Public service announcement: Do not buy Sonos!

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Public service announcement: Do not buy Sonos!

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#3324886 27-Dec-2024 08:10

Maybe the new app has a compatibility problem with the UltraHub?

I'm a OneNZ fibre customer and recently replaced my UltraHub with a more modern TP-Link router, mainly because I'd had some problems with my Homepods freezing up when attempting to control audio playback. It's very early days, but I haven't had any problems since the changeover.

gehenna

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#3324907 27-Dec-2024 10:01

Lightbulb:

A quick google will demonstrate that there has been widespread dissatisfaction with Sonos recently.

There are app related issues, there are non app related issues. There are new issues, there are issues that Sonos customers have had for a decade. Nothing Op describes indicates an association with the app related issues. I've been following this since the app first landed as I was heavily impacted, I'm well aware of the details. Op has just caught up with the hype cycle, and now believes they have a silver bullet to their issues.

dafman

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#3325286 28-Dec-2024 11:33

gehenna:

Lightbulb:

A quick google will demonstrate that there has been widespread dissatisfaction with Sonos recently.

There are app related issues, there are non app related issues. There are new issues, there are issues that Sonos customers have had for a decade. Nothing Op describes indicates an association with the app related issues. I've been following this since the app first landed as I was heavily impacted, I'm well aware of the details. Op has just caught up with the hype cycle, and now believes they have a silver bullet to their issues.

I wasn’t going to respond, but given above, my absolute final post. Not interested in @gehenna, this is for others that maybe reading his/her post above. Especially for those considering an expensive Sonos purchase.

Again, for avoidance of doubt:

We had well over 10 years of trouble-free Sonos experience prior to the new app release.
All our troubles align with release of the new app and match other users’ experience around the globe. We have not made any recent changes to any Sonos components or our home network configuration. The only change has been the new app.
Our app issues include (not exclusive): app slow to load, app loads but does not recognise system, app volume control either doesn’t work, is laggy, or, on occasions, kills all sound. Sometimes we are unable to connect or disconnect speakers, or the app will show you something completely different to what the speakers are doing.

App performance issues aside, the new app UI is cluttered and non-intuitive compared with the previous version. Which we could live with if it did work flawlessly like the previous. However, this complete change in UI reinforces the total control that Sonos have over how you access their system and that they can (and do) totally change this without warning. Total change, without any optionality for users to vary or moderate the access experience.

Load of rubbish saying I am caught up in a hype cycle. I am just one of many disappointed users who, stuck with extended downgraded experience, have decided to publicly vent frustration at Sonos, a company who have clearly decided to put corporate strategy above customer experience.

Currently looking at options to progressively replace our Sonos slowly over time. Not easy. Not inexpensive.

Over and (definitely) out.

dafman

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#3327311 3-Jan-2025 17:37

Back to the Future: A happy resolution (of sorts).

I did say I was done with this thread, but I have found a workable compromise which may assist others in a similar position to me.

We had friends over on New Year’s Day and after an afternoon of intermittent speaker drop offs, something had to change.

I had been reading that some affected users had successfully reverted back to the using the old S1 app (which Sonos relegated to secondary use in 2020 for owners of old hardware not supported by the new S2 app). As most of our speakers are older Play 1 and Play 3 units, I was able to downgrade them and reconnect them to the S1 app. We had a Play 5 in the garage running on S1, so I was able to join the Play 1s and 3s to this system. The outcome = heaven. For the last 2 days our speakers have operated flawlessly - the app fires up immediately, switching speaker combinations never misses a beat and the volume adjustment, well it just works immediately and is totally lag free. And zero speaker drop offs. An added bonus, the older S1 app is a joy to use without the clutter of the newer S2 app. And the cherry on top, the Play 5 has moved from the garage to prime position in the main house again.

I have a newer One SL which couldn’t be downgraded, so it has been relegated to bedroom use where reliability is less of an issue and multi-room not required.

Of course, my blessing was owning a majority of older speakers which could be downgraded, this fix will not work for those with newer hardware. On reading online, the Play 3s in particular seem to be having more issues than others in the new app environment, so may explain why my issues were greater than others.

In conclusion, no network changes required, just a trip back into the past appears to have resolved all our issues.

So we have a fix, until Sonos decide to kill the S1 app (wouldn’t surprise me) or our hardware starts to die over time.

Tinkerisk

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#3327314 3-Jan-2025 17:59

I went for the Teufel system, which also has an app but doesn't lock me in, is universally usable, allows my own music on a NAS without any problems, offers very good quality, isn't expensive and remains free after purchase. It's very popular here in Germany. We have two smaller, active speaker systems (in the kitchen and bathroom) and two streamers, which are connected to an analogue mini system (RCA) and a DAC amplifier (Toslink), both with passive speakers and allow flawless multi-room operation. I can also distribute analogue or USB sources fed into the host streamer throughout the house. What they CANNOT do: They are (thankfully) not digital voice assistants. But I'm afraid they're not readily available in NZ, so I'm only writing this to show that there can be very good technical alternatives.

Qui nihil scit, omnia credere debet.
Firewalls do NOT stop dragons.
In effect we have everything to hide from someone, and no idea who someone is.

Senecio

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#3327327 3-Jan-2025 18:28

So, all this time you've been slagging off Sonos but only now you reveal that most of your equipment is legacy hardware that was originally designed to run on the S1 app?

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#3327331 3-Jan-2025 18:43

Senecio:

So, all this time you've been slagging off Sonos but only now you reveal that most of your equipment is legacy hardware that was originally designed to run on the S1 app?

All this time I have been complaining about Sonos only now to reveal that all my equipment is Sonos.

Only the Play 5 was relegated by Sonos to the S1, the Play 1 and Play 3 were ok to move to the S2 app and for four years (before the recent app fail) worked fine under the previous S2 app.

All the app-related issues I have been complaining about remain with the newer hardware I own that require the new app. I’ve just been able to relegate this newer hardware to minimal use. So, yes, I wouldn’t buy any new Sonos kit and would strongly discourage others from doing so in the current environment.

Handle9

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#3327332 3-Jan-2025 18:44

Senecio:
So, all this time you've been slagging off Sonos but only now you reveal that most of your equipment is legacy hardware that was originally designed to run on the S1 app?

So what? 5 of the 6 speakers OP owns are supported in the S2 app. Their complaints are entirely reasonable given the chronology of what happened.

eracode

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#3331102 14-Jan-2025 06:42

dafman:

Back to the Future: A happy resolution (of sorts).

I did say I was done with this thread, but I have found a workable compromise which may assist others in a similar position to me.

We had friends over on New Year’s Day and after an afternoon of intermittent speaker drop offs, something had to change.

I had been reading that some affected users had successfully reverted back to the using the old S1 app (which Sonos relegated to secondary use in 2020 for owners of old hardware not supported by the new S2 app). As most of our speakers are older Play 1 and Play 3 units, I was able to downgrade them and reconnect them to the S1 app. We had a Play 5 in the garage running on S1, so I was able to join the Play 1s and 3s to this system. The outcome = heaven. For the last 2 days our speakers have operated flawlessly - the app fires up immediately, switching speaker combinations never misses a beat and the volume adjustment, well it just works immediately and is totally lag free. And zero speaker drop offs. An added bonus, the older S1 app is a joy to use without the clutter of the newer S2 app. And the cherry on top, the Play 5 has moved from the garage to prime position in the main house again.

I have a newer One SL which couldn’t be downgraded, so it has been relegated to bedroom use where reliability is less of an issue and multi-room not required.

Of course, my blessing was owning a majority of older speakers which could be downgraded, this fix will not work for those with newer hardware. On reading online, the Play 3s in particular seem to be having more issues than others in the new app environment, so may explain why my issues were greater than others.

In conclusion, no network changes required, just a trip back into the past appears to have resolved all our issues.

So we have a fix, until Sonos decide to kill the S1 app (wouldn’t surprise me) or our hardware starts to die over time.

Back on 15 December you were advised as follows:

"Given the wide disparity between your Sonos experience and other users' experiences, it raises the question of what speakers you have.

Sonos has been criticised for reducing support for some of their ‘legacy’ speakers that were produced 10+ years ago.

The original Sonos app was re-named S1 when they released their S2 app several years ago. Rather than completely abandoning the legacy speakers, they left S1 available to control legacy speakers - S2 was for newer speakers. It was S2 that was ‘rewritten from the ground up’ earlier this year. S1 is still available in app stores.

If you are trying to control legacy speakers with the current app, you’re bound to run into problems - but you haven’t said what speakers you have."

Did you listen? No.

You were also advised to call Sonos Support on 0800 because they are really helpful. You refused. They would have sorted this for you.

Instead you continued to blindly malign Sonos. Not gonna say what I think of this.

Perhaps you now understand why 90% of the posters here were currently having no trouble whatsoever with Sonos.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

eracode

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#3331104 14-Jan-2025 06:45

Just to round out this story - Patrick Spence gone.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Bung

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#3331123 14-Jan-2025 07:52

Why did Patrick Spence leave if it's all dafman's fault?

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Handle9

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#3331124 14-Jan-2025 07:56

eracode:
dafman:

Back to the Future: A happy resolution (of sorts).

I did say I was done with this thread, but I have found a workable compromise which may assist others in a similar position to me.

We had friends over on New Year’s Day and after an afternoon of intermittent speaker drop offs, something had to change.

I had been reading that some affected users had successfully reverted back to the using the old S1 app (which Sonos relegated to secondary use in 2020 for owners of old hardware not supported by the new S2 app). As most of our speakers are older Play 1 and Play 3 units, I was able to downgrade them and reconnect them to the S1 app. We had a Play 5 in the garage running on S1, so I was able to join the Play 1s and 3s to this system. The outcome = heaven. For the last 2 days our speakers have operated flawlessly - the app fires up immediately, switching speaker combinations never misses a beat and the volume adjustment, well it just works immediately and is totally lag free. And zero speaker drop offs. An added bonus, the older S1 app is a joy to use without the clutter of the newer S2 app. And the cherry on top, the Play 5 has moved from the garage to prime position in the main house again.

I have a newer One SL which couldn’t be downgraded, so it has been relegated to bedroom use where reliability is less of an issue and multi-room not required.

Of course, my blessing was owning a majority of older speakers which could be downgraded, this fix will not work for those with newer hardware. On reading online, the Play 3s in particular seem to be having more issues than others in the new app environment, so may explain why my issues were greater than others.

In conclusion, no network changes required, just a trip back into the past appears to have resolved all our issues.

So we have a fix, until Sonos decide to kill the S1 app (wouldn’t surprise me) or our hardware starts to die over time.

Back on 15 December you were advised as follows:

"Given the wide disparity between your Sonos experience and other users' experiences, it raises the question of what speakers you have.

Sonos has been criticised for reducing support for some of their ‘legacy’ speakers that were produced 10+ years ago.

The original Sonos app was re-named S1 when they released their S2 app several years ago. Rather than completely abandoning the legacy speakers, they left S1 available to control legacy speakers - S2 was for newer speakers. It was S2 that was ‘rewritten from the ground up’ earlier this year. S1 is still available in app stores.

If you are trying to control legacy speakers with the current app, you’re bound to run into problems - but you haven’t said what speakers you have."

Did you listen? No.

You were also advised to call Sonos Support on 0800 because they are really helpful. You refused. They would have sorted this for you.

Instead you continued to blindly malign Sonos. Not gonna say what I think of this.

Perhaps you now understand why 90% of the posters here were currently having no trouble whatsoever with Sonos.

To repeat OP used the S2 app to control speakers that are supported by the S2 app and that worked in the S2 app until Sonos broke it.

It’s a very reasonable expectation that an app should work for devices that are officially supported by that app.

Handle9

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#3331125 14-Jan-2025 07:57

Bung:
Why did Patrick Spence leave if it's all dafman's fault?

He was upset by dafmans heinous slander.

dafman

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#3331409 14-Jan-2025 13:01

“I think we’ll all agree that this year we’ve let far too many people down. As we’ve seen, getting some important things right (Arc Ultra and Ace are remarkable products!) is just not enough when our customers’ alarms don’t go off, their kids can’t hear their playlist during breakfast, their surrounds don’t fire, or they can’t pause the music in time to answer the buzzing doorbell.”

Tom Conrad. Incoming interim CEO for Sonos.

Sounds promising. Fingers crossed.

amanzi

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#3332357 16-Jan-2025 15:13

Interesting reading this thread. I have four Sonos devices (two of them are IKEA branded) and try to avoid using the app if I can. That's made easy if you use Spotify or AirPlay - I don't think my wife or kids even have the Sonos app installed. But my experience of the Sonos app continues to be subpar. Often, I'll open the app and will be greeted with a "no products found" screen, and to have force-close and re-open the app a couple times to get it working again. Once the app is actually up and running, it's really slugish, selecting groups of speakers is unintuitive, and browsing through music services feels clunky (although this was also the case with the previous app.)

I am wondering if there's any correlation between iOS and Android users with regards to how the app performs? I'm on Android, but don't know if the app is any better on iOS?

I'm thinking of selling my Sonos gear this year and switching to a Wiim-based solution. Not sure how feasible this is right now, but there are already some smart speakers compatible with Wiim, so things are moving in the right direction.

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