If I want to choose a specific artist, I have to scroll starting from the letter ‘A’ currently. It now takes me 10 thumb swipes to just get to the letter ‘C’.

There used to be a little vertical alphabet to the right that made this considerably less painless. It’s now gone. This has resulted in frustration virtually every time I’m forced to use the iOS app.

I didn’t see this feature addressed in the linked official statement. Is it ever coming back? Or is there another shortcut/workaround that’s not so ridiculous?

If not, the app is near-useless for my use cases.

 

Library search is due back soon, so that will hopefully be a way to more quickly get to an artist. It was supposed to be back mid June but I guess they were overly optimistic in their prediction. In terms of better scrolling for long lists, I’d imagine it would be something they will eventually add back, but might not be high on their list of priorities given all the other issues.

J
Userlevel 1
Badge

Thanks osm.

I’m appalled with the situation and can’t ever remember a company deliberating crippling its software so badly. The only conclusion I can gather from this is that their ultimate goal was/is to eliminate support for personal music libraries entirely.

Some of my use cases that are currently borked:

  • Creating playlists for use when practicing guitar
  • Creating playlists of backing tracks when busking
  • Social settings where I’m trying to play DJ and quickly find the next track to play
Pete314
Userlevel 1
Badge
  1. Why does sonos need GPS turned on for me to use the remote?  Make this go away.
  2. Why does sonos need to advertise their products on the bloated controller app?  I already have thousands of dollars of your bricks.
  3. Why did sonos remove the statement in the privacy statement about not selling personal data?


Sonos should make big software “Upgrades” like this optional by offering a new full version of the controller in the app stores in addition to the current.  Make it easy for us to roll back.

jgatie
  1. Why did sonos remove the statement in the privacy statement about not selling personal data?

 

https://en.community.sonos.com/owners%2Dcafe%2D228997/important%2Dupdate%2Dour%2Dcommitment%2Dto%2Dyour%2Dprivacy%2D6898094

 

O
Userlevel 6
Badge +8

Thanks osm.

I’m appalled with the situation and can’t ever remember a company deliberating crippling its software so badly. The only conclusion I can gather from this is that their ultimate goal was/is to eliminate support for personal music libraries entirely.

Personally, I don’t think that’s their goal. If they did that they’d be giving up a lot of enthusiast users and therefore a lot of potential brand evangelists. Also if they really did want to drop library support now would be the perfect opportunity to do it (brand new app), rather than include it in the new app and then remove it in a year or two.

I suspect they’ve just massively screwed up in their planning/coordination for the new app and new hardware for this year, and have ended up in a situation where they’ve been forced to release the new app months before it was ready (things probably went off schedule and there was probably no contingency plan for building support for new hardware into the old app).

A
Userlevel 4
Badge +3

Thanks osm.

I’m appalled with the situation and can’t ever remember a company deliberating crippling its software so badly. The only conclusion I can gather from this is that their ultimate goal was/is to eliminate support for personal music libraries entirely.

Personally, I don’t think that’s their goal. If they did that they’d be giving up a lot of enthusiast users and therefore a lot of potential brand evangelists. Also if they really did want to drop library support now would be the perfect opportunity to do it (brand new app), rather than include it in the new app and then remove it in a year or two.

I suspect they’ve just massively screwed up in their planning/coordination for the new app and new hardware for this year, and have ended up in a situation where they’ve been forced to release the new app months before it was ready (there was probably no contingency plan for building support for new hardware into the old app).

Yup. Hanlon's Razor: never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect, ignorance or incompetence 😊

J
Userlevel 1
Badge +5

Sonos owner since about 2008 .  Been disappointed with decisions the company has made on more than one occasion, especially rendering my equipment obsolete but generally got on with it because I like the products and how well they work.

This app update is the first time I’ve felt like the company just completely screwed up my system though.  Stuff I’ve been using, no longer available.  Stuff I knew how to do now impossible to figure out.  I don;t understand it and clearly I’m not alone.  This update to the app is a complete and utter failure no matter how you slice it.  

J

Hello Moderator - i downloaded the most recent version of the app version 80.03.07 and I am still unable to add songs to the end of the queue. When I attempt to add songs I receive a banner message that says “unable to add songs to queue.” I’m unable to click on the banner to receive more information.  Additionally sometimes the “Add to End of Queue” Option doesn’t appear.  Lastly I’m constantly getting a message that says “something went wrong. Try again.”  

What am i doing wrong?  Or how do I fix this?

S
Userlevel 5
Badge +9

Same here.

 

It's nice to have the volume numbers back though.

 

 

 

 

"I saw the Stooges and the MC5"
A
Userlevel 4
Badge +1

Forbes offers the following:

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

 

“… 

Learning From A Botched Upgrade

Here are four lessons to help providers avoid such a fate:

  1. Don’t rush the deployment of a software upgrade. Conduct rigorous testing and elicit feedback from a large diversity of stakeholders.
  2. Quickly acknowledge issues to the marketplace. Letting the community fester in the silence of the provider ensures that the situation will deteriorate.
  3. Provide the choice to return to the previous version of the software. There are times when a one-way option is the only option, but more often than not, a way to return to the original is good business. This option can be temporary as issues with the upgrade are resolved. Eventually older versions can be phased out.
  4. Never deliver an upgrade that is missing essential functions with the promise they may return in the future. While it’s okay to add new features in the future, it’s never okay to eliminate existing features people rely on and may have been the basis for their purchase in the first place.

The user experience is everything. It can be costly to get it wrong.“

 

I think it’s worth pointing out that Sonos failed on all four lessons. 

Can a class action lawsuit be far behind?

M
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

I’m tempted, but would greatly resent having to pay $150 per year for something that was working just fine a few months ago.

A couple questions MatF if you have a minute--and happen to know.

  • On the mobile version, when presented with a list of artists (e.g.), is there an alphabet slider or chooser available (so I don’t have to scroll through dozens of pages)?
  • Can it access a library served up on an ubuntu machine?

Completely agree re: the cost.  I was already using Roon for my music room (I have a Roon-Ready amplifier), so it's no additional cost for me, but having to pay extra to replace the Sonos app functionality would certainly grind my gears.

On the Q's:

  • Not a slider, but in the artist list (or album list etc) you can just hit the search/filter button and start typing the name.  The list updates as you type.
  • The Roon server setup can access music on any local folder or network share.  That's one big difference between Roon and Sonos - you need to have a Roon server running on your local network.  There is a Linux Roon Server download, so you may be able to install the server software on the ubuntu machine itself.  I had an old spare Dell Optiplex Micro PC, so made that my Roon Server (running Windows 11).  It accesses my local library (FLAC) from a Synology NAS share.  I use my PC or phone to control it.

One thing I really like about Roon is that it merges your local library with your streaming “collection”.  The only streaming service I use is Tidal, and all the artists/albums/etc that are in my Tidal “collection” appear in the Roon “My Music” lists alongside my local library FLAC files.  See second image below - it just puts a Tidal logo on the Tidal-sourced music (circled in red).  You can filter that list to only show local music, or Tidal music, or both.  Can also use the same search/filter functionality to find an album (circled in blue).

Image 1 - searching/filtering in artist list


Image 2 - Merged Tidal and local libraries.

 

J
Userlevel 1
Badge

Thanks osm.

I’m appalled with the situation and can’t ever remember a company deliberating crippling its software so badly. The only conclusion I can gather from this is that their ultimate goal was/is to eliminate support for personal music libraries entirely.

Personally, I don’t think that’s their goal. If they did that they’d be giving up a lot of enthusiast users and therefore a lot of potential brand evangelists. Also if they really did want to drop library support now would be the perfect opportunity to do it (brand new app), rather than include it in the new app and then remove it in a year or two.

I suspect they’ve just massively screwed up in their planning/coordination for the new app and new hardware for this year, and have ended up in a situation where they’ve been forced to release the new app months before it was ready (there was probably no contingency plan for building support for new hardware into the old app).

Yup. Hanlon's Razor: never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect, ignorance or incompetence 😊

Fair point. It’s hard to believe that someone could be that incompetent, thought. The whole thing about “bravery” struck me as amazingly tone-deaf, and oddly ignorant about how die-hard this segment of their customers is.

J
Userlevel 1
Badge

I’m tempted, but would greatly resent having to pay $150 per year for something that was working just fine a few months ago.

A couple questions MatF if you have a minute--and happen to know.

  • On the mobile version, when presented with a list of artists (e.g.), is there an alphabet slider or chooser available (so I don’t have to scroll through dozens of pages)?
  • Can it access a library served up on an ubuntu machine?

Completely agree re: the cost.  I was already using Roon for my music room (I have a Roon-Ready amplifier), so it's no additional cost for me, but having to pay extra to replace the Sonos app functionality would certainly grind my gears.

On the Q's:

  • Not a slider, but in the artist list (or album list etc) you can just hit the search/filter button and start typing the name.  The list updates as you type.
  • The Roon server setup can access music on any local folder or network share.  That's one big difference between Roon and Sonos - you need to have a Roon server running on your local network.  There is a Linux Roon Server download, so you may be able to install the server software on the ubuntu machine itself.  I had an old spare Dell Optiplex Micro PC, so made that my Roon Server (running Windows 11).  It accesses my local library (FLAC) from a Synology NAS share.  I use my PC or phone to control it.

One thing I really like about Roon is that it merges your local library with your streaming “collection”.  The only streaming service I use is Tidal, and all the artists/albums/etc that are in my Tidal “collection” appear in the Roon “My Music” lists alongside my local library FLAC files.  See second image below - it just puts a Tidal logo on the Tidal-sourced music (circled in red).  You can filter that list to only show local music, or Tidal music, or both.  Can also use the same search/filter functionality to find an album (circled in blue).

All very helpful, thanks.

Looks like it would pay off in about 6 years if one bought the lifetime membership… but wow that’s a chunk of money that is hard to admit all at once.

Cheers!

M
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

All very helpful, thanks.

Looks like it would pay off in about 6 years if one bought the lifetime membership… but wow that’s a chunk of money that is hard to admit all at once.

Cheers!

No probs - yeah, it's also been bought out by Harmon, so fingers crossed they don't ruin it.

I'll most likely use Roon to play to my Sonos speakers for now, and over time slowly replace them with something else that plays nicely with Roon.  I have no confidence in Sonos any more.

Rhonny
Userlevel 7
Badge +11

 

Can a class action lawsuit be far behind?


Yes.

B
Userlevel 2

Hi Everyone

We moderators of the community - @Corry P, @Jamie A & @Sotiris C. - wanted to take an opportunity to explain some of what is currently happening on the community.

First of all, we value all the feedback you are providing about the new Sonos App. We hear you. Feedback is coming in fast and thick, however - for understandable reasons - and to be frank, we are having trouble just keeping up with it all. For this reason, some topics that have not yet been replied to will go unanswered. We will, however, do our best to amalgamate some of these separate threads into bigger, related threads (such as one big thread for Alarm complaints and another for Queue Management) to be answered en-mass. The threads that are feedback on other aspects of the new app will be merged with this post.

Threads that describe issues such as missing rooms and app crashes (those that are not just feedback, in other words) will be answered, as will threads not relating to the new app in anyway, but these will take a bit longer than normal.

Please be aware that we are reading every post, we are recording and collating all feedback, and all of it will be passed over to the app software development team. In addition, we are doing our best to identify previously unidentified issues and report them to our technical teams.

We know many of you are concerned about certain features going missing, so let us take this opportunity to say that the following features are coming back:

  • Alarms management
  • Sleep timers
  • Queue management
  • Playlist editing

In addition and contrary to some speculation, local Music Library is not going anywhere, though SMBv1 support has been permanently removed. Local Music Library searching is something that is still being worked on.

We’d also like to thank everyone who has taken it upon themselves to help others here with their questions and concerns - we appreciate you all!

Thanks for listening - take care of yourselves, and each other.

 

Combined threads:

General feedback (not relating specifically to those below):

Queue management: 

Alarms:

Playlists: 

Music Library:

Sleep Timers:

 

Please note that there is an official statement that can be read here.

Thank you but it is not clear to me you have Sonos Playlist in your scope.  We need to be able to access our current playlist and creat new ones.

There is a very simple solution. Pull this ***** useless app until it is working and re-instate the old app. If you get the new one fit for purpose, it certainly isn’t now, then you can reintroduce it.

 

Old adage: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. But if you do, bring in something that alsi isn’t broke. The new one certainly is.

S
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

Hi Everyone

We moderators of the community - @Corry P, @Jamie A & @Sotiris C. - wanted to take an opportunity to explain some of what is currently happening on the community.

First of all, we value all the feedback you are providing about the new Sonos App. We hear you. Feedback is coming in fast and thick, however - for understandable reasons - and to be frank, we are having trouble just keeping up with it all. For this reason, some topics that have not yet been replied to will go unanswered. We will, however, do our best to amalgamate some of these separate threads into bigger, related threads (such as one big thread for Alarm complaints and another for Queue Management) to be answered en-mass. The threads that are feedback on other aspects of the new app will be merged with this post.

Threads that describe issues such as missing rooms and app crashes (those that are not just feedback, in other words) will be answered, as will threads not relating to the new app in anyway, but these will take a bit longer than normal.

Please be aware that we are reading every post, we are recording and collating all feedback, and all of it will be passed over to the app software development team. In addition, we are doing our best to identify previously unidentified issues and report them to our technical teams.

We know many of you are concerned about certain features going missing, so let us take this opportunity to say that the following features are coming back:

  • Alarms management
  • Sleep timers
  • Queue management
  • Playlist editing

In addition and contrary to some speculation, local Music Library is not going anywhere, though SMBv1 support has been permanently removed. Local Music Library searching is something that is still being worked on.

We’d also like to thank everyone who has taken it upon themselves to help others here with their questions and concerns - we appreciate you all!

Thanks for listening - take care of yourselves, and each other.

 

Combined threads:

General feedback (not relating specifically to those below):

Queue management: 

Alarms:

Playlists: 

Music Library:

Sleep Timers:

 

Please note that there is an official statement that can be read here.

Thank you but it is not clear to me you have Sonos Playlist in your scope.  We need to be able to access our current playlist and creat new ones.

There is a very simple solution. Pull this ***** useless app until it is working and re-instate the old app. If you get the new one fit for purpose, it certainly isn’t now, then you can reintroduce it.

 

Old adage: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. But if you do, bring in something that alsi isn’t broke. The new one certainly is.

I doubt it ‘simple’ and the only realistic window to roll back was between the first app launch and the new firmware update. Why? According to the firmware vs app version post the new firmware + old S2 app = Cross-version compatibility mode will block out access to all of Settings and Setup.

Any roll back to the old S2 app will require a firmware downgrade to restore full functionality and I doubt there is a robust client facing process for that.

It can’t even be a global roll back either as that would break more things for Ace and Roam 2 owners.

Sonos made its position clear with the statement from the CEO and the AMA and hasn’t changed its position or given any suggestion it will.

Ultimately it’s core business is shifting boxes of average sounding speakers, so as long as the boxes keep shifting and the board are happy the CEO is fulfilling their requirements things will continue as they are.

Personally I made my decision that the company behaviour, attitude towards its customers and future direction isn’t one I am willing to continue supporting and have found a suitable replacement.

Some people have faith that eventually the software will be fixed and the best thing to do is wait.

The longer people continue to have things that are not working for them, the more likely they are to find alternatives, but to Sonos we aren’t a regular guaranteed income stream anyway.

You need to decide for yourself whether to find alternatives or wait and hope, because I don’t see the old app coming back no matter how many people ask. The point in time for that to happen is long gone.

B
Userlevel 2

Interesting. Of course the problem is that many of us are heavily invested.

 

I have 3 Play 1s and 2 Play 3s only 8 years old. I expect a longer use out of them.

 

I wish smart speakers were around when I bought them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rhonny
Userlevel 7
Badge +11

I have 3 Play 1s and 2 Play 3s only 8 years old. I expect a longer use out of them.

 

8 years old is ancient in tech years now… 

B
Userlevel 2

When you are in for north of £900 for a music system, you are entitled to expect longer. My PC is 8 years old and works fine. Sonos is not tech; it is delivery. Nothing different from a television.

 

The real issue is that the reason my investment is unuseable has nothing to do with obsolescence but due to imcomptent managemen and programming.

Rhonny
Userlevel 7
Badge +11

TVs are delivery, correct. But have you seen 2024 TVs compared to 2016 TVs??

Lossless, high res, Atmos, and Airplay were not a thing when you bought your speakers. You might not want or use those, and you may well disagree, but I’m afraid your speakers are now verging on obsolete. Even once the app is fully functioning, they will be next to lose Sonos support, not long down the line.

 

B
Userlevel 2

Fair enough if that were the problem. I can use them till they are truly obsolete or I choose to upgrade.

 

This app is not obsolescence,  it is scorched earth.

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