Sonos gets the app slaughtered

On May 7, Sonos launched a new version of the mobile app used to control the company's speakers. This was supposed to be a long-awaited overhaul and Sonos itself claimed it would make the app easier and faster to use.

A storm of complaints on social media

However, soon after the launch of the new app, complaints started pouring in from users.

According to what was published by technology Wired There have been particularly many complaints on the r/sonos subreddit. in com. megathread Users quickly began identifying all the issues they encountered:

• According to Wired, several features that have long been part of the Sonos app are missing.
• Features such as the ability to set sleep timers and alarms, set speakers to an exact volume level, add songs to the end of a queue, manage Wi-Fi connectivity and add new speakers are missing or broken, according to complaints.
• Users also reported that the revamped in-app search engine often couldn't search a local, connected library running on a networked computer or network-attached storage device — the way many of Sonos' most loyal users listen to their large private music collections, Wired writes.
• Some streaming services are partially or completely down for some users as well, such as TuneIn and LivePhish+.
• The new app should also not be as good at accessibility settings as the previous version. On Reddit He writes User @Rude-Kangaroo6608 said that “as a blind person, I now have a system that I can barely use.”

On Sonos' own forum, many of them have written They are thinking of selling their speakers.

“How could a big company like this burn it to the ground when the app was almost perfect before? Where is the QA, test suites, etc.? It's unbelievable – a real disappointment and as I wrote previously – if this is the new way, it's gone and I'll sell All my speakers,” wrote a user who has been a customer since 2011.

stop this

Sonos: – It took courage

Just days after launching the app last month, Sonos responded to the criticism.

In a statement to the edge The company stated that it is aware of the complaints related to the new application, and that it is listening to the comments and working to restore the missing features.

However, they are standing behind the launch, describing it as a challenging period which, in theory, will provide a better experience for everyone going forward.

– Redesigning the Sonos app is an ambitious undertaking that demonstrates how serious our commitment to innovation and new thinking is. Building the brand's core product from the ground up takes courage, knowing that it may take taking a few steps back to take a giant leap into the future, said Maxime Povat-Merlin, chief product officer.

Sonos recently updated the app and reintroduced numeric values ​​in the volume controls and the ability to put songs in queue.

Here they beat Sonos

Privacy trends

The new app overshadowed the launch of Sonos' first headphones, the Ace, which in turn were well received by reviewers.

But now a new potential issue has emerged related to changes in the US privacy policy, as the company has removed a sentence that previously said:

“Sonos does not and will not sell personal information about our customers.”

Admittedly, this has not been removed in the Sonos privacy statement in other countries.

to the edge The company says there is a natural explanation behind the change, and that the phrase was removed because it was worded too broadly and would have already been deemed incorrect depending on each country's privacy laws regarding consumer data.

In practice, everything should be as it was before, according to Sonos. As The Verge points out, this might not have been so controversial if the change hadn't followed Sonos' much-criticized new mobile app, which still receives frequent updates to restore old functionality.