Sonos App To Gain Massive Usability Improvements

Sonos 5.3 Beta

Within the last few days, a new APK for the Sonos Android app popped up online. And, throwing caution to the wind, I went ahead and installed the 5.3 beta. While I’m not privy to the release notes, and therefore not necessarily aware of all changes, it seems likely that massive usability enhancements headline this release.

Upon opening the app, we’re presented with our Sonos Favorites (which I now have reason to flesh out). Further, certain functionality like switching zones or enabling timers is more apparent, while requiring fewer clicks, as Sonos more sensibly surfaces these features. And beyond the new raft of top-level contextual menuing, the now playing bar gains new functionality in rating, where appropriate – like I Heart Radio and Pandora music streaming services.

Click to enlarge:

I’ve called out the most obvious changes in the embedded photos and imagine the Sonos iOS app will see a similar makeover in the near future. Knowing several seniors who struggled with the Sonos UI, and several others who would benefit from Sonos but I’ve been reluctant to recommend, this will be a huge improvement for many.

5 thoughts on “Sonos App To Gain Massive Usability Improvements”

  1. Found some release notes here. Mostly the visual interface enhancements I covered, but also some improvements to VoiceOver features.

    https://plus.google.com/+JonayHerreraySteendam/posts/jgTKmEXkmjL

    • Spend some time getting to know the new layout. Play your favorite songs and navigate between rooms. Create playlists in the queue, add music services, and use Sonos favorites.
    • VoiceOver features (for low-vision users) are functionally complete, but will improve in future updates
  2. I actually was given a Play 1 for Xmas. I gave it two weeks before it went back. The first issue I had was I hit the music cap which is approximately 40,000 songs. This is probably not normal so I can understand this, but the real issue is that Sonos app just crashes. If instead it was smarter like iTunes, which I can’t believe I am saying that, and said I exceeded the song limit and to pick only the playlists or songs I want to sync it would have been fine. I only wanted my top rated playlist on there which is around 5000 songs. Instead it syncs playlists last so you never get that option. It took me about a week before I figured out a workaround which involved duplicating the songs to another hard drive that I wanted Sonos to play.

    This also happened to be around the same time my iPad 2 screen developed a spiderweb crack. As the days went on it got to the point I couldn’t use my iPad to control the music since I couldn’t unlock the iPad. It just made me realize that a small display or at least a couple more basic controls would have worked great for me.

    I am now on the hunt for a cheap replacement since I just wanted something I could listen to my music while in the bathroom getting ready in the morning rather than blasting my computer speakers from the other room. I will probably just look for a speaker I can plug my iPod classic into.

  3. You must have read this in either a feed that hadn’t been updated or the email newsletter, as I corrected three or four typos an hour or so after publishing. So, yes, I did make several mistakes – but I caught them quicker than the next day. :)

    (My spelling has gone downhill since the browser-based check became inconsistent in highlighting errors and I routinely forget to use the WordPress Jetpack spelling tool before hitting publish.)

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