I do not like the new Ap. I would prefer to go back to the previous Ap. This should be a possibility if one does not like new ap.
I have many Sonos devices. When you want to change from one sonos in a room to another you have to check both rooms and get that working then remove the room you do not want. You cant just jump from room to room.
It is dificult to find streaming stations you want. The old Ap had much friendlier selection process.
I have many Sonos devices. When you want to change from one sonos in a room to another you have to check both rooms and get that working then remove the room you do not want.
Actually, you don't: you're using the room grouping shortcut on the 'Now Playing' screen instead of the room selection function in the 'Rooms' tab. This is a usability defect that Sonos should address in the next update or two. Seems like a lot of people are confused by it, and I can understand why.
What you need to do instead: Leave the Now Playing screen (swipe down or down arrow), then from the bottom tab bar, choose Rooms, then select the room you want. All other actions then apply to this room.
Ever heard of the saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" - I find the new app to be a major disappointment. I used to group rooms and select music for different rooms with no problem. Now I find myself changing music in different rooms without intention. And where is my list of Music Services! 😠
Group using the Rooms tab, it brings up a screen like you are used to. Sources are under the Browse tab, the same screen as before without the clutter of Alarms, Settings, etc..
Please make it possible to revert back to 7.3. That version is excellent already: Intuitive and dark, a charm to use daily even hourly. On top of that free from any voice recognition services (hooray!). From 8.0 and up it got really bad, even so to a point I (and my family) use Sonos far less. If it takes a lot longer for a severe skin-fix or possibility to go back to 7.3 I fall out of love with Sonos and will sell my devices. Sorry for being so blunt, but this update feels bluntly enforced (no warning ahead) so I just fire it back.
Hi. Trying to upgrade my controllers to the latest 8.1.1 with the bug fixes. Was successful with my Android Phone but having some difficulty with my Windows 8.1 Controller. I am prompted to "Let's Do It" or "Later". When I select "Let's Do it" Sonos just crashes. Has been doing this for two days every time I try to Update. Ideas? Anyone else had the same issue.....haven't seen it dealt with explicitly in forums?
I've used the new version, and checked my attitude, and tried to forget the past but ... like many, I still want an option for a darker background -- or reversion to previous UI. ... PLEASE?
You know what I would love to see? Those persons claiming they can't get anything done in the new app sit with those who claim that it is rather straight forward. I would like the former group to demonstrate the causes of their frustration i.e. show why things are so difficult. I would love to sit with one such person - because I am very curious to see the nightmare expressed and DEMONSTRATED!!!
You know what I would love to see? Those persons claiming they can't get anything done in the new app sit with those who claim that it is rather straight forward.
Burt, I can't speak for others, but my request for a darker (and possibly reverted or multi-skinned) interface stems from an eye condition that makes bright light painful. The stark, mostly white new interface is literally a pain in the brain for people like me. Even those who don't have this condition make a good point about the annoyance of using the app in darkened rooms (it's brighter than my flashlight app), and general eyestrain when on extended searches, playlist creation, etc.
I doubt people mean they literally can't get anything done, but the new UI isn't as user-friendly as the previous version so most actions take us longer to perform.
Hope that helps your perplexity a little.
Amen, MoxyP. I seriously don't even want to turn on music at night from bed because of the BRIGHT WHITE screen! Don't get me started on the complete waste of space and HUMONGOUS icons! Ugh. Sonos is awesome, but I HATE the app. 😞
And it would seem that Ryan S has given up responding...
Maybe he is spending all his time getting the devs / mngt to do the right thing? :?
And it would seem that Ryan S has given up responding...
I'm making sure your feedback gets to the right places, it's been pretty busy of late so I haven't had a lot of time to reply to everyone.
We're still reading and speaking with the team.
And it would seem that Ryan S has given up responding...
I'm making sure your feedback gets to the right places, it's been pretty busy of late so I haven't had a lot of time to reply to everyone.
We're still reading and speaking with the team.
Thank you Ryan.
I've expanded on this topic elsewhere so will just voice my opinion briefly here. The new app is a sidestep. It's more visually appealing certainly, but some of the ease of use has been lost. Easiest quick solution to address some of this as others have pointed out is making the bottom Nav bar a static element - don't let it disappear. It's the core of the new system and needs to remain visible. (And if it were always visible it would be easy to add different icon state for the active section, e.g. Rooms, Browse, etc., so that one knew at a glance exactly where they were in the UI. That would go far.)
The strength of the previous version is the logical "place" for each thing you want to change in the system and a unified way to access each area. Speakers/Rooms/Groups were in one place on screen, always to the left or on top (app type depending). Sources in another - to the left in mobile and to the right in PC. Settings were deeper in the menus which made sense. Its now all in one place and always at least one or two extra swipes/taps to do what took one or two total swipes/taps before. That's it in a handbag (IMO).
Well Ryan, good to hear you're still listening. Share this with the dev and management team (from a 5 year former happy customer):
1. The white bright background is spoken enough about: bring it back to dark.
2. The "bar" is just chopping up the previous menu in an un-intuitive way. Does make things unnecessarily complex making me (and possibly others) have to think every time, even after a couple of weeks. I also use the Deezer app and it also has a bar which makes me always have to think... I was so glad Sonos did it differently.
3. The way to control rooms is complicated because of the bar. In the previous version it worked really well and intuitive.
4. "My sonos" degrades the system to a toy. If I remember correctly Windows 98 introduced the "my documents" folder. Why call something "my...". Microsoft realized it is childish and removed it gladly. Sonos still has to learn. Grow up!
5. Requiring a Sonos account to add new players is a laugh! No clear reason what is the reasoning but just this change alone keeps me from investing any further in players.
6. I forgot how the 7.3 (old privacy statement) worked in detail, just showcasing how intuitive it was. Why take that away from a customer that helped you become a leader in multi-room audio?
7. Who told Sonos everybody is into "voice recognition"? It is introduced as the next big thing, but do all existing customers HAVE to follow by being forced to accept a new privacy policy? I'm not interested at all. The less microphones (which are always on) in my house connected to internet the better.
8. The attitude displayed by Sonos enforcing all these changes without warning and without possibility to roll back is showcasing ignorance and arrogance. At this point I cannot recommend Sonos to anyone since this behavior makes further investment in players very unpredictable. And there is now way to install third party software on the players.
9. I've searched the forum for an apology or recognition in some way, but couldn't find one. Shame.
I can list a bit more annoyances but these a the key ones. All was good until 7.4 (new privacy policy) and 8.0 (white! and a bar?); you were best in class on all of these (at least for me). Why not try to keep the good? Is there so much pressure from competition to leave your key strengths and make unpredictable jumps?
I realize that by typing this up I do show I still care, but I have the feeling my wishes will never be reality anymore...with Sonos.
Sincerely
You know what I would love to see? Those persons claiming they can't get anything done in the new app sit with those who claim that it is rather straight forward.
Burt, I can't speak for others, but my request for a darker (and possibly reverted or multi-skinned) interface stems from an eye condition that makes bright light painful. The stark, mostly white new interface is literally a pain in the brain for people like me. Even those who don't have this condition make a good point about the annoyance of using the app in darkened rooms (it's brighter than my flashlight app), and general eyestrain when on extended searches, playlist creation, etc.
I doubt people mean they literally can't get anything done, but the new UI isn't as user-friendly as the previous version so most actions take us longer to perform.
Hope that helps your perplexity a little.
Have you read some of the comments on these threads???? Some have expressed themselves in such a strong way it would appear that the sky is falling. I too would prefer a darker screen. I think some other things may be considered such as putting the Room tabs first as it seems the most logical first step in using this new system - establish where you are listening first then go to what. I personally even think that My Sonos could be cleverly morphed into Browse. Notwithstanding these observations I repeat that the new app took me 5 to 15 minutes to get a good sense of. Now I am totally comfortable.
We all have our experiences. I tell you neither my wife or I had any major issues - we just carried on enjoying the music. I maintain there was some rearranging but by and large the vast majority of functionality has remained unchanged.
I find the impact considerable less compared to when the queue management changes were introduced to the controller some time back. That actually changed the way things were done. This moves around the furniture a bit but all the chairs and appliances are still there doing the same things.
It is highly amusing to see all the requests for a staid always visible bar...when we had exactly that a while ago on the tri sectional blue app...a version that was as far as possible perfect for what this is. a MULTI ROOM MUSIC SYSTEM..upon opening that app it gave you instantly the rooms available,sources of music and now playing....all in one screen....one tap,to choose a room....one tap to choose source and one tap to play....every version since then has added more and more layers. why?..no reason just because change is good whatever the result...
You know what I would love to see? Those persons claiming they can't get anything done in the new app sit with those who claim that it is rather straight forward.
Burt, I can't speak for others, but my request for a darker (and possibly reverted or multi-skinned) interface stems from an eye condition that makes bright light painful. The stark, mostly white new interface is literally a pain in the brain for people like me. Even those who don't have this condition make a good point about the annoyance of using the app in darkened rooms (it's brighter than my flashlight app), and general eyestrain when on extended searches, playlist creation, etc.
I doubt people mean they literally can't get anything done, but the new UI isn't as user-friendly as the previous version so most actions take us longer to perform.
Hope that helps your perplexity a little.
Have you read some of the comments on these threads???? Some have expressed themselves in such a strong way it would appear that the sky is falling. I too would prefer a darker screen. I think some other things may be considered such as putting the Room tabs first as it seems the most logical first step in using this new system - establish where you are listening first then go to what. I personally even think that My Sonos could be cleverly morphed into Browse. Notwithstanding these observations I repeat that the new app took me 5 to 15 minutes to get a good sense of. Now I am totally comfortable.
We all have our experiences. I tell you neither my wife or I had any major issues - we just carried on enjoying the music. I maintain there was some rearranging but by and large the vast majority of functionality has remained unchanged.
I find the impact considerable less compared to when the queue management changes were introduced to the controller some time back. That actually changed the way things were done. This moves around the furniture a bit but all the chairs and appliances are still there doing the same things.
Yes i had the same reaction from my wife when i told her the dining table and chairs which had previously been grouped together in the dining room were now spread randomly around the house and no i wasn’t going to tell her where she could work it out for herself....
The time that a lot of you guys spend making provocative points could have been spent actually seeking to adjust to the changes. Because truth is they likely won’t change back to the way it used to be. Hopefully there will be some consideration of feedback.
But my point is these changes are not akin to separation the dining room chairs from the table. It is more like reorienting the bed in the master bedroom. The bed is still there and you can do all you could have on it before you moved it. But it’s just a matter of perspective.
It is highly amusing to see all the requests for a staid always visible bar...when we had exactly that a while ago on the tri sectional blue app...a version that was as far as possible perfect for what this is. a MULTI ROOM MUSIC SYSTEM..upon opening that app it gave you instantly the rooms available,sources of music and now playing....all in one screen....one tap,to choose a room....one tap to choose source and one tap to play....every version since then has added more and more layers. why?..no reason just because change is good whatever the result...I can understand that point of view. I think users' perceptions may be highly influenced by whether they previously used the tablet form of the app, which had everything on display on one screen, or the phone version, which didn't. It seems Sonos have tried to 'harmonise' the apps along phone app lines. Thus it seems a much bigger adjustment for the tablet users than for phone users. It may also explain the mutual incomprehension between those who have struggled to understand what the fuss is about, and those who think the new app is a huge step backwards.
I just put that up as a theory. I am sure it isn't the full story. I am sure there are unhappy phone app users out there too. And on this occasion I am not trying to take sides. I just think it might explain some of what has happened. What do others think?
Your theory might be correct John. My take on it is that for whatever reason Sonos has decided to make its app resemble the typical design of many music stream apps (Deezer, Apple, Spotify etc). All of these services layout their apps in a very similar way. This design principle is also used on apps outside of music as well. I think that for some reason Sonos felt that it best to be in harmony with that approach.
I personally cannot think of a technical or other explanation for NEEDING the change. I think the previous version was fine.
I am not against ppl preferring the old app as I said I kinda do too. But I will continue to be perplexed by the world is coming to an end reaction at the same time. Because I maintain the layout is not hard to adjust to with moderate effort........not better......but can be followed.
The big thing is people do not understand why. And I suppose for acceptance ppl need to have a sense of the possible betterment or opportunity. Sadly for Sonos even for ppl like me who are ok with the change, the why is totally unclear.
I think its amusing that those complaining about the pain inflicted by the bright white actually sit on this site typing their missives on a mostly bright white screen. Gotta love irony.
I can understand that point of view. I think users' perceptions may be highly influenced by whether they previously used the tablet form of the app, which had everything on display on one screen, or the phone version, which didn't. It seems Sonos have tried to 'harmonise' the apps along mobile app lines. Thus it seems a much bigger adjustment for the tablet users than for phone users. It may also explain the mutual incomprehension between those who have struggled to understand what the fuss is about, and those who think the new app is a huge step backwards.
I just put that up as a theory. I am sure it isn't the full story. I am sure there are unhappy phone app users out there too. And on this occasion I am not trying to take sides. I just think it might explain some of what has happened. What do others think?
I think that's very true - I use the PC and tablet versions of the apps most - and in a dimly lit environment when we have friends round then I use the tablet only. Day to day, I just use a phone to play/pause the music - nothing more complex.
So, to me, the last really good versions of the software were 4.x - subtle, good to use in dim lighting and comprehensive - all available from a simple three pane screen. Others see that as dated, as bright and shiny seems fashionable now.
Luckily the PC version hasn't changed (yet), but the tablet app has become very irritating, wasting screen space and being far too bright even when making simple changes (e.g. selecting more music) - and I'm still on 7.x!
It seems likely that Sonos monitor the types of device used and found that more and more people are using their phones, hence the focus on designing for small devices - so we end up with a UI designed to work on the limited real estate of phones that seems way out of step with what can be (and has been) achieved on a tablet sized screen.
I think its amusing that those complaining about the pain inflicted by the bright white actually sit on this site typing their missives on a mostly bright white screen. Gotta love irony.To be fair, if they want to contribute, they don't have much choice.
I think its amusing that those complaining about the pain inflicted by the bright white actually sit on this site typing their missives on a mostly bright white screen. Gotta love irony.
Lol. I came across this just when I was reflecting that if I get up to open and look at the Mac at night with unadapted eyes, it is truly painful for a while, needing squinting; the app on my phone is nowhere as bad. Maybe because I have my phone brightness dialled way down always, to extend charge life among other reasons. Maybe not - it is a puzzle as are the complaints that the system is broken. Perhaps the white is more of an iPad problem.
[t seems likely that Sonos monitor the types of device used and found that more and more people are using their phones, hence the focus on designing for small devices - so we end up with a UI designed to work on the limited real estate of phones that seems way out of step with what can be (and has been) achieved on a tablet sized screen.I think that is right. I can see an argument for a unified design. For new users, everything looks the same, and they don't come with our 'baggage'. Or if they do, the baggage looks like the phone app. But as you say, this way you don't take full advantage of what a larger, landscape screen can hold. I am not going to make a judgement.
I also think that Sonos could have softened the blow by not changing the visuals at the same time, and by offering more explanation.
