Sonos Planning Another App Overhaul With Live Activities Support

[whitby]

I have a mix (9 in 3 stereo pairs and 3 singles) of HomePods (not the Minis) and Sonos speakers (1 pair ERA 100, 1 pair ERA 300, a One and 2 Roams.).

I have found that Airplay from macOS Tahoe is extremely unreliable (for all speakers, HomePod and Sonos) and that I need to use the iOS Music app to get Airplay to work reliably. I have never encountered an issue with the Sonos speakers (I also have a NAIM MuSO and a Bose 700 sound bar and 700 sub in the guest bedroom which also work fine when using iOS or iPad OS) using Airplay from my iPad or iPhone. MacOS is a disaster (I have posted elsewhere on the issue which is still not fixed and was introduced with Tahoe, Sequoia was fine).

The SONOS app has proved to be very useful for me to stream to my SONOS speakers where Airplay failed. It is also worth pointing out that the ERA 100 and ERA 300 also support Bluetooth and a direct connection (gasp 'analogue' connection) via their A to D dongle. Something the HomePods cannot do.

So the SONOS app on the Mac is very useful. You need, as has been pointed a few times here, the iOS app to set up the SONOS speakers which I find a mild irritation. I would prefer to have a Mac OS app, but the Mac OS is restricted to playback and tone controls for the speakers. The iOS app has also met my needs reliably although it can, at times, be a little obtuse. The MacOS app is severely limited but can select stream sources.

As regards comments on quality, I find the ERA 300s to be disappointing with poor bass and a rather forward sound (emphasized mid range). Funnily the ERA 100s (the cheaper option) sound better (balance and bass) although they still have the signature SONOS forward sound. I think the HomePods (OG and V2) sound better than ether SONOS speakers and have much better balance and substantially better low frequency response. However their total dependence on AirPlay is a serious shortcoming that limits their usefulness and have prevented my investing further for my mid-fi listening systems in the house, hence the SONOS systems. I have a higher end system for pure listening and a surround sound system with processor, amp and 9 speakers for multimedia listening for TV etc.

 

[Theilen]

[deleted]

 

[icwhatudidthere]

Lol sounds he's got sour grapes. He says it's not a redesign or overhaul but then the pinned comment from Sonos says they're addressing lots of unfamiliar navigation patterns and bringing back tabbed navigation. So it maybe it's not a completely new app like the current one is but it definitely sounds like a redesign.

 

[zarmanto]

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

I can't speak for others, but speaking for myself: when an update bricks a previously functional product, that's kind of a big deal. Maybe not "earth shattering"... but certainly warranting some particularly sharp criticism of the company in question.

I have two Sonos devices. One is a little older than the other. I have no idea which app is supposed to work with either of them, but neither app does. Both devices ceased to function entirely after being in storage for awhile, during a move. I've tried various things to bring them back to life, from both of the available apps, and no dice. They both worked just fine prior to the move; now they are both simply bricks.

I, for one, would welcome one more redesign -- so long as it fixes my damned bricked Sonos devices. Absent that, I absolutely will never buy another Sonos product again.

 

[mw360]

That's not been my experience. If my phone goes out of range, it stops playing.

I looked it up and it seems like Airplay 2 can work a lot like Sonos, and direct the speaker to stream from the cloud instead of the phone, but only with Apple Music and other Apple apps.

 

[mw360]

Maybe, just maybe, learn to use the Music playback tools that Apple has refined for over 20 years, instead of relying on third party app.

Apple's playback tools have been refined over 20 years to support only Apple services and push Apple device churn. And most of the refinement has been copying the basics that Sonos already had rock-solid 20 years ago while Airplay 1 was utter garbage. If you get what you need from the crumbs Apple provides, then great for you, Sonos screwed up badly and you win this round, that doesn't mean everybody else using different music services, or with older hardware, or with different family usage needs is somehow an idiot.

 

[dmaterialized]

Me and all my friends simply airplay to the speakers. None of us use the Sonos app. No idea why anyone would want that.



No calamity here as I never use the Sonos app. Plus I can control the volume with the volume buttons, even without unlocking the iPhone or iPad.



Perhaps people using the Sonos app don't know it's easier by Airplaying music to the speakers.

I’m sure most of them do know that (if they’re iPhone users). Most people using Sonos aren’t looking to airplay to speakers. If they were, there are thousands of devices that do that for less money than Sonos. The entire point of Sonos is the app.

 

[dmaterialized]

Lmao. What? Sonos makes Home Theater products. That is their primary use. Playing audio in multiple rooms is not a new concept or something unique to Sonos. You don't need the Sonos app to do it either. I've played audio in multiple rooms of my house with Sonos speakers in multiple rooms and have never once used the Sonos app to do it.

The Sonos app target audience are people that don't know enough not to use it.

It’s fine if you just want it to be a home theater, but whether you agree with this or not, audio through cloud services (not direct wireless or wired connection from a playback device) across multiple rooms is the entire USP of Sonos and has been for 10+ years. They do happen to make two soundbars now, and yes, a couple of items that can work as surrounds that are otherwise full range drivers. They make some subs too. Would we say they’re a subwoofer company?

Look at their website - it’s all about “audio in every room”, “mix and match speakers all over your house”, “control audio everywhere.” That is their marketing pitch and it has been unique to them for a long time, which is why they have so many users. WiiM and others are all much more recent.

If you’re saying you’re playing different audio to multiple devices simultaneously without using the app, you’re probably either using airplay 2 on more than one phone/computer (airplay 1 barely allowed multi device pairing, and it relies on your phone to drive it) or you’ve got hard wired dedicated playback devices and you’re button-syncing a group together. Neither of those is the same as having the Sonos devices grab network content and play it back on particular devices, which is the primary thing Sonos was designed to do. Otherwise… why pay so much?

 

[Hank001]

I’m sure most of them do know that (if they’re iPhone users). Most people using Sonos aren’t looking to airplay to speakers. If they were, there are thousands of devices that do that for less money than Sonos. The entire point of Sonos is the app.

Really? Wow, never knew. I only reluctantly installed the app in order to install the speakers, and deleted it right after AirPlay worked. So did most friends.

 

[Farquar]

It’s fine if you just want it to be a home theater, but whether you agree with this or not, audio through cloud services (not direct wireless or wired connection from a playback device) across multiple rooms is the entire USP of Sonos and has been for 10+ years. They do happen to make two soundbars now, and yes, a couple of items that can work as surrounds that are otherwise full range drivers. They make some subs too. Would we say they’re a subwoofer company?

Look at their website - it’s all about “audio in every room”, “mix and match speakers all over your house”, “control audio everywhere.” That is their marketing pitch and it has been unique to them for a long time, which is why they have so many users. WiiM and others are all much more recent.

If you’re saying you’re playing different audio to multiple devices simultaneously without using the app, you’re probably either using airplay 2 on more than one phone/computer (airplay 1 barely allowed multi device pairing, and it relies on your phone to drive it) or you’ve got hard wired dedicated playback devices and you’re button-syncing a group together. Neither of those is the same as having the Sonos devices grab network content and play it back on particular devices, which is the primary thing Sonos was designed to do. Otherwise… why pay so much?

The heart of audio on iPhone is the Music app. It supports multi-room playback to Sonos speakers + other types at the same time. There isn't any reason to use the Sonos APP itself to get this benefit of Sonos speakers. In fact, it is counter-intuitive to do so when users spend far more time in other music apps.

There is nothing you can say to convince me the Sonos app is an important app for playback.

 

[Hank001]

The heart of audio on iPhone is the Music app. It supports multi-room playback to Sonos speakers + other types at the same time. There isn't any reason to use the Sonos APP itself to get this benefit of Sonos speakers. In fact, it is counter-intuitive to do so when users spend far more time in other music apps.

There is nothing you can say to convince me the Sonos app is an important app for playback.

Indeed, it's either Apple Music or Spotify that people use. For Sonos speakers, for all the other brands.

So guess what? I reinstalled the Sonos app. To see what it has to offer nowadays. Problem is, I'm on holiday, at a friends' house, he's got Sonos, and the app can only do:
mandatory to connect to that system, or
I can Add headphones, or
Shop Sonos products, or
Visit help center,
edit my profile.

Here I am, wanting to look up that alarm function people rave about. To see the (for me useless) radio stations one can listen to, see the app. But no, blocked because I need to connect to my friends' system. And I don't want to connect to that, don't want to mess with other peoples' system.

So the app sucks, without even trying out the app.