@Keith N I would like to have seen a clear commitment to more frequent, transparent communications with greater detail on what is fixed, what is broken and what we can expect in the near future. 

A comment. After 5 months of dealing with this POS system this isn’t nearly enough.
 

But whatever this means in terms of new process to avoid big or small issues in the future I hope it works. 

Hi @Keith N, the commitment at https://www.sonos.com/en-us/blog/commitments mentions:

More than 80% of the app’s missing features have been reintroduced and the company expects to have almost 100% restored in the coming weeks.

I don't believe Sonos is even close to 50% of the missing features. Please, share with the team this list of pending issues: https://github.com/amp64/sonosbugtracker/issues

The description of the “Appoint a Quality Ombudsperson” appears to be identical to the description for “Demonstrate humility when introducing changes”.

It’s just a copy and paste issue of you check the link the details are there.

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/blog/commitments 

Looking forward, the measures make sense and will work in my opinion.  All missing features restored in the upcoming weeks needs to happen asap, but the urgency and focus on the app is obviously the right thing to do right now.  Look forward to hearing more about the trade desk partnership and future product developments at the ER in early November.

If it all feasible, I think it would helpful to establish certain versions of the firmware/apps software that customers can install  and still be supported, particularly if a major change exists in new versions.  This could work similar to S1, but these versions would not be supported forever, just until consumer confidence in the current version is well established. I’m not suggesting that Sonos support all versions at all times, just that the establish 1 or 2 anchor points that users can rollback to, or stay on, if they are not comfortable moving forward.

I realize this is rather difficult to do with Apple products since they don’t allow side loading and it could put a  significant strain on support.  Perhaps it’s not really needed if the ‘opt-in’ architecture works well.  Just a thought.

This statement is rather vague, and probably needs to be quantified in some manner.  Maybe it is internally measured.  From a customer perspective though, it’s likely going to look bad unless Sonos makes huge undeniable progress in customer satisfaction.  If the goals are met, but there are a significant number of customers don’t agree, this will look like an empty promise.  Given how the internet tends to amplify those that are not content over those that are, this seems likely.   If the goals are not met, then customers are obviously still not happy.   Feels like a lose/lose proposition unless you totally knock it out of the park.

"Quality Ombudsperson," because nothing says innovation like creating a job title no one can pronounce. 

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/ombudsperson

That's a lot of arm waving without saying much.

Try delivering as promised and on time. For example, zero mention of "TrueCinema” on the Ace since the feature was discussed live in June with plan to rollout by the end of July. Today's October 1st....

 

Actions speak louder than words… 

Cut the Sonos girls & guys some slack, won't you. They know as well as we do they messed up big time. Now they're trying to make things better. Maybe they'll succeed in gaining back our trust. I for one hope they will, for their hardware still is great. Maybe the app will be great one day also. For the time being, I agree with @Ian_S: actions speak louder than words. Let's wait and see.

They're focusing on getting the App better instead of TrueCinema because only 8 people bought Ace so far.

I have written to Patrick recently to get clarification on how the company is going to delight us users. The reply was a canned response without answering the question.  
 

Keith, can you elaborate on what I have to look forward to as a delight? My speakers are already out of warranty, so the extended warranty does not delight me. Engineering just figured out what was wrong with my speakers last week and they are finally working after four months.   Brian

I’ll be looking to see what Sonos is planning to do to improve the Beta testing process and the user experience for folks that join it.

Sonos will have to discuss that as Beta testers are not allowed to do so.

The most important commitment Sonos could make to its customers is to resist the urge to fix what ain’t broke. 

I was completely satisfied with my Sonos system as it was prior to the May shakeup; and contemplated adding a soundbar for my flat panel tv, adding my fourth stereo pair in another room and updating an existing stereo pair of play1 speakers with ERA 100s. 

And then came chaos. 

I’ve downloaded the latest version of the iOS app. Other than the ability to save new ‘Sonos playlists,’ I seem to have what I need. A few annoyances remain - returning to the top of the queue rather than to the track currently playing is definitely a pain. But in the main, my system is functional again. Five months later.

So please, all of you Sonos rocket scientists. Fix some of the remaining bugs. Then leave well enough alone! 

Everything that comes from Sonos at this point just sounds like a load of corporate ********. These ”commitments” means nothing until we see what they actually will make happen. So I won’t get my hopes up just yet. 

Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.

Good list. Plus Besides the complete lack of functionality, sluggishness 2 big things still for me are no EQ from the volume sliders and previous searches just gives you the item you chose not the actual search term used. Again I have to say the entire app is just terrible and honestly feels like sabotage. Unbelievable they cannot/will not tweak the old app and give it back to us if they truly care about customer satisfaction. Most days it is still a brick 🧱 and we have had to setup other systems. Have not, will not purchase any more products and still hope a class action lawsuit is possible as 10k in  hardware is languishing in purgatory. 

Nice

 It’s hard to have sympathy for anyone at Sonos. Insiders were selling their stock before this incompetent app was introduced. I’d be more impressed if the people responsible for this mess were fired.

BTW Today’s WSJ’s “Heard on The Street” column addresses a small part of this: “Sonos is Still Reeling From App Fiasco.”

Where’s the sympathy for the customers and stock owners?

How about fixing Spotify Playlists? Since May, I’ve only been able to access 50 of my Spotify Playlists using iOS devices, and I’ve read similar complaints MANY times. Most Spotify users can only see their last 50 playlists. Unacceptable. It’s a music playing app and we can’t access our music. Hmmmmm. 

Keith, do everyone a favour (and yourselves) and rollback the app to the original!! This new app is garbage. Nothing but problems. Can’t stand it. 

As @Ian_S says, actions speak louder than words… after the way everything has been handled so far the announcement reads like corporate rearranging the deck chairs than an actual call to action with some real change occurring.

Only time will tell, but occasional announcements and basically requesting patience and loyalty from users who have been on the receiving end of a wall of silence and had their system features downgraded then drip fed back to them in various states of working over the past 5 months isn’t a good starting point for regaining trust.

Blah buzzwords blah blah blah.

What interests me with having a non reliable, frustratingly expensive buggy system is..

Increase the stringency of our pre-launch testing phases. Our beta testing program will include a broader range of customers and more diverse setups

Who beta tested the new app?  I knew within minutes that it was shocking with my systems not functioning as intended anymore.