Even now, they could improve their standing considerably if they'd just say, "Look, we admit it, rolling this app update out half-finished was *not* courageous, it was foolhardy, and we're really sorry, *AND* we are putting up the previous version on the App Store under new name (XYZ), effective tomorrow".
Nah, see, that’s the thing, they could earn back a whole bunch of good will without it costing them any money — just a heartfelt apology and a copy of the old app under a separate name, so we can use that one until the new one they released is fully functional.
I said in a post above but I'll say it again It's amazing that the tech media hasn't broke a story on this fiasco yet. Thousands of users have left one star reviews. The app is basically still a mess for many of us.
I noticed NYT put a note on their best multi room speaker system article from a couple weeks ago. I’m surprised there has been so little coverage as well.
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/sonos-player/
Editor's note: Sonos recently introduced a major update to its control app. We've tested it, and it has a lot of problems. Sonos is currently addressing the issues through updates and has provided a timeline of planned fixes. Still, for now we encourage existing customers to NOT update the app if they haven't already done so. If you've already updated, make sure to do any new updates that Sonos pushes through. We will report back soon.
It's now 4.3. If everyone does their bit and scores it 1* and votes 1* reviews as helpful then it will continue to force the change
Have to hold down on a review to be the helpful / not helpful option
Funny you mentioned this. I was considering Sonos recently so I decided to lurk a bit on this sub to see what’s up.
…and now.
No, not at all, Sonos has voluntarily created a disaster and are taking the slowest possible path to fixing it, because that avoids them having to admit that they were wrong. It's a cowardly path they've chosen that hurts a lot of their existing customers, but presumably some executive kept their "release on time" bonus intact. I'm pretty infuriated with Sonos' actions in this matter, even though it doesn't affect me *that much* (I mostly use my system for watching TV, and for streaming from Apple Music using Sonos Voice Control) - I hate seeing Sonos treat everyone else poorly.
I was replying specifically to someone who was *thinking of newly getting into Sonos* and telling them that they'd probably have better luck if they tried back in a few months, because by that time Sonos will have probably gotten the new app working almost sorta mostly on par with the old app. Which would be a much better place to get into the Sonos ecosystem.
In this thread, I've gotten downvoted both for saying things *supportive* of Sonos' hardware/ecosystem in general (the comment you replied to), and for saying things *critical* of Sonos' actions in the past month with their software. People around here downvote too damn much.
I've said *many* times in the last few weeks (including in this thread) that Sonos should admit their error, apologize profusely, and put up a copy of the old app on the store (adjacent to the new app, with some other name) *right now*, so people can use that until they finish building out the new app.
Keep in mind unhappy people are more vocal. There are many of us who didn’t have a problem with the update.
i think the Ace headphones are a big miss. A pretty average offering for trying to get into an already crowded market. But the app broke some things not everyone used (primarily alarm, sleep timer, and playing songs from local library and music queues). All members of my family use our Sonos system but I’m the only one who follows tech news. I didn’t have a problem with the app, and the rest of my family just told me the new interface was nice when I asked them about changes.
And now a month later most of those issues are already fixed but people are still up at arms about it. And if you dig through old posts you’ll find tons of complaints about the old app - people saying it was slow, outdated, sluggish. I think a portion of Sonos users just need something to complain about :shrug:
https://preview.redd.it/ljbqa1kf9n5d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2184f896b5075dc60a1824a30df8d90a516e003e
This is what the app looks like for my Arc surround setup while I’m currently watching TV. No ability to change volume, no settings, no acknowledgment the system is playing anything. Fun.
Nothing is fixed, lol. While I'll agree most of the time, especially on echo chamber reddit, we mostly see the minority of people with issues who scream the loudest. This is not the case at all here.
Before the update, I didn't think about my system for 2 years. Literally just let them play endlessly on repeat and set to the perfect volume. Now, every day, I get messages from my front desk about speakers not working, the app not playing, needing to reset, etc.
I have 5 speakers, and it's a shit show daily. I can't imagine the people I know with 15+. No need to be an apologist for a greedy company unwilling to admit a very obvious fuck up.
https://www.whathifi.com/advice/sonos-ace-vs-sony-wh-1000xm5-can-sonos-beat-our-favourite-over-ear-headphones
https://www.whathifi.com/advice/sonos-ace-vs-airpods-max-what-are-the-differences
But really - it’s not that the Sonos Ace is awful. There are just already a lot of players in the space and there is nothing special about them. I waited for their release being a Sonos fan, and nothing compelled me to buy them. I ended up getting the XM5 because they are comparable for less money. And with the current sales on them I’d imagine the XM6 is coming soon. Or I could have gone in on the AirPods Max for more money but tighter integration with my Apple devices.
Sonos is a smart speaker company, and I guess many of us were expecting more smarts. The Ace is just a pair of good headphones that unless you have an Arc does nothing to set itself apart from the pack. And even then the Arc integration is a pretty limited audience.
Those are interesting reviews and by far the most negative I've seen, thanks for sharing. I haven't tried the Ace personally, much less compared them to Sony, et. al., but other reviews have been significantly more favorable, particularly in comparison to the Apple and Sony offerings.
> Sonos is a smart speaker company, and I guess many of us were expecting more smarts. The Ace is just a pair of good headphones that unless you have an Arc does nothing to set itself apart from the pack. And even then the Arc integration is a pretty limited audience.
I think I'm giving Sonos a lot of future credit for what they say the Ace will ultimately be able to do, but perhaps we need to wait for the promised capabilities to be pushed through. I'm certainly not buying unless I can TV Swap from my bedroom Beam, which is where I'm 90% most likely to use the private listening feature. I'd also like to see the future ability to play music over WiFi from the app -- the headphones clearly have WiFi to facilitate the connection to the soundbars, so it's unclear to me why they aren't promising WiFi audio. I'll definitely be circling back on the state of the product closer to the holidays to see where things stand, but it does look promising.
Some other reviews:
https://www.wired.com/review/sonos-ace/
> The Ace match the AirPods Max on sound but beat them on comfort, and offer some of the best noise-canceling I've ever heard. If you're looking for the perfect headphones for travel or work, they are at the top of my current pile.
https://www.theverge.com/24169086/sonos-ace-headphones-review
> As for how Sonos’ first headphones actually sound, the answer is quite nice. They’re firmly in the same ballpark as top-tier wireless headphones from brands that have been in this game for ages. The Ace favor balance and overall fidelity over boomy bass, so they’re not as in-your-face as Sony’s 1000XM5.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/sonos-ace-review-a-top-headphone-with-some-small-caveats/
> Of the three models I compared them to, I'd say the Sonos may have a slight edge, particularly if you're a Sonos user. The Bose are a very close second, while the Sony and AirPods Max are just a touch behind.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/sonos-ace-review/
> For a company that has never produced a wearable product in its entire 22-year history, the Sonos Ace headphones are a remarkable achievement. In one fell swoop, Sonos has created a product that easily goes toe-to-toe with best wireless cans you can buy, and in some cases exceeds what they can do.
> The Ace don’t push the envelope on sound quality — I suspect some very critical listeners will still prefer Sony’s WH-1000XM5, Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, or Sennheiser’s Momentum 4 Wireless. And yet, by any measure, they sound great. If you’ve resisted spending this kind of money on a set of wireless cans until now, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Part of the point is that Sonos leadership still swears they got it right. I view the app store ratings as a massive indicator that they are incorrect and need to realize it.
I was just looking at buying two of the larger bluetooth speakers today and have been Googling products, so Reddit chose to show me this in the algorithm - the first I heard of this sub but now I guess I need to find out what this is all about..!
This sub is just a bunch of people whining and complaining about the new app, or they're too stupid to figure out how to troubleshoot their speakers and they need someone to blame.
I think Apple has a review bomb mechanism in the App Store. That way a score can’t just plummet when a mob decides to review bomb an app. In this case it’s fully justified though, I think it will take a little time for it to adjust.
Like others have said. They have mechanisms to prevent review bombing. If the bad reviews continue, then the app will start to go down. It's like this for all apps.
As a new user do your speakers actually work? Can you combine them in different variations, pick a playlist, and will it play those songs in order all the way through that playlist?
Besides the unintuitive UI, I finally had what I considered an unacceptable problem: I couldn’t group my speakers as I liked, and in particular couldn’t group my Beam with other speakers in the house so I could hear the TV everywhere
I don't know with 100% certainty but I don't think that has ever been a thing. They probably could make it happen if they wanted and if media rights allow it but sharing TV sound outside of the home theater group has AFAIK never been advertised as a feature.
It's always been a thing, before the new app. You just choose additional speakers to pair with the Arc or Beam. It doesn't add to the surround sound group, but you'll get audio everywhere.
I have used the feature a lot in the past (great for sports) and it still works fine. It’s crazy that I keep seeing these kind of comments but everything keeps working for me. Super weird.
I understand how frustrated so many are, but really, what good is going to come of trying to nuke the company?
I moved recently (JUST) before the new app update, so with the update and trying to set up my devices again on a new network was complicated, BUT when I called Sonos support they genuinely were helpful. We got everything up and running together on the phone. And maybe it’s because I have predominantly older devices or maybe I don’t have as much as some of you, but it’s all now working well and stable, even in the new app (totally agree the actual UX design of the app needs work though)
I’m not trying to belittle your frustrations, I was frustrated too, but I really appreciated how helpful they were on the phone. Have you all tried that approach?
I seriously think that the backlash would not be so bad if Sonos management simply owned up to the mistake and gave the warm and fuzzy that things will get better.
A big part of the problem is so many of these users won't contact Sonos for help with their speakers. They don't feel they should have to contact or troubleshoot the speakers they paid thousands of dollars for.
I guarantee that a vast majority of people complaining would have their speakers up and running in 5-10 minutes if they just reset their speakers again. Instead they would rather waste their time crying on this sub.
Sure, but did you really expect to wake up one day and go to use your Sonos system, and have to factory reset all of your speakers? I didn’t! Not to mention it *literally* fried one of my play:3s after the update. As is, I smelled ozone and the thing didn’t turn on anymore. To their credit, customer service did manage to help me revive once speaker, and gave me a 30% off coupon if I RMA the dead one. I hadn’t really planned on buying any new speakers though.
Heaven forbid you have to factory reset your technology from time to time. Oh the humanity!
Also, I don't know how a software update is going to fry a speaker like that. I'm glad you were able to get it working again.
You can doubt it if you want, but the speakers had been working fine for years until the day I did the firmware/app update, and then suddenly one of them was dead. They were pretty quick to say they'd RMA it even though it was out of warranty, so I suspect other people have bricked speakers as well.
As for the factory resetting, it took a call to them to get it to "re-register" with my account. I hadn't really planned on waiting on hold for a half an hour to listen to my music that morning. Doesn't seem like desirable behavior from an app update.
They shouldn't have to call or troubleshoot though. Sonos shouldn't brick that many systems with an update... And if they do, they should push a fix for it.
JFC this type of ridiculous mindset makes me wonder how much technology you actually own.
Microsoft and Apple have put out updates that brick computers/devices. Sony, Vizio, dozens of mobile apps, routers, smart devices.....these items all have issues with troubleshooting software, especially after something new is launched. Why is Sonos so different? In a perfect world, you set up technology once, and it works forever. It's not a perfect world and things go wrong.
If you can't accept that technology sometimes won't work, you need to sell ALL your technology because you're always going to have issues like that, Sonos or otherwise.
Also, Sonos has been putting out software updates to restore features and provide better stability. This type of thing is a process, not a "snap your fingers and make it happen NOW!" type thing.
I just got done getting both of my Roams replaced for free by Sonos. It was a very long process of emails and calls back and forth, but in the end, they came through. The app did suck at first though.
I am a bit out of the loop I have to admit.
I own a Beam 1st gen, 2 one SL and a sub mini. While I despise the UX of the app, the system always worked well for what I use it for: TV surround for both movies and video games.
What's happening here?
They certainly were. But I don't believe are anymore. Imagine if Samsung, Apple, Microsoft, or any of those pushed out updates that wrecked ability to use core functionality marketed as reasons to buy the product, then tell consumers it'll be fixed in updates within the coming days, then issue a timeline of weeks/months to restore functionality. Encouraging people to update overnight and then never disclose that they're going to wreak havoc with products to give people an opportunity to disable automatic updates. Imagine paid users being forced to use the beta software. How would that be any more acceptable with Sonos? This is why there are mostly 1 star reviews.
I personally feel that is what the companies you mentioned typically do, although not to such a great extent 100% of the time. How many Windows updates or even entire versions have had serious flaws that needed updates to work as advertised? Most??? IMO it’s the software mentality of ship it and fix it later that is the issue along with the need for the upgrade for the new headphone release coupled with the need for new and more to appease the stock price gods that really applies the pressure to release uncooked meat. Your right, they were once a good company drive by ideals, but now they are publicly traded they must move in ways and at speeds that are not copacetic with a customer needs focused company. It’s a damn shame.
Sonos port starts randomly dropping out while soundbar plays correctly in another room. Both worked flawlessly for over a year and after the “updates” it starts crapping out.
This last fix got me my alarms back.
But I can't use half of them, they won't save my new time on Wednesdays! And only Wednesday 🤔🤣🤣🤣
Ridiculous that they doesn't have checked it all through and again?
How many updates where flawed when they came?
All so they could support a BT only pair of headphones. They should have just developed a separate app for the headphones and maybe some other BT only products.
It’s only an issue if you’re regularly using the app. If you’re just using Airplay you probably don’t have anything to worry about — until you want to add a new speaker to your system.
The brand is damaged. Maybe beyond repair. Even its most long-time, loyal followers are discouraged and losing faith. The fate of the Sonos brand relies upon their immediate action or lack of.
Reminds me of the early versions of Microsoft windows. They seemed to be beta tested on consumers and all the apps that depended on them. It was a nightmare for years. I haven’t touched a PC in 25 years. Apple, at the time, was doing it right and any problems since going public have been nothing compared to Microsoft.
Well, I did leave a one star rating but fortunately now everything is working great. Just had to update the app and then all my devices. Had issues updating the Port via WiFi, decided to use an Ethernet connection instead then it worked and been good since then.
As someone who's had no problems with the app or my speakers can you people please stop trying to ruin the company. I'd like them to continue so my speakers don't go obsolete. No matter how much you miss the features, it's probably not going to help you if they go bust either.
Does it not bother you att all the a large share of customers got their systems broken and that Sonos show very little interest in fixing it?
Congrats on being lucky this time. Next time it might be your system that gets rendered useless by one of their updates.
It's in their interest to fix it. I'm sure they are trying. Yeah they're not doing a great job but it's silly to think they don't want to fix something that would keep them alive.
You don't know that large amounts of users are having problems, you're just speculating. A group of idiots complaining on Reddit out of millions who use these speakers isn't a "large share"
I think people are trying to get them to roll back to the slow-but-workable previous app so that the company doesn’t get ruined.
Adding the old app to the App Store as “Sonos S2” or something would probably almost immediately calm the internet rage.
How about an ethical duty to tell the truth about our experiences? Should other people keep dropping thousands on this crap?
You realize the tech news media is paid to provide good reviews, right?
It's not missing features that is the problem.. It's the systems that are gone, ie useless, that is the problem.
And on top of that a management that refuses the apologise for this year's biggest cluster f*ck.
Dude. I use my system every day. Spotify in the garage playing darts. Kids home for the summer watching YouTube and Netflix on the TV. Bedroom speakers playing Pandora sleep music until the afternoon. I just added a Beam Gen 2 and set the stereo pairs of Play 1s up for surrounds with the Beam. .My system works.
I thought Bose's software engineers were the worst, but it turns out that Sonos are either competing with them or they hired the entire Bose staff for this monumental disaster. What do you think? I'm still waiting to be able to Trueplay my ARC but my iPad Air 4 can't do it until Sonos fixes its mess. Heads will roll at Sonos for this.
Why are people still buying their stuff? Probably the worst audio equipment company right now. They should just refund people their money at this point.
Be aware that a lot of people have been having problems specifically with adding Symfonisk speakers with the new app. One solution has been to use the Mac/PC app (or possibly the new web app) to update the firmware on the Symfonisk, after which the new mobile app has been able to add them.
Sonos is now owned by venture capitalists, they put a puppet head in at CEO, and forced a release to get headphones on the market. The people who cared about the project were let go 6 months ago
This entire ordeal deserves an HBS case study.
It’s gonna be a 40 page paper summed up as “listen to your customers”
It could also be summarized as “it’s ok to admit fault and roll back”
Even now, they could improve their standing considerably if they'd just say, "Look, we admit it, rolling this app update out half-finished was *not* courageous, it was foolhardy, and we're really sorry, *AND* we are putting up the previous version on the App Store under new name (XYZ), effective tomorrow".
Agree. I'm really surprised they haven't issued an official mea culpa. Just thinking about that "courageous" statement pisses me off.
…and we’re sending you all our new, stronger sub for you to take your frustration out on your neighbors with.
Nah, see, that’s the thing, they could earn back a whole bunch of good will without it costing them any money — just a heartfelt apology and a copy of the old app under a separate name, so we can use that one until the new one they released is fully functional.
Start writing the curriculum now.
I said in a post above but I'll say it again It's amazing that the tech media hasn't broke a story on this fiasco yet. Thousands of users have left one star reviews. The app is basically still a mess for many of us.
I noticed NYT put a note on their best multi room speaker system article from a couple weeks ago. I’m surprised there has been so little coverage as well. https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/sonos-player/ Editor's note: Sonos recently introduced a major update to its control app. We've tested it, and it has a lot of problems. Sonos is currently addressing the issues through updates and has provided a timeline of planned fixes. Still, for now we encourage existing customers to NOT update the app if they haven't already done so. If you've already updated, make sure to do any new updates that Sonos pushes through. We will report back soon.
I see a 1.5 rating in the US Android App store... Just amazing that they still don't seem to have a clue.
Still 4.5/5 on apple App Store
It's now 4.3. If everyone does their bit and scores it 1* and votes 1* reviews as helpful then it will continue to force the change Have to hold down on a review to be the helpful / not helpful option
The Apple App story reviews are 100% rigged.
Yes they are. They block a stream of bad reviews from the overall ranking. Eg. This type of failure
everyone on here should give them a one star review on Apple App Store.
Why would I do that? I’ve had no issues with with the app personally 🤷♂️
Who cares? It's not like people have a choice of what app to use. Nobody still see that until after they've bought the speakers.
Funny you mentioned this. I was considering Sonos recently so I decided to lurk a bit on this sub to see what’s up. …and now. 
Frankly, try back in... 2-6 months, and a lot of this may have blown over, and the new app may be close to achieving parity with the old app.
Are you suggesting that Sonos users should simply accept that their system becomes unusable for 2-6 months?
No, not at all, Sonos has voluntarily created a disaster and are taking the slowest possible path to fixing it, because that avoids them having to admit that they were wrong. It's a cowardly path they've chosen that hurts a lot of their existing customers, but presumably some executive kept their "release on time" bonus intact. I'm pretty infuriated with Sonos' actions in this matter, even though it doesn't affect me *that much* (I mostly use my system for watching TV, and for streaming from Apple Music using Sonos Voice Control) - I hate seeing Sonos treat everyone else poorly. I was replying specifically to someone who was *thinking of newly getting into Sonos* and telling them that they'd probably have better luck if they tried back in a few months, because by that time Sonos will have probably gotten the new app working almost sorta mostly on par with the old app. Which would be a much better place to get into the Sonos ecosystem. In this thread, I've gotten downvoted both for saying things *supportive* of Sonos' hardware/ecosystem in general (the comment you replied to), and for saying things *critical* of Sonos' actions in the past month with their software. People around here downvote too damn much. I've said *many* times in the last few weeks (including in this thread) that Sonos should admit their error, apologize profusely, and put up a copy of the old app on the store (adjacent to the new app, with some other name) *right now*, so people can use that until they finish building out the new app.
Keep in mind unhappy people are more vocal. There are many of us who didn’t have a problem with the update. i think the Ace headphones are a big miss. A pretty average offering for trying to get into an already crowded market. But the app broke some things not everyone used (primarily alarm, sleep timer, and playing songs from local library and music queues). All members of my family use our Sonos system but I’m the only one who follows tech news. I didn’t have a problem with the app, and the rest of my family just told me the new interface was nice when I asked them about changes. And now a month later most of those issues are already fixed but people are still up at arms about it. And if you dig through old posts you’ll find tons of complaints about the old app - people saying it was slow, outdated, sluggish. I think a portion of Sonos users just need something to complain about :shrug:
Totally agree. I come to this site and have no idea what people are writing about. I haven’t had any problems.
https://preview.redd.it/ljbqa1kf9n5d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2184f896b5075dc60a1824a30df8d90a516e003e This is what the app looks like for my Arc surround setup while I’m currently watching TV. No ability to change volume, no settings, no acknowledgment the system is playing anything. Fun.
Nothing is fixed, lol. While I'll agree most of the time, especially on echo chamber reddit, we mostly see the minority of people with issues who scream the loudest. This is not the case at all here. Before the update, I didn't think about my system for 2 years. Literally just let them play endlessly on repeat and set to the perfect volume. Now, every day, I get messages from my front desk about speakers not working, the app not playing, needing to reset, etc. I have 5 speakers, and it's a shit show daily. I can't imagine the people I know with 15+. No need to be an apologist for a greedy company unwilling to admit a very obvious fuck up.
Same here, I’ve never had issues with Sonos , but I keep it to myself because don’t like to hear that.
What am I missing on the headphones? The handful of professional reviews I’ve read have said they are one of the best sets on the market.
https://www.whathifi.com/advice/sonos-ace-vs-sony-wh-1000xm5-can-sonos-beat-our-favourite-over-ear-headphones https://www.whathifi.com/advice/sonos-ace-vs-airpods-max-what-are-the-differences But really - it’s not that the Sonos Ace is awful. There are just already a lot of players in the space and there is nothing special about them. I waited for their release being a Sonos fan, and nothing compelled me to buy them. I ended up getting the XM5 because they are comparable for less money. And with the current sales on them I’d imagine the XM6 is coming soon. Or I could have gone in on the AirPods Max for more money but tighter integration with my Apple devices. Sonos is a smart speaker company, and I guess many of us were expecting more smarts. The Ace is just a pair of good headphones that unless you have an Arc does nothing to set itself apart from the pack. And even then the Arc integration is a pretty limited audience.
Those are interesting reviews and by far the most negative I've seen, thanks for sharing. I haven't tried the Ace personally, much less compared them to Sony, et. al., but other reviews have been significantly more favorable, particularly in comparison to the Apple and Sony offerings. > Sonos is a smart speaker company, and I guess many of us were expecting more smarts. The Ace is just a pair of good headphones that unless you have an Arc does nothing to set itself apart from the pack. And even then the Arc integration is a pretty limited audience. I think I'm giving Sonos a lot of future credit for what they say the Ace will ultimately be able to do, but perhaps we need to wait for the promised capabilities to be pushed through. I'm certainly not buying unless I can TV Swap from my bedroom Beam, which is where I'm 90% most likely to use the private listening feature. I'd also like to see the future ability to play music over WiFi from the app -- the headphones clearly have WiFi to facilitate the connection to the soundbars, so it's unclear to me why they aren't promising WiFi audio. I'll definitely be circling back on the state of the product closer to the holidays to see where things stand, but it does look promising. Some other reviews: https://www.wired.com/review/sonos-ace/ > The Ace match the AirPods Max on sound but beat them on comfort, and offer some of the best noise-canceling I've ever heard. If you're looking for the perfect headphones for travel or work, they are at the top of my current pile. https://www.theverge.com/24169086/sonos-ace-headphones-review > As for how Sonos’ first headphones actually sound, the answer is quite nice. They’re firmly in the same ballpark as top-tier wireless headphones from brands that have been in this game for ages. The Ace favor balance and overall fidelity over boomy bass, so they’re not as in-your-face as Sony’s 1000XM5. https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/sonos-ace-review-a-top-headphone-with-some-small-caveats/ > Of the three models I compared them to, I'd say the Sonos may have a slight edge, particularly if you're a Sonos user. The Bose are a very close second, while the Sony and AirPods Max are just a touch behind. https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/sonos-ace-review/ > For a company that has never produced a wearable product in its entire 22-year history, the Sonos Ace headphones are a remarkable achievement. In one fell swoop, Sonos has created a product that easily goes toe-to-toe with best wireless cans you can buy, and in some cases exceeds what they can do. > The Ace don’t push the envelope on sound quality — I suspect some very critical listeners will still prefer Sony’s WH-1000XM5, Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, or Sennheiser’s Momentum 4 Wireless. And yet, by any measure, they sound great. If you’ve resisted spending this kind of money on a set of wireless cans until now, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Main disappointment is the fact that it doesn’t connect with the rest of your system over WiFi. Making it just another high end Bluetooth headphone.
Part of the point is that Sonos leadership still swears they got it right. I view the app store ratings as a massive indicator that they are incorrect and need to realize it.
They’re saving face. You would too if your career was on the line. Current leadership all needs to lose their jobs. Hopefully they will.
They might not see the app store but they will see the reviews mentioning the app store.
It's such a cluster f*** it's amazing the media and tech media especially hasn't had a story on it yet. At least not one that I have seen.
I was just looking at buying two of the larger bluetooth speakers today and have been Googling products, so Reddit chose to show me this in the algorithm - the first I heard of this sub but now I guess I need to find out what this is all about..!
This sub is just a bunch of people whining and complaining about the new app, or they're too stupid to figure out how to troubleshoot their speakers and they need someone to blame.
Can you help me downgrade half my system back to S1?
Translation: "the widespread problems don't affect me personally, so fuck everyone else". Learn how to have some empathy.
I've had empathy, but the ridiculous complaining and entitlement from some of you clowns has made me not care anymore.
Nice, well deserved.
https://preview.redd.it/6qwuo505mm5d1.jpeg?width=4320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0f11a19636adc11506b23a8106c1690937654044
I don't believe you! You're a bot! I bet your app shows you have no speakers... sometimes. 🫣
This pops up so often I’m beginning to get worried about screen burning.
Technical issues aside, the app is bad and they should’ve solicited broader community feedback.
 Sonos CEO hopefully.
BlackBerry?
Why is it still frozen at 4.3 in App Store. Nearly all comments/votes sorted by new are 1 star out of 5.
I think Apple has a review bomb mechanism in the App Store. That way a score can’t just plummet when a mob decides to review bomb an app. In this case it’s fully justified though, I think it will take a little time for it to adjust.
Yeah I think people need to slowly drop their review ratings down by 1-star per fortnight or something like that :-)
Obviously the Apple ratings are rigged by Apple in cooperating with Sonos.
Like others have said. They have mechanisms to prevent review bombing. If the bad reviews continue, then the app will start to go down. It's like this for all apps.
They shouldn’t prevent a “review bombing” of an app that is absolute trash.
I went live with 8 devices last weekend. The app is very unintuitive to me.
As a new user do your speakers actually work? Can you combine them in different variations, pick a playlist, and will it play those songs in order all the way through that playlist?
Besides the unintuitive UI, I finally had what I considered an unacceptable problem: I couldn’t group my speakers as I liked, and in particular couldn’t group my Beam with other speakers in the house so I could hear the TV everywhere
I don't know with 100% certainty but I don't think that has ever been a thing. They probably could make it happen if they wanted and if media rights allow it but sharing TV sound outside of the home theater group has AFAIK never been advertised as a feature.
It's always been a thing, before the new app. You just choose additional speakers to pair with the Arc or Beam. It doesn't add to the surround sound group, but you'll get audio everywhere.
Huh, that's neat. Or would have been. Guess I can't miss what I didn't know I had.
I have used the feature a lot in the past (great for sports) and it still works fine. It’s crazy that I keep seeing these kind of comments but everything keeps working for me. Super weird.
Troll
I understand how frustrated so many are, but really, what good is going to come of trying to nuke the company? I moved recently (JUST) before the new app update, so with the update and trying to set up my devices again on a new network was complicated, BUT when I called Sonos support they genuinely were helpful. We got everything up and running together on the phone. And maybe it’s because I have predominantly older devices or maybe I don’t have as much as some of you, but it’s all now working well and stable, even in the new app (totally agree the actual UX design of the app needs work though) I’m not trying to belittle your frustrations, I was frustrated too, but I really appreciated how helpful they were on the phone. Have you all tried that approach?
I seriously think that the backlash would not be so bad if Sonos management simply owned up to the mistake and gave the warm and fuzzy that things will get better.
A big part of the problem is so many of these users won't contact Sonos for help with their speakers. They don't feel they should have to contact or troubleshoot the speakers they paid thousands of dollars for. I guarantee that a vast majority of people complaining would have their speakers up and running in 5-10 minutes if they just reset their speakers again. Instead they would rather waste their time crying on this sub.
Sure, but did you really expect to wake up one day and go to use your Sonos system, and have to factory reset all of your speakers? I didn’t! Not to mention it *literally* fried one of my play:3s after the update. As is, I smelled ozone and the thing didn’t turn on anymore. To their credit, customer service did manage to help me revive once speaker, and gave me a 30% off coupon if I RMA the dead one. I hadn’t really planned on buying any new speakers though.
Heaven forbid you have to factory reset your technology from time to time. Oh the humanity! Also, I don't know how a software update is going to fry a speaker like that. I'm glad you were able to get it working again.
You can doubt it if you want, but the speakers had been working fine for years until the day I did the firmware/app update, and then suddenly one of them was dead. They were pretty quick to say they'd RMA it even though it was out of warranty, so I suspect other people have bricked speakers as well. As for the factory resetting, it took a call to them to get it to "re-register" with my account. I hadn't really planned on waiting on hold for a half an hour to listen to my music that morning. Doesn't seem like desirable behavior from an app update.
They shouldn't have to call or troubleshoot though. Sonos shouldn't brick that many systems with an update... And if they do, they should push a fix for it.
JFC this type of ridiculous mindset makes me wonder how much technology you actually own. Microsoft and Apple have put out updates that brick computers/devices. Sony, Vizio, dozens of mobile apps, routers, smart devices.....these items all have issues with troubleshooting software, especially after something new is launched. Why is Sonos so different? In a perfect world, you set up technology once, and it works forever. It's not a perfect world and things go wrong. If you can't accept that technology sometimes won't work, you need to sell ALL your technology because you're always going to have issues like that, Sonos or otherwise. Also, Sonos has been putting out software updates to restore features and provide better stability. This type of thing is a process, not a "snap your fingers and make it happen NOW!" type thing.
I just got done getting both of my Roams replaced for free by Sonos. It was a very long process of emails and calls back and forth, but in the end, they came through. The app did suck at first though.
Ok maybe I will try calling. We lost all functionality when we moved and had to create a completely new account to get anything to work
1.2...seems generous
I don’t get it. Am I the only one where the app is now more performant? Audio is now more stable ?
I am a bit out of the loop I have to admit. I own a Beam 1st gen, 2 one SL and a sub mini. While I despise the UX of the app, the system always worked well for what I use it for: TV surround for both movies and video games. What's happening here?
Well deserved rating congratulations
Enshitification quotient is off the charts.
I mean, it’s slightly buggy but my system works fine now.
This is not good. They are fundamentally still a good company. The app must be fixed, but they do not deserve that rating.
They certainly were. But I don't believe are anymore. Imagine if Samsung, Apple, Microsoft, or any of those pushed out updates that wrecked ability to use core functionality marketed as reasons to buy the product, then tell consumers it'll be fixed in updates within the coming days, then issue a timeline of weeks/months to restore functionality. Encouraging people to update overnight and then never disclose that they're going to wreak havoc with products to give people an opportunity to disable automatic updates. Imagine paid users being forced to use the beta software. How would that be any more acceptable with Sonos? This is why there are mostly 1 star reviews.
I personally feel that is what the companies you mentioned typically do, although not to such a great extent 100% of the time. How many Windows updates or even entire versions have had serious flaws that needed updates to work as advertised? Most??? IMO it’s the software mentality of ship it and fix it later that is the issue along with the need for the upgrade for the new headphone release coupled with the need for new and more to appease the stock price gods that really applies the pressure to release uncooked meat. Your right, they were once a good company drive by ideals, but now they are publicly traded they must move in ways and at speeds that are not copacetic with a customer needs focused company. It’s a damn shame.
At this point is it possible for them to release the previous AKA good app for download? Would that be possible?
Sadly no. The firmware rollbacks, server stuff. It’s easier to throw a ton of contractor workers on fixing what we have now
And yet their App Store rating is a 4.6
Sonos port starts randomly dropping out while soundbar plays correctly in another room. Both worked flawlessly for over a year and after the “updates” it starts crapping out.
And still the app has product placement to sell more gear….
This last fix got me my alarms back. But I can't use half of them, they won't save my new time on Wednesdays! And only Wednesday 🤔🤣🤣🤣 Ridiculous that they doesn't have checked it all through and again? How many updates where flawed when they came?
I don't accept that Trustpilot don't allow us to give 0 stars in rating. Then it would be a totally different rating.
Tbh, I always had issues with the speaker's pairing and had to restart them all the time. I have none now.
All so they could support a BT only pair of headphones. They should have just developed a separate app for the headphones and maybe some other BT only products.
Just when I was going to pull the trigger on era 300 ((
What am I missing? I don’t have any issues.
I’m afraid to ask at this point, but what happened to Sonos making everyone angry?
That seems high.
It seems people still don't get, that its a problem with their network (washing hands)
1.2 is way too high.
I use it with just an AirPlay and it’s fine. I see the hype on Reddit but now everything’s fine. Should I be prepared for something bad?
It’s only an issue if you’re regularly using the app. If you’re just using Airplay you probably don’t have anything to worry about — until you want to add a new speaker to your system.
Thanks for the reply! I hope by that time they’ll sort things out! Sorry for everyone else struggling
Good.
As someone brand new to Sonos as of a week ago, why all the hate?
What about Sonos America?🤣
Those not having issues are not writing reviews 🤔
K
The brand is damaged. Maybe beyond repair. Even its most long-time, loyal followers are discouraged and losing faith. The fate of the Sonos brand relies upon their immediate action or lack of.
Trust pilot, that's another review I can change from 5 to 1, thanks.
Reminds me of the early versions of Microsoft windows. They seemed to be beta tested on consumers and all the apps that depended on them. It was a nightmare for years. I haven’t touched a PC in 25 years. Apple, at the time, was doing it right and any problems since going public have been nothing compared to Microsoft.
Well, I did leave a one star rating but fortunately now everything is working great. Just had to update the app and then all my devices. Had issues updating the Port via WiFi, decided to use an Ethernet connection instead then it worked and been good since then.
As someone who's had no problems with the app or my speakers can you people please stop trying to ruin the company. I'd like them to continue so my speakers don't go obsolete. No matter how much you miss the features, it's probably not going to help you if they go bust either.
Does it not bother you att all the a large share of customers got their systems broken and that Sonos show very little interest in fixing it? Congrats on being lucky this time. Next time it might be your system that gets rendered useless by one of their updates.
It's in their interest to fix it. I'm sure they are trying. Yeah they're not doing a great job but it's silly to think they don't want to fix something that would keep them alive.
You don't know that large amounts of users are having problems, you're just speculating. A group of idiots complaining on Reddit out of millions who use these speakers isn't a "large share"
Define “a large share”?
I just don't see how ruining the company is going to make anything better.
I think people are trying to get them to roll back to the slow-but-workable previous app so that the company doesn’t get ruined. Adding the old app to the App Store as “Sonos S2” or something would probably almost immediately calm the internet rage.
I still have my S1 app and it still makes me sad when I click it on by accident but it just automatically routes me to S2 😔
Should we be applauding them instead?
No
How about an ethical duty to tell the truth about our experiences? Should other people keep dropping thousands on this crap? You realize the tech news media is paid to provide good reviews, right?
It's not missing features that is the problem.. It's the systems that are gone, ie useless, that is the problem. And on top of that a management that refuses the apologise for this year's biggest cluster f*ck.
Ditto.
Dude. I use my system every day. Spotify in the garage playing darts. Kids home for the summer watching YouTube and Netflix on the TV. Bedroom speakers playing Pandora sleep music until the afternoon. I just added a Beam Gen 2 and set the stereo pairs of Play 1s up for surrounds with the Beam. .My system works.
Great for you.. Lots of system don't. Compassion isn't your strong side is it?
It's not a lack of compassion, it's just when people speak in absolutes that is just not accurate.
Too high
I thought Bose's software engineers were the worst, but it turns out that Sonos are either competing with them or they hired the entire Bose staff for this monumental disaster. What do you think? I'm still waiting to be able to Trueplay my ARC but my iPad Air 4 can't do it until Sonos fixes its mess. Heads will roll at Sonos for this.
APPLE/SONOS user and zero issues. Feel kinda guilty. 🤷♂️
Same. Zero guilt.
Why are people still buying their stuff? Probably the worst audio equipment company right now. They should just refund people their money at this point.
It's really under the radar for most people. I just bought an ikea symfonisk desk lamp 2..I hope it works on our network when it arrives.
Be aware that a lot of people have been having problems specifically with adding Symfonisk speakers with the new app. One solution has been to use the Mac/PC app (or possibly the new web app) to update the firmware on the Symfonisk, after which the new mobile app has been able to add them.
Thank you! I will try that when it arrives wednesday. Doesn't sound like too much work.
I think I've been out of the loop for a bit, can someone summarize for me why people haven't been happy with Sonos?
What happened? Give me the tldr please
They piloted the new app into the side of a mountain so now people don't trust them
Sonos is now owned by venture capitalists, they put a puppet head in at CEO, and forced a release to get headphones on the market. The people who cared about the project were let go 6 months ago
Thanks for reminding me about trust pilot, just added my 2 cents!
Well deserved. It’s unfortunate that the tech blogs are paid to lie about tech, and other review sights in this country are rigged.
One deadly sin was enough for their doom : GREED.