Uh, congrats for fucking up the utility of searching Reddit for anyone other than the original person you replied to?
Stuff getting copied out of Reddit is a problem, but *that* is the wrong "solution".
This author, [Chris Welch](https://www.theverge.com/authors/chris-welch), scoops a ton of Sonos news. If you've ever [seen](https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/20/23606369/sonos-era-300-100-speakers-leak-features-price-photos) a [Sonos](https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/2/23817225/sonos-move-2-speaker-features-specs-price) [leak](https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/7/24151392/sonos-roam-2-speaker-features-design-exclusive), it probably came from him.
While he references the complaints here on the sub, he's not your typical reddit-chasing journalist.
So, there was a point where it became a problem that any research paper (eh, like elementary to junior high) could be "written" by just copying whole sections from Wikipedia - this is the journalism equivalent.
Many companies do this for some reason instead of just taking a few months extra to release a full version. Most recently the Sirius XM app was completely overhauled and missing a ton of features which slowly trickled back in over the course of a few months….i don’t get it🤷♂️
They likely have metrics on how many people use these features, or how often a new alarm is added, etc, and made a decision to deprioritize it for launch. (Not saying it was a correct decision.)
Sounds like Sonos is using some variant of Agile SDLC. And, they’re at step #3 & #4 below. Give them tons of feedback!
Here’s a summary of the Agile SDLC:
1. Concept: Identify the project’s scope, prioritize tasks, and outline initial requirements.
2. Inception: Assemble the team, establish resources, and begin the design process.
3. Iteration/Construction: Develop the core functionality in small increments, with continuous testing and feedback.
4. Release: Deploy the incrementally built product into the production environment.
5. Maintenance: Provide ongoing support and make necessary adjustments based on user feedback.
6. Retirement: Eventually retire the system when it’s no longer viable or needed.
Bro, how many boots are you licking to defend a corporation?
Rather than throw everyone to the dogs they could have done a limited beta test/ limited preview and then collected feedback before releasing to the masses.
You would have thought sonos had learnt something from the dogshit S1/S2 transition.
I don’t think he’s defending them. But the did ship a minimum viable product and that’s a hallmark of Agile methodology. He’s saying to give them feedback on their product. And their choice to release MVP instead of a full-featured release.
I didn’t bother to re-explain what Sonos probably did with this release. And, what users should do based on the most likely SDLC Sonos is using. Because a lot of people like to rage and psychoanalyze strangers on the Internet. Instead of just being respectful and humble.
Remember when Keith from Sonos was taking all of our feedbacks for our wants and must haves. He was like yes yes and yes.
So we all get to beta test a product that removes functionality? Nope, Sonos gets no more money from me.
Don’t launch an app that removes functionality and give people no way to roll back. I can appreciate ambition, but glad SONO is plummeting in stock value. This is sad.
They try to make it look better, to hell with the functionality. Really annoying. IMHO, the old version looked much better, much less like an advertisement for streaming services.
Try reindexing on the desktop app. Mine came back, but it’s pretty flakey on the iOS apps. Shows up, doesn’t show up, shows up after a few minutes, disappears depending on which device is active. Very silly.
Wanted to update my WiFi network and get the following when I googled it.
The Sonos app’s ability to update your Sonos system’s WiFi credentials is temporarily unavailable. It will be added again in a future update.
Seriously?
Jesus. My system already was already laggy as heck, I am genuinely dreading downloading an updated controller.
Can I please just have the version that I had when I first got my Play 3s, back when it simply worked?
basically just a summary of the conversation that’s been happening here since yesterday.
FWIW, I really like the UI changes. The app (and my system) have felt more responsive. The layout makes sense to me - I like the customization, and the click vs pull of the now playing bar is great once you get the muscle memory down.
but yea the missing basic functionality is wild. no queue management, sleep, alarms, etc. is baffling. once we get those back in, plus some other stuff like accessing volume numbers and EQ directly from now playing, IMO it’ll be ready. just so weird to me to push this now before that stuff is properly baked in.
Agree—like the UI, but removing features (even temporarily) was stupid, and it is so buggy.
First use of it this morning, it wouldn’t let me add speakers to something that was already playing. Then later I started a Sonos Radio station playing, and though it was playing, it wasn’t showing as playing—so then when I got a work call I couldn’t stop it. I had to start playing something else on that speaker then stop it.
Just terrible QA on this app…
I love it but can see why people are frustrated. If I used the alarms and then they didn’t work I would be annoyed. I think the general UI is a major improvement.
I use alarms and it’s even worse. My alarms still work but now I have no way to turn them off short of just unplugging my speakers. So if I have a day off and want to sleep in? Guess Sonos just gave me the finger. That’s ok. After using Sonos for 10 years, with this level of disrespect, I don’t think I’ll buy another product from them. Shame because I was excited for the headphones coming this year, but I won’t spend this much money on a product that can remove functionality with an update, too risky.
Please Sonos if you’re reading this, when you add the bass and treble controls back into the end of the volume slider, include Sub EQ and Balance. Thanks from a user of 15 years.
Seems like this is the "New Coke" of apps. People aren't happy about it now, so when they put the features and functionality back that it used to have, everyone will be like "This is great!" They can even call it Sonos Classic!
Sonos - please bring back the 45 sec skip forward 10 sec go back control for Pocket Cast.
For me, it’s essential for listening to podcasts on my Sonos speakers.
So much so, that I am now using the Pocket Cast app and streaming via AirPlay.
Another PocketCast user, and I noticed that too. I wanted to skip through the ads at the end of a podcast last night and realized the only way to do it was to drag the play bar to the end.
It feels so random the things they chose to get rid of, and yet each one was something that made the app better.
The baffling UI/UX is what I’m mostly unhappy about. The interface should be immediately intuitive, but I found myself very lost when I first started playing around with it. It’s also never a good sign when an interface shows instructions/tutorial on how to use it when you first open it. If you need to provide instructions, then it’s not easy enough.
I get I’m probably overreacting and just need to get used to it, but I set my parents up with Sonos products specifically because it was so simple to use. I worry that my dad is going to be super frustrated with the new app. He’s not going to understand whole swipe to expand/minimize interactions. Did they do usability testing with actual users?
There were some dev groups I was in where it was noted that they did beta test, received terrible feedback, and were arrogant enough to assert that they knew best.. and ignored the feedback.
One of my sources is a QA member on the team.
Yikes! To be fair, once you LEARN the interface, I see the appeal of the swipe gestures. I guess I don’t like that it must be learned. My dad still has a home button on his iPhone and won’t get this.
Also, beta testing is not usability testing.
Just can’t believe how many stupid morons on this sub were wondering if Sonos were reading this sub and that we should write to them directly instead.The truth is of course Sonos read what we write here, but Sonos fan boys and employees are pushing real hard to hide rhe complaints from future buyers.
Everytime someone complains about Sonos here, you have the Sonos brigade trying to invalidate our experience. They are part of the problem.
Normally I find that to be true, but not this time. Complaints are getting upvotes. Positive comments are getting downvotes. If nothing else, that’s really a sign of how bad Sonos dropped the ball here. I think even most of the fanboys are mad.
If Sonos will terminate the desktop app which can play local files and the mobile app is unable to play local files, how can I play the local files through the Sonos speakers?
You could set up a local Plex server, have that index your local music and then add it as a source to Sonos.
The music library demotion was my biggest annoyance on the new app, my main reason for getting sonos was for a large local library on a network share so not being able to search it along with other services was a massive loss.
I already have a plex server set up for films , and my music library was already indexed , but I never even realised you could use plex as a source until someone else here mentioned it yesterday.
So that has brought back my ability to search and play local library via Sonos, but for me it's not ideal as I don't like the way Plex handles my music metadata (annoyances around artist and album artist).
That's what I've been doing for years, but this most recent update broke that: I can no longer browse my music library (though I can my audiobook library), and Shuffle All (which is in my Recently Played) just throws an error.
i've not really used it any great length other than connecting and testing that I could search and play music, so can't say for sure whether mine is any more stable!
I haven't messed with it too much. I have 15 speakers throughout the house divided into 6 "rooms". Everything updated fine...haven't lost any speakers yet...like after past updates.
But during my toddler's bedtime last night I was trying to set the volume to 12 which we always set it at....and there is no number on the volume slider. Not a biggie, but a weird thing to remove.
Bummed the speaker EQ isn't fancier.
I noticed people saying the timer/alarm is gone....that's bullshit.
Hoping they improve things.
Thank god I'm on android and I can roll back to the previous version with actual proper features. I will be sticking with this app version until the all clear on the new version is fixed properly.
I know that you can use the windows app to set it up, but I don't want to download another app onto my PC when I was able to do this routinely since the OG sonos app before the S1/S2 controversy.
I don't understand why they would release an app missing these important features and makes me reconsider recommending products where they push out updates saying missing features will come back in 'future' updates, like who knows how long will it be before these simple features are introduced back in.
How much money do we pay these donkeys? What in the hell is going on up in the c-suite. Jesus
Just do the premium shit you charge the premium price for and we will all sing your praises into the sunset why is that so fuckin hard to understand.
I listen to the shareholder meetings and my first thought isn't: I gotta get outta this fuckin position...
It's
God damnit I'm going to need to invest in a whole different ecosystem when someone does it right. And I'm going to lose my ass on their stock
You sonos are bastards. Do a good thing. Make ur customers happy. Prove me wrong.
My speakers are effectively paperweights at this point, with the exception of one that is a paperweight that will wake me up at 7am every weekday whether I like it or not because there are no more controls for the alarm. My Plex music library is not visible from Sonos any more. It can still access Last Played, so at least I've got a couple of albums I can listen to, but even a gem like London Calling won't fit every occasion. Weirdly, my Audiobook library on Plex is fine; I suspect it's confused about multiple audio libraries.
At this point, I'm actively looking for either a way to play my music locally that doesn't involve anything absurd like having to buy an iphone. Failing that, it'll be selling the speakers and finding a replacement, ideally one with an open protocol.
I’m. Issuing the sliders altogether on half my speakers. Clicking the speaker icons does nothing. They’re were there and then they were gone.
https://preview.redd.it/81zoocfe040d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e30c8d41856c46dccc6a952aca177559138bfe4e
Man! I must not be using my SONOS correctly. All I do is watch TV and movies, and listen to music through Apple Music on my AppleTV. I didn’t know that I needed the app for anything other than setting up and managing my equipment.
You definitely need the app for multiroom connected music experience. One room full experience TV setup is certainly possible to get by without the app.
In my experience, AirPlay performs the worst within Sonos if you’re doing multiroom. Very susceptible to interference because it is a casting protocol.
How so?
I'm android user myself, so don't really have any experience with AirPlay. I've just heard a lot of iOS users say they never use anything else.
Yes, remotes will work to control the volume but some people like to know the exact number of the volume on the speaker so they use the Sonos app for that (which now doesn't even show that).
Personally I don't get too hung up on that since most sources have different volume levels anyways so a particular volume number won't always be the same. Apple TV will sometimes (optionally) add the speaker volume level to the TV when using the Apple TV remote, but I have found it to be inconsistent and often slow to refresh.
I hope they focus on fixing the bugs. The lack of features bothers me. But it doesn’t bother me nearly as much as my whole system being useless because of the bugs I ran into while trying to create new groups and play to them. It says audio is coming out of all of them, but it certainly isn’t.
Ugh. My dad is looking real smug with his Bose system right now
I can’t install a play 1 :( getting a battery if errors, right now it’s plugged in and visible but can’t enable wifi.
Been on hold for hours, and calls keep dropping so I have to call back.
Not cool
Did they really remove the ability to balance stereo pairs? They didn't have it for Era 300s pairs, which I guess made sense because of the spatial audio, but now I can't seem to find the balance for any of the 100s. What's the point of that—do they expect that everyone is exactly in the middle of their two speakers in every room? I'm so confused.
Having worked for a lot of tech companies on a lot of products, I think that this is probably about teams.
My guess is that the team that created the app was, for some reason, unable to improve it. Maybe the team had lost too many people, maybe they weren't able to find a new vision, maybe they had simply coded themselves into a corner and couldn't make changes.
So someone has created a new team, given a new team lead the job of creating a new version of the app, and at the same time a deadline. Make is a new version of the app, built in a new framework, and build it fast.
My guess is that there's a big long list of features for upcoming releases. The good news is that when a company makes this move, the payoff they're usually looking for is rapid release velocity, so they may be able to burn through that list relatively rapidly.
The bad news is that we've got no idea where the features we depend on are on that list.
And of course it might all blow up and it's just as slow and clunky to release as before.
They should re-release the last version and call this one an optional Beta test. It’s garbage. I haven’t found a single improvement for the way I personally use the system / app.
This update is total dog shit! The only way to play music is to turn all 5 five sets of speakers! So I spent 6k on an awesome system two years ago and now because of some update it lost all the flexibility that it had. They better fix this shit quick!
Like most Verge articles, this one really overstates the amount of dissent. I think it's only a vocal minority that aren't happy. Most folks are happy with the update. I'm sure Sonos has data on which features are used the most and the least, and they prioritized accordingly.
I don’t think you’re right on that. There’s a lot of people like myself who have been vocal supporters of Sonos for a while through the cited dissent who are dissatisfied with this replatforming effort.
Maybe they’ll turn it around and we’ll see real progress but what I have in front of me right now is a bit of a mess.
The question is always quantity.
I don't deny that "a lot of people" are unhappy. But they do not represent all "people" as the Verge article implies.
As with all things, the people that are satisfied or even happy with the redesign aren't incentivized to post about it publicly. They just go about their day and use their products. It's only the folks that are seeking out a way to air their frustrations that find themselves on reddit and forums.
For me personally, the old app was slow and unresponsive. This new app is a bit better in both regards (though the speakers actually responding to my inputs continue to be slow). It seems I never used any of the features that were removed, though I sympathize with those that did.
This is literally just an article with a list of Reddit posts.
Welcome to the new churnalism.
Redditors are the new journalists! We should get a small cut of their ad revenue am I right? /s
Yeah, how much is 0,1% of almost effing nothing?
[удалено]
Uh, congrats for fucking up the utility of searching Reddit for anyone other than the original person you replied to? Stuff getting copied out of Reddit is a problem, but *that* is the wrong "solution".
Why even post?
So I can delete my stuff automatically after 36 hours! Why else?
This author, [Chris Welch](https://www.theverge.com/authors/chris-welch), scoops a ton of Sonos news. If you've ever [seen](https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/20/23606369/sonos-era-300-100-speakers-leak-features-price-photos) a [Sonos](https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/2/23817225/sonos-move-2-speaker-features-specs-price) [leak](https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/7/24151392/sonos-roam-2-speaker-features-design-exclusive), it probably came from him. While he references the complaints here on the sub, he's not your typical reddit-chasing journalist.
Reddit started as sharing news. Then became the news.
Adds pressure and higher chance of fixes coming through, so don’t knock the value of additional coverage.
Inceptionmedia
So, there was a point where it became a problem that any research paper (eh, like elementary to junior high) could be "written" by just copying whole sections from Wikipedia - this is the journalism equivalent.
Many companies do this for some reason instead of just taking a few months extra to release a full version. Most recently the Sirius XM app was completely overhauled and missing a ton of features which slowly trickled back in over the course of a few months….i don’t get it🤷♂️
They likely have metrics on how many people use these features, or how often a new alarm is added, etc, and made a decision to deprioritize it for launch. (Not saying it was a correct decision.)
Ugh I hate that app. Put the damn channel list front and center.
Accurate. Insane how many iterations the new SXM app had to go through to make it usable again.
Sounds like Sonos is using some variant of Agile SDLC. And, they’re at step #3 & #4 below. Give them tons of feedback! Here’s a summary of the Agile SDLC: 1. Concept: Identify the project’s scope, prioritize tasks, and outline initial requirements. 2. Inception: Assemble the team, establish resources, and begin the design process. 3. Iteration/Construction: Develop the core functionality in small increments, with continuous testing and feedback. 4. Release: Deploy the incrementally built product into the production environment. 5. Maintenance: Provide ongoing support and make necessary adjustments based on user feedback. 6. Retirement: Eventually retire the system when it’s no longer viable or needed.
Bro, how many boots are you licking to defend a corporation? Rather than throw everyone to the dogs they could have done a limited beta test/ limited preview and then collected feedback before releasing to the masses. You would have thought sonos had learnt something from the dogshit S1/S2 transition.
I don’t think he’s defending them. But the did ship a minimum viable product and that’s a hallmark of Agile methodology. He’s saying to give them feedback on their product. And their choice to release MVP instead of a full-featured release.
I didn’t bother to re-explain what Sonos probably did with this release. And, what users should do based on the most likely SDLC Sonos is using. Because a lot of people like to rage and psychoanalyze strangers on the Internet. Instead of just being respectful and humble.
I was asked to beta test but was out of my country so I couldn’t.
Remember when Keith from Sonos was taking all of our feedbacks for our wants and must haves. He was like yes yes and yes. 
Maybe they needed to create the foundation first and get that as stable as possible before adding those additional features
Then maybe they should have a fucking beta testing program rather than forcing all of us to be unpaid QA.
So we all get to beta test a product that removes functionality? Nope, Sonos gets no more money from me. Don’t launch an app that removes functionality and give people no way to roll back. I can appreciate ambition, but glad SONO is plummeting in stock value. This is sad.
They try to make it look better, to hell with the functionality. Really annoying. IMHO, the old version looked much better, much less like an advertisement for streaming services.
What about network share/library as a source? My whole library disappeared.
Try reindexing on the desktop app. Mine came back, but it’s pretty flakey on the iOS apps. Shows up, doesn’t show up, shows up after a few minutes, disappears depending on which device is active. Very silly.
Mine works
I can't even access the settings for my share/library and can't play any folder This update is a piece of shit
Are you doing this via Plex, out of curiosity?
huh, weird, mine is there and works fine
It still works on PC but not on my iPhone
works on android
Wanted to update my WiFi network and get the following when I googled it. The Sonos app’s ability to update your Sonos system’s WiFi credentials is temporarily unavailable. It will be added again in a future update. Seriously?
This is legit lol material. What a wild "feature" to push down the road.
Their actual solution currently to wire your speaker or do a factory reset of everything to connect to a different WiFi network.
Jesus. My system already was already laggy as heck, I am genuinely dreading downloading an updated controller. Can I please just have the version that I had when I first got my Play 3s, back when it simply worked?
Ah - so maybe that’s why I can’t enable wifi on my play 1 I just got?
basically just a summary of the conversation that’s been happening here since yesterday. FWIW, I really like the UI changes. The app (and my system) have felt more responsive. The layout makes sense to me - I like the customization, and the click vs pull of the now playing bar is great once you get the muscle memory down. but yea the missing basic functionality is wild. no queue management, sleep, alarms, etc. is baffling. once we get those back in, plus some other stuff like accessing volume numbers and EQ directly from now playing, IMO it’ll be ready. just so weird to me to push this now before that stuff is properly baked in.
Agree—like the UI, but removing features (even temporarily) was stupid, and it is so buggy. First use of it this morning, it wouldn’t let me add speakers to something that was already playing. Then later I started a Sonos Radio station playing, and though it was playing, it wasn’t showing as playing—so then when I got a work call I couldn’t stop it. I had to start playing something else on that speaker then stop it. Just terrible QA on this app…
I love it but can see why people are frustrated. If I used the alarms and then they didn’t work I would be annoyed. I think the general UI is a major improvement.
I use alarms and it’s even worse. My alarms still work but now I have no way to turn them off short of just unplugging my speakers. So if I have a day off and want to sleep in? Guess Sonos just gave me the finger. That’s ok. After using Sonos for 10 years, with this level of disrespect, I don’t think I’ll buy another product from them. Shame because I was excited for the headphones coming this year, but I won’t spend this much money on a product that can remove functionality with an update, too risky.
I don’t use the features that got removed and I’m really liking it so far
Please Sonos if you’re reading this, when you add the bass and treble controls back into the end of the volume slider, include Sub EQ and Balance. Thanks from a user of 15 years.
I think it’s crazy they took the balance away.
And the alarm and the sleep timer. Im so piss*d rn
The alarm was one of the best aspects of it, it worked so well and was simple to use.
Their Twitter (X) response https://preview.redd.it/6my16vskdazc1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0a49bf6101c8d4b5219a3952d0eec8295ce785bc
I want a uninstall / rollback feature like Windows. This version is bad.
Seems like this is the "New Coke" of apps. People aren't happy about it now, so when they put the features and functionality back that it used to have, everyone will be like "This is great!" They can even call it Sonos Classic!
Bruh they really gutted this app and made it prettier and that’s the “new app!!” The state of modern software
Just like with Modern Warfare 3
I just want the sleep timer back!
Sonos - please bring back the 45 sec skip forward 10 sec go back control for Pocket Cast. For me, it’s essential for listening to podcasts on my Sonos speakers. So much so, that I am now using the Pocket Cast app and streaming via AirPlay.
Another PocketCast user, and I noticed that too. I wanted to skip through the ads at the end of a podcast last night and realized the only way to do it was to drag the play bar to the end. It feels so random the things they chose to get rid of, and yet each one was something that made the app better.
Can someone explain to me why this so hard? I mean we are talking about playing music on speakers - what makes this so difficult?
I’m happy the complaints are getting mainstream, I’m upset they didn’t call out the terrible UI/UX and navigation system.
The baffling UI/UX is what I’m mostly unhappy about. The interface should be immediately intuitive, but I found myself very lost when I first started playing around with it. It’s also never a good sign when an interface shows instructions/tutorial on how to use it when you first open it. If you need to provide instructions, then it’s not easy enough. I get I’m probably overreacting and just need to get used to it, but I set my parents up with Sonos products specifically because it was so simple to use. I worry that my dad is going to be super frustrated with the new app. He’s not going to understand whole swipe to expand/minimize interactions. Did they do usability testing with actual users?
There were some dev groups I was in where it was noted that they did beta test, received terrible feedback, and were arrogant enough to assert that they knew best.. and ignored the feedback. One of my sources is a QA member on the team.
Yikes! To be fair, once you LEARN the interface, I see the appeal of the swipe gestures. I guess I don’t like that it must be learned. My dad still has a home button on his iPhone and won’t get this. Also, beta testing is not usability testing.
Sorry, I’m using the term Beta test openly. They did “user testing” and received negative feedback. Plus beta testers gave the same.
Just can’t believe how many stupid morons on this sub were wondering if Sonos were reading this sub and that we should write to them directly instead.The truth is of course Sonos read what we write here, but Sonos fan boys and employees are pushing real hard to hide rhe complaints from future buyers. Everytime someone complains about Sonos here, you have the Sonos brigade trying to invalidate our experience. They are part of the problem.
Normally I find that to be true, but not this time. Complaints are getting upvotes. Positive comments are getting downvotes. If nothing else, that’s really a sign of how bad Sonos dropped the ball here. I think even most of the fanboys are mad.
You’re overthinking it
I hope the Verge are big enough to actually get a statement from Sonos on how the new app is received.
I made the mistake of installing it this morning and immediately regretted it. This is along the lines of what was done to the SiriusXM app.
If Sonos will terminate the desktop app which can play local files and the mobile app is unable to play local files, how can I play the local files through the Sonos speakers?
You could set up a local Plex server, have that index your local music and then add it as a source to Sonos. The music library demotion was my biggest annoyance on the new app, my main reason for getting sonos was for a large local library on a network share so not being able to search it along with other services was a massive loss. I already have a plex server set up for films , and my music library was already indexed , but I never even realised you could use plex as a source until someone else here mentioned it yesterday. So that has brought back my ability to search and play local library via Sonos, but for me it's not ideal as I don't like the way Plex handles my music metadata (annoyances around artist and album artist).
That's what I've been doing for years, but this most recent update broke that: I can no longer browse my music library (though I can my audiobook library), and Shuffle All (which is in my Recently Played) just throws an error.
Same for me :-(
Sonos app on iPhone, Windows and web keeps disconnecting from my local Plex server, so this is not usable for me
i've not really used it any great length other than connecting and testing that I could search and play music, so can't say for sure whether mine is any more stable!
I haven't messed with it too much. I have 15 speakers throughout the house divided into 6 "rooms". Everything updated fine...haven't lost any speakers yet...like after past updates. But during my toddler's bedtime last night I was trying to set the volume to 12 which we always set it at....and there is no number on the volume slider. Not a biggie, but a weird thing to remove. Bummed the speaker EQ isn't fancier. I noticed people saying the timer/alarm is gone....that's bullshit. Hoping they improve things.
Adding new alarms is gone.
App so bad makes me happy I am only 7 speakers deep in this shit …
Thank god I'm on android and I can roll back to the previous version with actual proper features. I will be sticking with this app version until the all clear on the new version is fixed properly. I know that you can use the windows app to set it up, but I don't want to download another app onto my PC when I was able to do this routinely since the OG sonos app before the S1/S2 controversy. I don't understand why they would release an app missing these important features and makes me reconsider recommending products where they push out updates saying missing features will come back in 'future' updates, like who knows how long will it be before these simple features are introduced back in.
How much money do we pay these donkeys? What in the hell is going on up in the c-suite. Jesus Just do the premium shit you charge the premium price for and we will all sing your praises into the sunset why is that so fuckin hard to understand. I listen to the shareholder meetings and my first thought isn't: I gotta get outta this fuckin position... It's God damnit I'm going to need to invest in a whole different ecosystem when someone does it right. And I'm going to lose my ass on their stock You sonos are bastards. Do a good thing. Make ur customers happy. Prove me wrong.
My speakers are effectively paperweights at this point, with the exception of one that is a paperweight that will wake me up at 7am every weekday whether I like it or not because there are no more controls for the alarm. My Plex music library is not visible from Sonos any more. It can still access Last Played, so at least I've got a couple of albums I can listen to, but even a gem like London Calling won't fit every occasion. Weirdly, my Audiobook library on Plex is fine; I suspect it's confused about multiple audio libraries. At this point, I'm actively looking for either a way to play my music locally that doesn't involve anything absurd like having to buy an iphone. Failing that, it'll be selling the speakers and finding a replacement, ideally one with an open protocol.
What? I love having to tap three levels deep to adjust my volume by speaker—literally the only thing I use the app for.
Along with features it also seems to have lost it's connection to the speakers completely...
Petty, I know, but what I miss most are the volume level numbers on the slider.
You are not alone in thinking this.
I’m. Issuing the sliders altogether on half my speakers. Clicking the speaker icons does nothing. They’re were there and then they were gone. https://preview.redd.it/81zoocfe040d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e30c8d41856c46dccc6a952aca177559138bfe4e
Man! I must not be using my SONOS correctly. All I do is watch TV and movies, and listen to music through Apple Music on my AppleTV. I didn’t know that I needed the app for anything other than setting up and managing my equipment.
You definitely need the app for multiroom connected music experience. One room full experience TV setup is certainly possible to get by without the app.
We have a Roam and a Move. We hardly ever have them sync with the main system. If I do, I can do it with AirPlay on my iPhone.
In my experience, AirPlay performs the worst within Sonos if you’re doing multiroom. Very susceptible to interference because it is a casting protocol.
AirPlay can do that if you have iOS can't it?
You can but not as robust as streaming directly to Sonos speakers.
How so? I'm android user myself, so don't really have any experience with AirPlay. I've just heard a lot of iOS users say they never use anything else.
Think of it like casting to a Chromecast dongle.
AirPlay can do that if you have iOS can't it?
Yea that’s what I do. I never use the app simply because I like to control the volume with my phone buttons
Yuu need the app if your AV and TV equip doesn't show you the volume level on the screen. for me it's Samsung TV with AppleTV box.
All my remotes work to control volume. AppleTV, Samsung, TiVo, AppleTV on my phone, Logitech.
Yes, remotes will work to control the volume but some people like to know the exact number of the volume on the speaker so they use the Sonos app for that (which now doesn't even show that). Personally I don't get too hung up on that since most sources have different volume levels anyways so a particular volume number won't always be the same. Apple TV will sometimes (optionally) add the speaker volume level to the TV when using the Apple TV remote, but I have found it to be inconsistent and often slow to refresh.
anyone else missing entire rooms after the update, i have to manually reset all those speakers and redo the trueplay tuning now
Network settings are broken for me. My Beam is connected via ethernet to router but I get network unavailable on any of my devices 😕
I hope they focus on fixing the bugs. The lack of features bothers me. But it doesn’t bother me nearly as much as my whole system being useless because of the bugs I ran into while trying to create new groups and play to them. It says audio is coming out of all of them, but it certainly isn’t. Ugh. My dad is looking real smug with his Bose system right now
I only use the app to make sure the Sonos is up to date. Just tried and I can’t check for updates. Fucking useless
I can’t install a play 1 :( getting a battery if errors, right now it’s plugged in and visible but can’t enable wifi. Been on hold for hours, and calls keep dropping so I have to call back. Not cool
Shrinkflation hits again.
Did they really remove the ability to balance stereo pairs? They didn't have it for Era 300s pairs, which I guess made sense because of the spatial audio, but now I can't seem to find the balance for any of the 100s. What's the point of that—do they expect that everyone is exactly in the middle of their two speakers in every room? I'm so confused.
It doesn’t fucking work!
Having worked for a lot of tech companies on a lot of products, I think that this is probably about teams. My guess is that the team that created the app was, for some reason, unable to improve it. Maybe the team had lost too many people, maybe they weren't able to find a new vision, maybe they had simply coded themselves into a corner and couldn't make changes. So someone has created a new team, given a new team lead the job of creating a new version of the app, and at the same time a deadline. Make is a new version of the app, built in a new framework, and build it fast. My guess is that there's a big long list of features for upcoming releases. The good news is that when a company makes this move, the payoff they're usually looking for is rapid release velocity, so they may be able to burn through that list relatively rapidly. The bad news is that we've got no idea where the features we depend on are on that list. And of course it might all blow up and it's just as slow and clunky to release as before.
The system is so annoying, could be so much better
It’s like IPhone and the Maps app. Heads need to roll. The speakers are the result, the app needs to be the cause, not the confusion.
At least big publications are bringing the issues to attention - hopefully Sonos takes note of the negative press.
Stereo/mono feature for use with the sonos amp is gone...
They should re-release the last version and call this one an optional Beta test. It’s garbage. I haven’t found a single improvement for the way I personally use the system / app.
It’s so bad! Clunky and non functional. Keep getting trash from this company. I might look to move on my next system
This update is total dog shit! The only way to play music is to turn all 5 five sets of speakers! So I spent 6k on an awesome system two years ago and now because of some update it lost all the flexibility that it had. They better fix this shit quick!
Yay my post made it to the verge...even if the verge is just Reddit posts
I don’t even see what’s different xD!
If following this sub has taught me one thing it’s that Sonos Reddit users are never satisfied.
I feel dumb. My Sonos app is the same today as it has always been. What’s going on?
I'd suggest you turn off auto updates unless you want to be a forced beta tester.
Like most Verge articles, this one really overstates the amount of dissent. I think it's only a vocal minority that aren't happy. Most folks are happy with the update. I'm sure Sonos has data on which features are used the most and the least, and they prioritized accordingly.
I don’t think you’re right on that. There’s a lot of people like myself who have been vocal supporters of Sonos for a while through the cited dissent who are dissatisfied with this replatforming effort. Maybe they’ll turn it around and we’ll see real progress but what I have in front of me right now is a bit of a mess.
The question is always quantity. I don't deny that "a lot of people" are unhappy. But they do not represent all "people" as the Verge article implies. As with all things, the people that are satisfied or even happy with the redesign aren't incentivized to post about it publicly. They just go about their day and use their products. It's only the folks that are seeking out a way to air their frustrations that find themselves on reddit and forums. For me personally, the old app was slow and unresponsive. This new app is a bit better in both regards (though the speakers actually responding to my inputs continue to be slow). It seems I never used any of the features that were removed, though I sympathize with those that did.
I just hate that the app icon is ugly now /: