The awe and pain of Apple Music integration

Outside of items not included in the Sonos API, the vast majority of feature implementaion is the responsibility of the music service themselves, so in all likelihood your complaint is better aimed towards Apple than Sonos. Though it is hard to say, because your statement is quite vague. Is there a particular feature set you are missing?

Sorry, my post went up before it was completed. The SONOS experience does not provide an interface for Like, Unlike, or Love ie no way of improving the music experience. It feels as if there is no learning when using SONOS through Apple Music. The UX is incomplete and much less rewarding than Apple Music through IOS or itunes. I also don't want to blame Apple for SONOS implementation and or API integration. If SONOS wants to retain users they need to make the experience seamless. Yes the sound is great, yes the room to room experience is great, but the daily user experience is sub par when it comes to music selection.

So if you don't think Apple's integration is complete, why aren't you telling this to Apple? They're the ones who did the majority of the development against Sonos' published API, just like all the other service providers. I'll never understand Apple fanboyz...

1) The Sonos API fully supports like/dislike functions. Therefore the implementation of these are wholly up to Apple.

2) You may not like blaming Apple, not many Apple fans do. But alas, they are indeed to blame. Sorry to ruin your day. :(

3) If you want the experience seemless, then good news: Sonos has enabled Direct Control from native third party apps. This means you could control Sonos directly from the Apple Music app. However ( I'm sure you saw this coming), implementation of this is also up to Apple, because Sonos doesn't develop the Apple Music app.

good news: Sonos has enabled Direct Control from native third party apps. This means you could control Sonos directly from the Apple Music app.
Still something I do not fully understand about this statement - is this enabling of direct control part of the Sonos controller version in which the Spotify direct control was released? Because it seems to me that Sonos did a lot of work to enable Spotify direct control, so unless this were to be the case - that there is also now a generic Direct Control capability bundled into that release - something similar would be needed for Apple music direct control?

good news: Sonos has enabled Direct Control from native third party apps. This means you could control Sonos directly from the Apple Music app.
Still something I do not fully understand about this statement - is this enabling of direct control part of the Sonos controller version in which the Spotify direct control was released? Because it seems to me that Sonos did a lot of work to enable Spotify direct control, so unless this were to be the case - that there is also now a generic Direct Control capability bundled into that release - something similar would be needed for Apple music direct control?

All the work done with Spotify ceates a generic interface for all to use. No sane company would do all that work for a custom one-off. This is not 1970s Big Iron Software Engineering, there is most certainly a generic API. Sonos has also stated they wish to allow all services to use Direct Control via the native app. They wouldn't say that without an API to do it.

Think of it like your first apartment. You need pots, pans, dishes, towels, basic tools, etc. Every place you move to after that, you may need a few items, but you never need to rebuy the stuff you already have. So the API is the stuff, Spotify is the first apartment, and all the other services are every place after that.

Now would Apple need to do some work on their end? Well yes. How much? That depends on how robust and complete the API is. I imagine it is pretty mature, considering the current Music Partners API is what allows Sonos to easily and seamlessly add dozens of music services whereas their competitors only have a few.

That depends on how robust and complete the API is. I imagine it is pretty mature, considering the current Music Partners API is what allows Sonos to easily and seamlessly add dozens of music services whereas their competitors only have a few.
I get what you are saying, but if you recall - and if I remember right - the Apple Music integration into the Sonos controller was done by Sonos via a controller release and not by Apple via the Music Partners API which was used by folks like Calm Radio. Apple therefore seemed to get special treatment then even though a mature Music Partners API had been around for some time before Apple Music was launched.

Which is why I am still not sure whose court this Direct Control ball is in. And why no one from Sonos is clarifying things by commenting here.

Sonos is never going to speak about whose court the ball is in. It's not professional to point fingers, even if the finger is pointing the right way.

As I understand it, the Music Partners API was expanded for Apple Music, which is why there needed to be a concurrent firmware release. Similar to the release with Spotify and the new apartment, moving to a much bigger apartment like Apple may require a little more "stuff", and no matter how little stuff is needed, you still have to make a trip to the home goods store. 😃

Also to add, there are a lot of logistical elements at work which have nothing to with the API. Adding several million Apple Music users without crashing the AWS servers is a bit different from adding 100 Deadheads to Live Phish. Hence the extra work seen with Apple and Spotify.

Hence the extra work seen with Apple and Spotify.
Right, so in this case it might not be just something to be followed up now with Apple to get the Direct Control feature, but a joint effort by Sonos and Apple; and my expectation of a Sonos comment was not for seeing how the finger is pointing, but on when the Apple Direct Control is expected to be delivered under the circumstances.