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Mike H
Retired Sonos Staff
May 14, 2024
Interview

Sonos App Redesign AMA

  • May 14, 2024
  • 770 replies
  • 65997 views
Sonos App Redesign AMA

Today is the day of the AMA!

The new app design has been out for a week, and most of you have had a chance to get used to the new UI.

Some of you might have questions when you have had a week to get to know the new Sonos App interface. Because of that, we want to give you all a chance to ask some of the people who were integral in its creation and design, the questions that have come to mind while you have used the app.

As we mentioned in the event.

Our panelists will be:

  • Diane Roberts, Senior Director of Software Development
  • Kate Wojogbe, Senior Director of User Experience
  • Tucker Severson, Director of Product Management

It will be hosted on the 14th of May from 11:00 until 14:00 GMT -07.

But instead of me telling you what they do and what their role with the app update has been, here are their own introductions:

 

Diane

Diane Roberts is the Senior Director of Software Engineering and Product Management at Sonos responsible for the Sonos Apps. Her group of cross-disciplinary teams build Configuration, Control, and Content experiences on a foundation of Core mobile application technologies. She received dual Bachelors’ of Science in Computer Science and Music from WPI. Diane holds 6 granted patents as a co-inventor.

 

Kate

As Senior Director of User Experience, Kate leads the UX team responsible for Sonos’ home audio hardware, software, and app user experiences. This includes user interfaces on speakers and soundbars, setup for hardware and services, first and third party content experiences, and a variety of methods of control of the Sonos system. Kate graduated from the University of California Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Design.

 

Tucker

Tucker Severson is the Director of Product Management and leads the PM team responsible for the Sonos Apps. Tucker received his BA from Bates College and his MBA from the University of Vermont.

 

We will do our best to answer as many of your questions as possible within the 3-hour window, but we can’t promise to answer every question, especially those you know we can’t discuss.

But if we see a question repeated or a reply getting a lot of likes, don’t worry. We will prioritize those to ensure that many people get the answers they seek.

 

Remember, we can’t talk about things on the roadmap - but if you have questions or feedback about the app redesign, want to know more about our panelists, like their background or favorite band, then the sky is the (cough cough.. NDA) limit!

Thank you, everyone, for participating. We covered as many of the most asked questions as possible. We know tracking the responses wasn't as easy as we had hoped. But we wanted to let the community air frustrations and have their questions answered.

I got a lot of DMs during the AMA, and I will be sure to answer them when I can. Thanks for reaching out!

Keith and I will work on recapping all the questions and feedback we have responded to, and we will update the post here when that is complete. If we didn't get to your question, don't worry. Keith and I are grabbing all the feedback from this thread, even the things we didn't respond to, and ensuring the right people will see the message. This was the first time we created a live AMA in the community, and we learned a lot for future AMAs.

We appreciate all the feedback and questions you gave through this AMA. It helps us understand your most significant feedback and your reasoning. We hear you, and we will ensure the right teams get your feedback. They are listening.

We look forward to rolling out the updates with features (new and old) as soon as they are ready. Keith shared an overview of the timeline for expecting these features to return to the app. Today was the first update, reintroducing alarms and improving the iOS voiceover.

We look forward to seeing your reactions to our future app developments. We hope you all appreciate the work our developers are putting into making the app as fast and easy to use as possible for the general user.
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770 replies

Contributor I
May 14, 2024

Just noticed that Sonos CEO Patrick Spence had been a senior executive at RIM/Blackberry for 14 years during its rise and downfall. He’s been at Sonos for 12, hope that’s not a bad sign...

Lyricist III
May 14, 2024

When alarms was able to be added back as soon as today, why was the app released when it was in such an incomplete state nearly a week ago? 
 

Today. Sonos APP has a new Update . I just upgraded the app,  but I dind´t seet the alarm I´m looking for it

 

Enthusiast II
May 14, 2024

What a FARCE.

Enthusiast I
May 14, 2024

I guess answers to the questions will be released in June when Legal has approved them and made sure they don’t accidently contain any phrase that might sound like an apology?

Enthusiast II
May 14, 2024

Please drop some emails to your favorite tech sites. This deserves reporting.

Enthusiast I
May 14, 2024

Re: Messages to update on iOS devices - Afraid to update right now!

 

I have so far only updated one device. Since I couldn’t do what I needed on that device, I’ve prevented my other devices from updating. So far, I can still use the older app on other devices, which I’m happy about. But now one of the other devices tells me I need a systems update. Is this a firmware update to the speakers, or an app update? If I continue to update the one device with the new app, will this ruin my ability to use the older app on the other devices? 

 

 

 

Do NOT update your speaker firmware.  It will break functions in the older version of the app.

KateW
Sonos Employee
May 14, 2024

Will we see numbers re-added to the volume adjusters or is Sonos sticking with this UI decision?

@danull  Yes - volume numbers will be returning to this UI. We are continuing to refine our volume UI based on user feedback and will soon be providing an update to these controls.  Volume numbers should be visible now in the grouping menu.

UX at Sonos
May 14, 2024

Just in case feedback will perhaps be read...beyond the many, many disappointing rollbacks people have commented on extensively, since the app updated my personally curated playlists have only appeared on the app maybe 10% of the time. That is true for both playlists culled on my local music (stored on a now largely inaccessible NAS) as well as from streaming sources. Only “pre-curated’ playlists created by streaming services are consistently appearing. 

Lyricist I
May 14, 2024

Off-topic, kinda.. They need to redesign their web app as well, look at those sliders..what does this even mean.

Enthusiast I
May 14, 2024

They’re really just blowing off this scheduled AMA? I’m in freaking Lithuania on a work trip, and I still made the effort to show up for this, because I have thousands of dollars invested in now nerly worthless Sonois hardware.

I’m kind of shocked they’re really this disrespectful of their customers, though I guess I shouldn’t be after the most recent app update.

On the bright side, maybe none of them are here becausde they all got fired.

This is what I expect from cheap no-name hardware, but Sonos and their prices? Absolutely egregious on all levels.