Sonos launched a new version of its app this week, altering the software experience that tens of millions of users rely on to control the company’s premium home wireless home speaker systems.
Turns out, people really hate it! The response from users on Reddit, on audio forums, and on social media has been almost total condemnation since the app experience switched over on May 7. Users on the dedicated r/sonos subreddit are particularly peeved about it, expressing frustration at all manner of problems. The quickest way to see the scores of complaints is to visit the megathread the users in the community started to catalog all the problems they’re experiencing.
Many features that had long been a part of the Sonos app are simply missing in the update. Features such as the ability to set sleep timers and alarms, set the speakers at a precise volume level, add songs to the end of a queue, manage Wi-Fi connectivity, and add new speakers are missing or broken, according to the complaints. Users are also reporting that the revamped search engine in the app often can’t search a connected local library running on a networked computer or a network-attached storage drive—they way many of Sonos’ most loyal users listen to their large private music libraries. Some streaming services are partially or completely broken for some users too, like TuneIn and LivePhish+.
Worse, the new app is not as accessible as the previous version, with one Reddit user calling it “an accessibility disaster.” The user, Rude-kangaroo6608, writes: “As a blind guy, I now have a system that I can hardly use.”
Sonos has held firm on its decision, telling The Verge that changing so much inside the app “took courage”—a phrase that fans of headphone jacks on iPhones may be familiar with. In a statement to The Verge, Sonos says it plans to slowly add many of those ditched features back into its new app in the coming months.
We should note that the changes were only pushed as an update to the S2 version of the app. Sonos has two apps: one called S1 that can control legacy hardware like Zone Players and first-gen Amps as well as the new hardware; and the more feature-rich S2 app that controls just the more recent Sonos speakers. Those using the S1 controller will need to follow Sonos’ instructions if they want to try the new experience.
Here's other consumer tech news from this week.
Apple Crushes It (‘It’ Being Goodwill)
In other customer rage news, folks are really riled up about Apple's newest iPad ad. The commercial apes the recent viral trend of smashing things in high-powered hydraulic presses.
Apple decided to get in on the flattening fun and commissioned an ad showing a bunch of stuff getting crushed in a room-size press. Everything from guitars and pianos to paint cans, arcade machines, and a pile of helpless emoji toys gets smashed into bits before being replaced by—voilà—a very thin iPad Pro. Get it? Cuz you can do all that stuff on an iPad?
Many did not see the commercial as the artist-friendly, do-everything-here product showcase Apple intended. Say what you will about those compression videos, but they can be aesthetically pleasing acts of destruction when the thing being crushed is, say, a bunch of colorful crayons. But apparently something about a giant tech company crushing the tools many artists use every day in order to sell them a digital gadget that imitates those tools is a little too on the nose.
There's an extra layer of inhumanity there too, as Apple is gearing up for its annual WWDC event on June 10, where many of the new software shown off will rely on AI; you know, the technology that's been recognized as having the potential to replace human artists entirely.
Apple did issue an apology a day later, but all press is good press. It's just too bad nobody ran up and threw a hammer through the ad before it got too far.
Comcast Debuts Cheap Internet Plans
Comcast has some new, more affordable internet plans for both home and mobile users. The launch of these budget-friendly plans comes shortly after the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provided subsidies for millions of low-income households in the US to pay for high-speed internet access. Comcast is seizing the moment and pitching its new, cheapish plans as a balm for that lack of access.
Comcast’s new Now Internet home plan comes in two flavors: a 100-Mbps connection for $30 per month, and 200-Mbps for $40. Bundle that with the $25-per-line Now Mobile plan and you're looking at internet for all your gadgets for prices starting at $55 per month. These are prepaid plans—otherwise knows as “pay as you go” plans—that don’t require contracts.
Now TV is a supplementary option that for $20 per month gives you access to more than 40 live channels. It also includes Peacock+, if you've been missing out on Love Island and also don't have Hulu.
Tracing Black Twitter’s Influence
There's a new must-see documentary series out on Hulu. It's called Black Twitter: A People's History. Based on the WIRED cover story by Jason Parham, the docuseries is a rollicking journey through the evolution of the vibrant online community, from its more jocular early days to its solidification as a driving force of cultural conversation and change.
This week on Gadget Lab, we sat down with Parham, showrunner Joie Jacoby, and director Prentice Penny to talk about how they crafted the show to mirror the varied, multifaceted experience that hanging out on Black Twitter provides.
