Sonos Planning Another App Overhaul With Live Activities Support

[chr]

Not to be a corporate shill -- and I'm not discounting the experiences of others -- but I have very few issues with my Sonos stuff. Of course I'd like to be able to control volume with the buttons on my phone, but the Sonos Ones in my office work great, as do the Beam+sub+surrounds in my living room.

Anyway, this upgrade sounds solid to me.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

Not to be a corporate shill -- and I'm not discounting the experiences of others -- but I have very few issues with my Sonos stuff. Of course I'd like to be able to control volume with the buttons on my phone, but the Sonos Ones in my office work great, as do the Beam+sub+surrounds in my living room.

Anyway, this upgrade sounds solid to me.

The beam works great for me too. I like the sound and I actually replaced the Homepod with the Beam. My issue is (And I say this as an android user) that I don't know what I'm supposed to use the app for. They say to play music, but it's segregated from everything else. Why can't I just play music from the Apple Music app and let it go to the soundbar? I was actually a little surprised the Beam wasn't bluetooth compatible.

 

[elrojo69]

what can go wrong?

 

[npmacuser5]

I have changed to Apple managing Sonos AirPlay speakers via HomeKit and the music app. Overall no “the day the music died”, like the current Sonos app. Apple music app way better for managing my music playing needs also. I use the Sonos app for speaker updates. Will I go back to Sonos app. Probably not.

 

[jayb3]

I'm looking forward to this much needed update to address usability. Given the hyper awareness of the situation I know Sonos knows the stakes of this update and I doubt they will screw it up. I'm rooting for them to turn things around because they do have really great products.

 

[jarman92]

I never understood how a redesign of their app was such a calamity to users. Are we talking about the same products? I open the Sonos app maybe once a year. It is mostly for just setting up your speakers, which barely ever need to be touched again after being set up. Sure they have features in the app for playing audio sources but that's really just because feel obligated to have it. It isn't meant to be the primary way to play audio. 99% of the time the audio going through my various Sonos devices is coming from the TV. If I'm playing from my phone, I'm not using the Sonos app. I'll use my music app(s), and stream directly to the speakers.

So why exactly did the earth stop rotating over an update to the Sonos app?

Have you considered that other humans exist with different preferences, setups, and use-cases?

The Sonos app doesn’t have those features because they felt “obligated,” it’s because literally millions of people use and rely on them.

 

[jarman92]

How has Sonos not adopted Live Activities in the last 4 years but American Airlines has?

 

[rishey]

I never understood how a redesign of their app was such a calamity to users. Are we talking about the same products? I open the Sonos app maybe once a year. It is mostly for just setting up your speakers, which barely ever need to be touched again after being set up. Sure they have features in the app for playing audio sources but that's really just because feel obligated to have it. It isn't meant to be the primary way to play audio. 99% of the time the audio going through my various Sonos devices is coming from the TV. If I'm playing from my phone, I'm not using the Sonos app. I'll use my music app(s), and stream directly to the speakers.

So why exactly did the earth stop rotating over an update to the Sonos app?

I hate to break it to you, but not everyone is you. There are other people.

 

[gdbleb]

This is too funny. Perhaps they should just drag out the source code for V1, clean it up and release it. Save a lot of money, avoid a ton of bad PR and perhaps layoff some of the idiot product managers and save even more money AND make the customer base happy. What a concept.

 

[carswell]

Genuine question - what are people using the Sonos app for, beyond setting up a new device? I just airplay whatever I want to play on my system.

I don't use AirPlay because it's low-fi, decimates my phone's battery life and, for older Sonos speaker models, requires my phone to be near my Wi-Fi router. Using the Sonos app or a surrogate gives me lossless hi-res playback.

Also, the Sonos app (not the surrogate) gives me access to a music service, which will remain nameless because I use it via a workaround and don't want to risk losing it, that I listen to daily and otherwise wouldn't have access to.

 

[whatta]

I have a stereo pair of Era 100 in the office and a stereo pair of Era 300 in the living room. Zero problems with the Sonos app and stability. I do miss some geek/nerd debug info about streaming bitrate and file format and being able to use my Era 300 pair, without soundbar, for atmos movies via Apple TV, like a pair of HomePods work..

 

[Ross111]

Genuine question - what are people using the Sonos app for, beyond setting up a new device? I just airplay whatever I want to play on my system.

The sonos app can natively connect to apple music (possibly other services), and uses a lot less battery than airplay. Furthermore, with airplay, when you go out of connectivity range, the music stops, whereas with the sonos apps, it has the direct connection to apple music and continues.

 

[Ross111]

I bought a Sonos Move maybe a year before the app clusterfu**. It was wonderful, and I planned to integrate sonos thoughout the home with ports, etc. Then that mess happened... nearly 2 years later, the move regularly drops out, the app is still missing functionality (want to see all your playlists? good luck), and features within apple music (from the sonos app) are limited. No way would I put Sonos throughout the home.

Not sure I've seen a company go from being technically great/superior to complete collapse of product reliability (permanently), overnight. Pure self-destruction. They seemed to not have a rollback strategy or concerns about telling folks they lost a days worth of updates, and now it's unlikely the company will regain a huge population of loyalists or perform on-top again. Awful leadership. But... maybe they saved a few bucks having the app coded offshore?

 

[kmm333]

Will I be able to use the volume buttons on my iPhone to control volume or will I still have to do it in the stupid app? I need the Sonos app to support iPhone volume buttons and then we can talk forgiveness.

I use Sonify just for this!

 

[mw360]

The sonos app can natively connect to apple music (possibly other services), and uses a lot less battery than airplay. Furthermore, with airplay, when you go out of connectivity range, the music stops, whereas with the sonos apps, it has the direct connection to apple music and continues.

I haven't used Airplay since before I got a Sonos system (13 years ago) does it still rely on the phone streaming audio to the speaker? I thought Airplay 2 worked like Sonos, in that it directed the speaker to stream directly from the online service.

 

[spamabyss]

One gripe I still have with my Sonos system is that it will only use lossless if I play songs through the app. But if I play songs through the app I can't adjust the volume via the volume buttons of the phone, which to me is really really annoying...

 

[mtrm]

Sonos app user experience is a complete NIGHTMARE! Both on phones and Macs. It's completely confusing, why do they have two different Sonos apps for Mac OS that looks exactly the same etc....

They have 2 apps for MacOS? Last time I tried to install it, it asked me if I wanted to install Rosetta and so I thought their objective was just to drop the desktop apps (MacOS and Windows) in favour of the WebApp. I haven’t bothered installing the desktop apps on my MacBook or on my windows PCs (except for a brief period last year during the app updates).

Now on iOS I agree. They should have merged both Apps into one, even if under the hood it treated S1 and S2 as two different systems.

I never understood how a redesign of their app was such a calamity to users. Are we talking about the same products? I open the Sonos app maybe once a year. It is mostly for just setting up your speakers, which barely ever need to be touched again after being set up. Sure they have features in the app for playing audio sources but that's really just because feel obligated to have it. It isn't meant to be the primary way to play audio. 99% of the time the audio going through my various Sonos devices is coming from the TV. If I'm playing from my phone, I'm not using the Sonos app. I'll use my music app(s), and stream directly to the speakers.

So why exactly did the earth stop rotating over an update to the Sonos app?

Of course I can’t speak for everyone, but when they updated the app one thing I immediately noticed was that the alarm clock settings were missing. We use it on weekdays to wake up to calm music rather than a regular alarm clock.

Was it a dealbreaker that made me want to throw my Sonos out of the window and never buy another? No. I just had another phone around that hadn’t updated the app yet (and for which I disabled automatic updates), and at the time I also installed the app on my PC, which remedied the issue. 2 weeks later they also added the option back. Other than that small annoyance, everything has been rock solid and I’d definitely buy again. Heck, I’ve purchased a soundbar and 1 or 2 speakers since.

 

[KeepCalmPeople]

Now THIS is courageous.

 

[matsan]

Mmmm, please give us a new redesign phase!
Took more than a year to go from horrible to acceptable in the current app.
An please SONOS - don't forget key features this time (such as perhaps, managing the alarms)

 

[matsan]

They have 2 apps for MacOS? Last time I tried to install it, it asked me if I wanted to install Rosetta and so I thought their objective was just to drop the desktop apps (MacOS and Windows) in favour of the WebApp. I haven’t bothered installing the desktop apps on my MacBook or on my windows PCs.
Now on iOS I agree. They should have merged both Apps into one, even if under the hood it treated S1 and S2 as two different systems.

The macOS old app is the one that actually has been working the whole time! Still possible to manage your NAS-based music library in it!

 

[Godspeed8230]

I really feel that Sonos is moving in the right direction. I’m genuinely happy with my system as it is, and adding Live Activities would be a thoughtful enhancement that makes the overall experience even better.

 

[LowBloodSugar]

One gripe I still have with my Sonos system is that it will only use lossless if I play songs through the app. But if I play songs through the app I can't adjust the volume via the volume buttons of the phone, which to me is really really annoying...

This is something apple won't allow. There was a hack that Sonos implemented, but they had their hand slapped by apple and made them remove it.

 

[mtrm]

The macOS old app is the one that actually has been working the whole time! Still possible to manage your NAS-based music library in it!

View attachment 2607618

Ah! Somehow I had the impression they were discontinuing it. Maybe it’s the fact the interface (at least on windows) looks so outdated 🤣. I stand corrected!

 

[thefourthpope]

I never understood how a redesign of their app was such a calamity to users. Are we talking about the same products? I open the Sonos app maybe once a year. It is mostly for just setting up your speakers, which barely ever need to be touched again after being set up. Sure they have features in the app for playing audio sources but that's really just because feel obligated to have it. It isn't meant to be the primary way to play audio. 99% of the time the audio going through my various Sonos devices is coming from the TV. If I'm playing from my phone, I'm not using the Sonos app. I'll use my music app(s), and stream directly to the speakers.

So why exactly did the earth stop rotating over an update to the Sonos app?

I see a lot of folks pointing out that usage cases vary. That's true, but I think the real calamity was that the app update removed long-established features that would seem fairly basic for a speaker app. That meant that any uses we had already ingrained were no longer functional.

For instance, for me, editing a queue or changing volume with the iPhone buttons. I started using AirPlay more, but it was a use forced on me and just isn't as functional in a home with multiple people -- if I leave the music leaves with me?

Even the functions you identify as core like setting up or refining speakers stopped working reliably. We moved shortly after the new app was launched, and it took me multiple resets to get the speakers sorted out. Trueplay, considered a core Sonos feature, didn't work on three speakers until after several updates. Calamity is the right word.

 

[thefourthpope]

Genuine question - what are people using the Sonos app for, beyond setting up a new device? I just airplay whatever I want to play on my system.

Basically, sharing. Two kids and two adults in our house using a dozen speakers across nine rooms.

• Play and control different music in different rooms.
• Keep music playing even if that iPhone leaves the house.
• Revise queues if you started playing or set groups with voice control, which we do frequently.
• Easier grouping via "upstairs" "downstairs" "kids" etc.
• Turn the TV volume down from another room.
• Bonus: Saves battery life by adding the queue and letting it play.