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Sonos Said Rolling Out Widely Criticized App Redesign Took 'Courage'

ozaz said:
I guess I may not be following what you're describing. You responded to a comment about controlling volume so I thought that's what you were also referring to. In the old app, if I want to change volume I have to first tap on the mini now playing bar at the bottom of the screen to expose the full now playing screen to get to volume controller. In the new app the volume control (including group control) is embedded in the mini now playing playing bar. So I don't understand how its now more taps to get to volume control.
Click to expand...
After that one tap in the old app, you have full control over all speakers. I'm not at home but that's not how it is now if you're messing with more than one speaker.

When opening the app, if my TV is already on and playing through the Playbase, the app doesn't know what is currently playing. It'll usually show the bedroom speaker at the bottom, which is not in use. Then to bring more speakers in and to inform the app that the Playbase is, in fact, currently playing by clicking on the unclicked Playbase, I have to click, click, click, apply, whoops, all sound is gone now.

I'd certainly try to demonstrate the differences but I no longer have access to the old app. If you like the new UI, you're lucky. I'd concede it's slightly prettier, but intuitive? Don't agree.
 
Edd70 said:
After that one tap in the old app, you have full control over all speakers. I'm not at home but that's not how it is now if you're messing with more than one speaker.
Click to expand...
Not quite if I understand what you mean by full control over all speakers. If you mean the screen where you can group speakers, in the old app you still have to tap the grouping button on the now playing screen to get to it. So starting from an arbitrary screen (e.g. favourites screen) there are two routes in the old app

1. Tap to expand mini play bar then press grouping button next to volume slider = 2 taps
2. Go to system tab (the middle tab) then press a grouping button on one of the speakers/groups = 2 taps.

In the new app the are also two ways to get to the grouping screen

1. Tap to expand mini play bar then tap grouping button at bottom of screen = 2 taps
2. Swipe up mini play bar then tap grouping button on one of the speakers/groups = 1 swipe and 1 tap.

But the new app also gives you granular control ** of speaker volume direct on the mini play bar for whatever speaker/group you last interacted with, which the old app didn't have. In the old app this shortcut to granular volume control exists in the full now playing screen but not the mini play bar.

** What I mean by granular control is access to both overall group volume as well as volume of individual speakers within the group,
 
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ozaz said:
Not quite if I understand what you mean by full control over all speakers. If you mean the screen where you can group speakers, in the old app you still have to tap the grouping button on the now playing screen to get to it. So starting from an arbitrary screen (e.g. favourites screen) there are two routes in the old app

1. Tap to expand mini play bar then press grouping button next to volume slider = 2 taps
2. Go to system tab (the middle tab) then press a grouping button on one of the speakers/groups = 2 taps.

In the new app the are also two ways to get to the grouping screen

1. Tap to expand mini play bar then tap grouping button at bottom of screen = 2 taps
2. Swipe up mini play bar then tap grouping button on one of the speakers/groups = 1 swipe and 1 tap.

But the new app also gives you granular control ** of speaker volume direct on the mini play bar for whatever speaker/group you last interacted with, which the old app didn't have. In the old app this shortcut to granular volume control exists in the full now playing screen but not the mini play bar.

** What I mean by granular control is access to both overall group volume as well as volume of individual speakers within the group,
Click to expand...
After messing with it some more, it doesn’t work that way for me. Mostly, when I open the app, I’m already playing something on the TV using the primary Playbase speaker. For some reason, the bottom of the screen shows the kitchen or bedroom speaker, neither of which are currently in use. When I tap that, it shows all 4 of my speakers, with the 3 not in use already checked on the right, and the unchecked Playbase shows music currently playing. If I try to bring the other speakers in and hit Apply, the Playbase goes mute, and nothing is playing anywhere. Reboot app and start again.

Call it a bug all you like, but I’m unable to enjoy the same sweet functionality you are. I’m doing about 10 taps when it used to be a lot less.
 
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