Retired Sonos Staff

Now Available, the New Sonos App

Introducing Navigation with Tabs:

The Sonos app now has five tabs visible at the bottom when not in the full playing screen. The tabs are My Sonos, Browse, Rooms, Search, and More. See here:

Now your most used options are available with just one click, and Now Playing is always just one tap away.

My Sonos
We’ve consolidated all your personally curated Sonos Playlists, music service playlists, and Sonos Favorites into one, easy to use page on the Sonos app. You can edit fields to move around the order, or delete them entirely. You can now have up to 40 favorites total, up from 32.

Browse
Browsing your music is even easier as it no longer hides your other options. You can browse and move to different rooms all while keeping your place in the browsing menu. There’s also a dock on the bottom of the app that gives you easy access to the navigation tabs. You can swipe it up to reveal it at any time, then back down. We’ve separated browsing your music and the menu for Settings, so it’s even easier to find what you’re looking for.

Rooms
The menu starts highlighted on the active room, featured right on the app so that it’s even easier to see what’s playing in each room. There’s now an icon on that screen to show you where the music is coming from too. That includes if it was started by Alexa. The active room has a Group button to have it add others to the party.

Search
It hasn’t changed, just moved to an easy to find spot.

More...
All the settings and options are in here. You can add services, make alarms, get some help, and access all your settings. We think this will make it a lot easier to find what you’re looking for. And speaking of settings…

Explicit Language Filtering

Within Settings > Parental Controls, you can set a system-wide setting to filter songs with explicit content. Right now, this is working for Apple Music, and we’re hoping to add it for more services soon. Once the setting is on, Apple Music songs with the explicit tag will no longer play on your system.

Long Press to Group

Making it even easier to play music. With 8.0, you can press and hold the Play/Pause button (or mute on older players) to have your player join the most recently active player as a group. First, you have to start playing music on a player, (it can be from an alarm or any other source), and then just hold the button for a few seconds on another player. That second player will join the first one’s group and start playing the same music in sync.

There's another function of the long press, and that's being able to move recently stopped music to another room. First, stop playing music in any of your rooms. Then, press and hold the play/pause on another player for a few seconds. (Make sure that you don't start playing music anywhere else.) The queue or source will move to the unit you held the button for and start playing. The players won't group together and any existing queue will get whiped out in place of the new one.

iOS 11 and Android O Support

Lastly, version 8.0 has support for the latest operating systems from Android and iOS. This includes iOS 11 support for Trueplay on Sonos. Trueplay isn’t available on Android at this time.

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Show previous replies

jgatie

If you are attempting to change rooms by checking or unchecking the boxes next to room names, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!!!! That is for grouping only. Changing from one room to another can ONLY be done via the Rooms tab. Tap the Rooms tab, tap the room name (not the Group button) and the room will be selected down the bottom. Double tap the room from the Rooms tab and the Now Playing screen will pop up for that Room.

T

TheHellers

Enthusiast I

OK. I had no idea that they were different functions and I don't think I've ever been in the Rooms tab or even remember seeing it. I'm not at home now but will try it later.

Appreciate the help!

Steve

.How am I using them incorrectly? I've even tried selecting "Kitchen" and "Bedroom" at the same time and then, say, unchecking "Kitchen" but the app still would show it as "Kitchen". That's what I did in the old app and never had an issue.

If you could give me more detail that would be great, thanks. I'm not adverse to change as I'm in IT and I adapt pretty quickly to new technologies but I hate changes for the sake of change.

Steve
I can have a go 🙂 The primary purpose of the Rooms tab is to select the room which you want to control:

If I want to control the music in the Kitchen, I click on the bottom (black) Rooms tab, tap 'Kitchen' from the list of room tiles, then all subsequent UI actions apply to the Kitchen. I don't need to click on any other rooms. I can use the My Sonos, Browse and Search tabs, and start playback from any of these -- which then apply to the Kitchen because it's the selected room.

If I want to stop music in the Bedroom, I click on the bottom Rooms tab, click on 'Bedroom', tap the square stop icon. And so on.

The Rooms tab can also be used for grouping, by clicking the Group button on the display tile of each room.

J

jenlaster

Lyricist II

WORST APP UPDATE EVER! MAKES ME HATE MY SONOS SYSTEM

Guy_19

Enthusiast II

I've been a big complainer about the new app on here mainly due to the blinding white background. I haven't had a chance to use the app much due to that..until now. We both got new phones so I was forced to use the new app. And now I can list all the reasons that I do not like this new version at all. But first, Sonos, why not just apologize, put the old app back and start over? YouTube on my Roku recently did this (horrible updated, then suddenly they reverted back to the prior one). All I hear is that you're giving them feedback. Yet NOTHING gets done. You released a Beta version that has made most of your user base unhappy. This thread is now 18 pages and going strong. Anyway...

1. The white as been mentioned a zillion times. Pretty easy to patch it with a dark theme considering that was the norm before.
2. "My Sonos". What a dumb name. Go back to "Favorites". And since it's two of us using Sonos, it's not really My Sonos, it's Our Sonos.
3. Allow us to re-order the Favorites, er My Sonos. I don't want it in alphabetical order.
4. The icons. My goodness, we all have large phone screens and I get four to a page and have to keep scrolling? I believe the old app had six.
5. Rooms. What a mess. I can't even describe how poorly this works. It is so frustrating to change rooms yet have the Sonos app still list the old room as being used even though the music is playing in the new room. (Example: Playing music in the ktichen. I go to Rooms, select "Bedroom", unselect "Kitchen". Music plays in Bedroom, Sonos app show it is playing in the Kitchen. Go to Rooms, "Kitchen" is still checked, "Bedroom" is not yet it's playing there.
6. The widget says I'm not connected to Sonos when I'm on my WiFi. Happens every time I leave the house and come back.

I have more issues but six is good for now.

What a shame. Great speakers, horrific customer service. Yeah, yeah, I know, you've submitted it for feedback. How about an apology saying you're sorry for releasing a beta app and ticking off your customers who are clearly not happy with the app or the company right now?

Steve

I wish someone more Twitter literate than me would take this to @sonos and @Patrick_Spence (CEO). He claims he is interested in the future of music, but he has stopped my wife listening to it because she hates the app.
Maybe they would take some notice there?

7 rooms: One SL Stereo Pair, One SL x 2, Move, Play:5 Gen2 & Port into Arcam AVR with AE floorstanders, Port into Denon microsystem.

terryuk

Enthusiast I

WORST APP UPDATE EVER! MAKES ME HATE MY SONOS SYSTEM

Ryan S - Is there any update/timeline on when the usability issues with the control App are going to be sorted? Like others, I'm still finding it very frustrating to use. Thanks.

T

TheHellers

Enthusiast I

Just want to thank pwt as I figured out the rooms situation better last night. And, I thought the widget was working because as soon as I came home the lock screen had what my wife was playing and the widget was working. Woke up this morning and it had the ye olde "Not Connected to Sonos" message again. But, I've got one thing checked off so I'll consider it a win for today because I'm tired. 🙂

Steve

Chris

Lead Maestro

I guess I will go ahead an weigh in on the new app. I've kinda avoided it because from past experience I really dislike the tone most people take like this is some life or death issue. And being I have been around a while I tend to get bashed as some kind of Sonos shill.

Do I like the new app - no not really. I find myself going to the wrong room selection screen with the new red room menu in now playing. I don't really like how the now playing card slides up over everything and the only way to get back to anything is slide away now playing. I think leaving the bottom buttons visible when now playing is active and not making it a slide over everthing would be better. and make now playing a button then. I think if you go back if memory serves me that is the way it was about 4 years. ago. I did get used to the rooms being at top but that is just because I was then used to it - not that it was the best way (speaking of rooms - as other have said way way to much white space - you should be able to see a lot more rooms per screen). Sometimes Sonos makes to big a changes that are hard to adapt to quickly because the navigation is so different.

Is this version earth shattering. No I don't particularly find it that annoying. Actually what I find more annoying is the version prior that started the whole thing of Play From Here deleting the queue. I still hate that and the fact there is no Party Mode to lock the queue. But hey I've complained about that for probably 5 years and Sonos isn't going to listen to me or others about that. Does that take away my enjoyment of Sonos. No (well sometimes when someone deletes my queue). Am I going to be all up in arms because Sonos isn't listening to me. No. Is there a better system I can move to. No.

I do expect to see some UI tweaks to the current app - but not immediately - yes in the next development cycle (sonos doesn't move quick like that). Will they look at peoples opinions. Yes. Will they make sure they satisfy those requests. No. Will they give someone back old version of App. Absolutely not.

Now you all can continue your rants/calling people fandboys etc. as many of the thread around do. Although this one of late seems to show some respectfulness to it. I'm going to unsubsribe to this thread and avoid the other people bound to pop up as soon as I post this - as I don't want to get caught up in all the hate, bashing, and acting like the sky is falling.

Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)

S

Sonostriesbutfails

Contributor I

Would love the ability to play through the speakers without using the app. Id be using them much more

L

lakeguy55

Contributor I

I don't use playlists much as I often prefer to listen to stations in order to hear new music. Today I tried helping my wife use a Christmas music playlist she created last year. For the moment we'll ignore the corruption of the list as it now shows album covers and song titles totally irrelevant to the song playing, and we have not idea where it's picking up some of the songs that were never in the playlist.

Regardless, I'm glad I don't use playlists much. I've been trying for a while now to figure out how to create a new playlist on the new app. Pretty much have given up...

J

John B

Tap the three dots next to track. Add to Sonos playlist. New plaaylist

Show more replies

Introducing Navigation with Tabs:

Explicit Language Filtering

Long Press to Group

iOS 11 and Android O Support

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