popular opinion : Sonos launched a redesigned adaptation of its multi - room talker control app this workweek , and it ’s honest to say the response has been mixed .
Sonosannounced in later April that it would set up a fresh updateto its command app , with a whole new port designed to get users to their music more apace . in advance of the launch , Sonos said that it had center on “ produce a good way to take heed ” , and redesign the app for an easier , faster , and good experience that can stomach “ more speedy institution ” .
All this sounded great , with the tabbed port of the late app ditched for something that put your music and frequently used services within gentle reach .
It’s not gone to plan
However , with the app now out for both iOS and Android the response from users has been underwhelming . As someone who uses the app daily , I can see where this defeat comes from . While the new app is an climb from a pattern perspective , the baffling removal of characteristic – some very authoritative ones – along with numerous bugs makes this a bouldery start .
Take a spirit at replies to theannouncement post on Xor scroll through the activeSonos subredditand it ’s well-to-do to see where the majority of the initial thwarting lies .
In this redesign , Sonos has removed alert and sleep timer functionality – two canonical features for a multiroom loudspeaker arrangement . Sonos has noted the change , pronounce that the“feature is not currently available in the Sonos app , but will return in a future update . ”
Hi Nikki ! This feature is not currently uncommitted in the Sonos app , but will return in a future update . We revalue your feedback and will turn over it along to our team 🔊
For a twosome of simple features to be removed is odd , but the subject do n’t seem to end there . Users have reported thatimportant accessibility feature of speech have been removed , that TruePlay tuning is broken – something I can manifest to – and euphony queues ca n’t be edit . App launches can often be bumpy , but this response will be far from welcome for Sonos .
Of course , bugs are to be expected and Sonos has made it clear in replies to disgruntled users on X that this is its“most ambitious software update yet”and certain lineament will retrovert in future updates .
The job with that is there ’s no timeframe on the comeback of these basic features , and for Sonos to even think about removing them from such a huge update gives me the impression that it was n’t expecting anything resemble the repercussion it is presently pay back . It could be a while before the new app gets all the features of the previous one .
There are some welcome changes here, but the issues are plentiful
Visually , I call up the app front a lot better than it did . The heavily customisable habitation screenland is an melioration and being able-bodied to choose a favored streaming service make searching for song a lot more practical . The constantly visible Now play sieve is welcome too , making it wanton to bound back to whatever is playing when you ’re elsewhere in the app .
A pot of options are buried deeply than before , EQ for instance , but personally I would n’t dig into that too often . My big issues revolve around app performance – things are just so unreliable at the meter of writing , almost like I am beta testing an app that has n’t been properly release yet .
For instance , when I opened the app for the first meter , multiple services needed to be reauthorised , with Apple Music refusing to work at all . I stop up erase Apple Music from my services and sum up it again – after about five attempt , it worked . I ’ve also had issuing with volume levels varying wildly between vocal on dissimilar speakers .
After such an outcry , I would go for the app become all the feature film users want quickly , specially as Sonos reckon set to have a fussy summerwith the launching of its first set of headphones .
