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Ditte
Ditte
March 13, 2023

Sonos introduces New Search

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Sonos introduces New Search

 Hi all,

Last week we started rolling out New Search, a new feature that will make it easier to find content in the Sonos app.

What’s New Search?

We’re introducing a new single search box that searches across all categories (Artists, Songs, Albums, Playlists etc), to improve your overall search experience. This means that you no longer need to select a category to search in ahead of time. Instead, the search results will be broken down by category, and aggregated across all your content services, which you can easily switch between at the top of the search menu. 

When performing a search, you will be able to narrow your search results by content service, rather than by category.

 

New Search on Sonos

To try New Search, tap on “Try the New Search” in the search menu.

New Search will be rolling out to all users over the coming weeks, with all users receiving the feature by 25th April [edited from 18th April].

This means that not all of you will have access to New Search right away, but you can expect it soon. 

Will New Search look through all of my audio sources?

New Search does not currently support searching through personal music libraries, “On this Device” (Android) content, or music services with library functionalities.

 

Why is my specific music service not being searched?

While the vast majority of content services on Sonos are available in New Search, there are some that are not yet compatible. We’re working with our partners to add more music services to New Search and look forward to rolling these out over time. In the meantime, all music services continue to be compatible with classic search.

 

I liked the classic search option, can I use that instead?

You can switch between Classic Search and New Search by navigating to the search menu and tapping the buttons labeled “Switch to Classic Search” and “Try the New Search” respectively.

 

Is Classic Search going away? 
No, users will continue to have the option to use classic search .

 Please note: We can’t grant you access to New Search prior to it being available to you.

 

For further information, please see how to switch between New Search and Classic Search.

    129 replies

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    BMF
    BMF
    Prodigy III
    March 17, 2023

    Sorry, should have added I am on iPhone 

      QuasiBags
      Lyricist I
      March 25, 2023

      Is the plan to eventually add local libraries?

        Corry P
        Corry P
        Sonos Staff
        March 27, 2023

        Hi @QuasiBags 

        I don’t have that information right now, but you can certainly switch back to Classic Search and do so.

        I hope this helps.

        "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
          Traveller
          March 28, 2023

          Following the update (but I gather as it’s being sent out slowly and not necessarily related to updates) the new search has appeared - and disappeared. If I close the app and restart it, and I’m very quick to hit the new search bar, I can use it, but mostly it just disappears and the classic search appears. I deleted the app, and re-downloaded it, but to no avail. 

          It’s  not a great problem, particularly when Sonos has so much else going on, but has anyone else found this quirk?

           

          also, what has happened to Audible search?

          Richard
          Corry P
          Corry P
          Sonos Staff
          March 29, 2023

          Hi @Traveller 

          Please go to Settings » System » About My System and identify the product labelled as the Associated Product by it’s IP address. Look further down and find out which unit it is, then reboot that unit by removing power for a moment.

          It may be, however, that you need to wait a bit longer - New Search is not yet available for all customers, and it’s not whether you have a particular update or not that determines if you get it, rather a configuration flag that is sent to your system - you might just be catching a glimpse of the feature before the system decides you’re not getting it yet. I have not heard of anyone else seeing this, however, hence my suggestion above.

          I have reported that “Books” seems to be missing from Classic Search. Audible is not yet supported by New Search.

          I hope this helps.

           

          "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
          Traveller
          March 29, 2023

          Thanks Cory.

           

          it’s not a problem, it was just quirky, weird. I found that if I was quick, I could hit the bar and use new search - which looks great. But its like a Whack- a- mole fairground show - blink and it’s gone.

           

          Today both my iPad have decided not to bother even showing a glimpse of new search, so I shall wait for it to arrive.

          No problem!

          Richard
            sjw
            Local Superstar
            March 30, 2023

            Am I missing something?   The new search doesn't search my local library?   Or doesn't find songs (unless there isn't a band if the same name) ? It seems an extra step to find songs?

            I thought I was using it wrong so googled a bit and found this and agree with lots of it… (https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/sonos-new-search/) , hopefully the feedback will be taken inboard.

              sjw
              Local Superstar
              March 30, 2023

              Apols for typos, 'Edit' not available for some reason. 

              Corry P
              Corry P
              Sonos Staff
              March 30, 2023

              Hi @sjw 

              At present, New Search does not search your Music Library. You can still do so by switching back to Classic Search.

              As for being unable to find songs, I don’t see that behaviour - perhaps you’ve reduced the search to a particular service that doesn’t have your intended track with the selectors at the top? Please make sure “All” is selected in the Sources swim-lane.

              If typos were a problem, I’d never get the chance to stop talking about it 😁

              I hope this helps.

               

               

              "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
              sjw
              Local Superstar
              March 30, 2023

              Has the Edit option been removed?

              Back to the issue I was referring to, I saw the same as in the article I linked to above.

              To save me repeating, I’ll quote from the article:

              “Take a recent example: When I typed Us and Them (from Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of The Moon album) into the new search, the first set of results were from Apple Music…

              These results did not follow the artist/song/playlist formula, and none was from Pink Floyd. Only albums titled Us and Them by the band Shinedown appeared in the first three slots. Side-scrolling to see more matches didn’t get me any closer to my quarry.

              At this point, I had a choice. I could scroll down to the next service (Amazon Music) to see if its guesses were more accurate, or I could dive into Apple Music’s full set of search results and scroll down to the songs section. Spoiler — both of these would have eventually given me the track I was looking for.

              OK, let’s assume that this was an aberration. After all, the search feature is still new and there are bugs to be worked out. But the point is this: In the classic version of search, selecting the songs filter instantly shows me a string of matching tracks from Pink Floyd (it’s also possible that you may see different results in different countries because the music business is insane like that).”

              My results were the same, did I miss an option to see the songs’ results?

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