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Sonos Cancels Plans for Apple TV-Like Streaming Box

I7guy said:
I know people like Sonos, but for me I would not buy a product from that company because I don’t trust they can do a good job.
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I'd be highly hesitant to buy new gear from them now (because of the app fiasco), but my existing Sonos gear (an Arc, Sub, and Play:1's for surround) has been working great, and were purchased back when they were an upscale "it just works" tech company akin to Apple (not the same, but some of the same ideas - you pay a lot upfront and get gear that works well).

It's going to take a very long time for them to earn back their reputation, that they just pissed away over the course of a few months, with releasing the "new" app and then stonewalling/gaslighting all the customers reporting problems, instead of reverting to the old app, apologizing profusely, and then not releasing the new app until it was feature complete and thoroughly tested. I still can only imagine that someone in management got a huge "shipped on time" bonus for that - I hope it was worth tanking your company's reputation (and stock).

Oh, and the streaming box was a terrible idea for them - they would have spent a fortune getting it shipped (sounds like they already spent a small fortune on development), and it would have had a very hard time bringing something compelling to the table that Apple TV doesn't already provide - it would have been a "me too" product with a sticker shock price. And if it had had any built-in speakers, it wouldn't sell to most of their existing customer base (who, if they wanted home theater, would have already bought one of the Sonos sound bars).

The CEO said something about it getting around latency problems, but I'm running an Apple TV and a PS5 into an LG C1 via eARC and from there into the Arc, and I'm getting no perceptible latency (and this setup has been running for many years now), so I don't see a big problem to solve there. If your TV has eARC, it "just works".
 
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bLackjackj said:
Are you joking? The all is not fixed and it's been well over a year, Lol
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May 2024 is not "well over a year" ago, but yeah, the app still has problems, and still is not feature complete - it's still missing things the old app had, and there are still people who are having problems getting speakers to work consistently - after spending extra to buy the speakers that were positioned as being "expensive but worth it because they 'just work'".
 
Dorfdad said:
Kinda sad that Switch built in would have been a nice feature. Maybe apple will now add it in 10 years and claim it's new and inventive.
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What does having an external HDMI switch buy you over just routing through the TV, other than having to navigate a different remote if it doesn't auto-switch properly.
 
mookc1 said:
Apple can buy them anytime now.......
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Sonos is literally the only company that I'd really like to see Apple buy. It'd give Apple a much more solid footing in home theater, and would get Sonos users greater interoperability with the Apple ecosystem. And selling Sonos (possibly rebranded) speakers in Apple stores would get them a lot more sales. Apple would also give them a greater focus on privacy (Sonos used to be good about that, but recently changed their ToS to make it easier for them to sell data).

But Apple would have to commit to keeping all the streaming services, and the controller apps for other platforms.
 
I Sonos did a set-top box then every single time I wanted to watch a program it would require an upgrade. I got tired of that happening when I wanted to listen to a song.
 
Good - it is not their forte. The new leadership would probably also have cancelled the Ace as they are good BT headphones but bad Sonos headphones (in the way that they integrate seamlessly into your existing set up and software)

They should focus on good quality speakerboxes and most of all a great user experience. The software currently is not up to par with the hardware which is a shame because having a working multi room sound system is pure bliss.
 
So because it’s not their forte they shouldn’t expand into different areas?

Now while it’s quite clear that the app issue is more than likely the main reason that they decided to abandon ship on this and in all honesty it probably is the right decision, but to suggest that just because they aren’t in the space already that they shouldn’t entertain the notion of making a device that compliments their existing products?

I get we all have our preferences when it comes to our little boxes we like to stream stuff from but we shouldn’t be limiting ourselves to what’s available and that’s that.

Let’s be honest-if there hadn’t of been any problems regarding the app there would have been far less resistance than what has been seen.
 
bLackjackj said:
Never going to happen. From the same people that said Apple needs to buy Peleton. 🤣..desperate Sonos execs.
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Can't 100% agree with your analogy because Apple doesn't make excercise equipment, but there would be room in their catalog in the home audio space because they do make speakers. My point here is Sonos is trying to keep relevant, and they aren't; too late to the video party and, not to mention, it isn't part of their core business. Playing catch-up is not a good business model.
 
It's a good move - glad to see the new CEO stepping back and hopefully refocusing their energy. Hopefully, this will lead to an AppleTV app, preferably one that displays album artwork larger than 1.25" square on a 60" TV, which unfortunately is what I'd expect from them.
 
Seems they could use some engineering efforts elsewhere. This just happened to me now then trying to update the speakers I have. 😒

Edit:
OK, it went through now after pressing ”Try again” and waiting for the spinning dots that didn’t finish after several minutes, then I closed the app and opened it again – all speakers up to date. 🤷‍♂️

IMG_1494.jpeg
 
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Too bad I'd say - a missed opportunity. Our Arcs show the psychedelic screen-saver and we'd love some better integration or visuals displayed on our TVs.
 
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Pretty much everyone that commented on this when they first announced knew this was dead in the water. $200 for a streaming box? That's insane. Possibly up to $400? What in the world were they smoking? Who would pay for such a thing? The Apple TV is right there, has a great interface, and a great price. You don't even need to be part of the rest of the Apple Ecosystem to use it.

Just another example of a company making really stupid choices that seem obvious if you just a take a step back.
 
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