That's the case for the original NOT the " endorsed " driver . The original driver has been removed from C4 online database. New driver supports basic transport commands , volume and favorites only.

so it still sucks compared to what we used to have.

We use Control4 as our integration and automation product, and we completely stopped integrating Sonos as of CEDIA when the extremely limited driver was announced and shown. We reached out to our existing client base to tell them that this was going to be a likely issue and presented them with options to work around it.

Yes, the old driver was always a "hack", but we experienced very few service calls in the ~5 years of using it, and it delivered what I try to offer- a single user interface for all home technology interactions.

If I'm going to have to teach my client to switch back and forth between a music app and a control app, I'm fine with AirPlay.

The only thing that came out of it worth a spit is the ability for control systems to "see" the components on the system and carry the zone ID's into the system. The GUI operability is tragic and users think it's a joke.

You mean like C4 did to URC?

I agree that the endorsed driver needs to be expanded to include the ability to browse and select music at the least.

I just did a C4/SONOS system where I originally put in the endorsed drivers just to see them first hand. I was going into it expecting to have the clients use the SONOS app since C4 was only put in mainly as a media room remote control system (I used a EA3 in case they wanted to expand this later). Once I saw how limited it really was, I deleted it and installed the now "legacy" 8.1.3 drivers. Really, all I wanted it to do was track zone status on C4....so when you turn a zone on from SONOS app, C4 tracks it and powers on AVRs, etc. to the right input, and do forth, and when you stop/pause, it will automatically power zones off after a given time.

This feature was nearly missing in the endorsed driver. It kind of worked sometimes to turn a zone on, but the auto-off feature was completely missing.

They only use Pandora for now, so not a huge deal, for now. And they are already used to using the SONOS app so a smaller deal.

I had a client call who I have been waiting and waiting for. He is a Spotify user. He updated his SONOS and of course it no longer works with C4. Of course he points the finger at the C4 system. I explained that the reason Spotify no longer works is due to changes in the API by SPOTIFY. And then the SONOS issue is SONOS' fault. So C4 is not to blame.

It sounds like some devices can still browse Spotify....but might be shut down at any time without notice. Is that true? Autonomics? Bluesound? I had never heard of a service called soundiiz, but it apparently lets you transfer playlists between streaming services....so if you wanted to switch between Spotify and Deezer, it would [try] to transfer your music over so you do not have to rebuild it all from scratch....not sure how it works, or if it works at all.

What we do not grasp, and likely most of our clients do not grasp, is that the millenials and their offspring moreso, have no issue jumping between dozens of apps all day long. They would not raise an eyebrow if you told them here is the app for your lighting, here is the app for your shades, here is the app for your cameras, here is the app for your music system, and here is the universal remote for your AV/surround sound system....you can also control that from an app as well, here it is. They embrace it. And the fact is that most of the native apps for the subsystems we integrate with are prettier, more fully functional, and better supported.

Most of the service calls over the last several years have been related to something not working anymore with the control system. Whether it is network related, hardware related, software bugs, etc., it is usually either an easy fix by rebooting things, or report the bug, wait for a fix, and install the fix and wait for the next bug to pop up. Younger people will automatically reboot things if they do not work. Older clients call us when the printer does not work....and we have to tell them to turn it off......wait.....turn it back on....wait....wait...wait....try it now. It is becoming more of a generational gap in technological prowess. The kids these days "get it". The problem is that most of them are not going to want to spend the $$ on the expensive and complex control systems we have been peddling for a couple of decades now. Hell, they do not even want to work for less than $15/hour, and then not very hard. :)

@edizzle, thanks for trying the Solo.

Just to make sure everyone knows, we have just finished up a completely new redesign of the C4 driver for our Fusion Music Servers. Our engineers worked with Will (ex-Extra Veg) at C4 to have our driver work and install just like the old Sonos driver so dealers would be familiar with it. It's in beta testing now with about a dozen or so dealers and will be released on website in the next week. Then, we'll get it into certification testing by C4 for inclusion in Composer.

Also, for Crestron guys, we have a new free driver that we worked with the Crestron engineers using the new Smart Media Objects.

Your right

Yes the official driver strips out functionality that was available through "unsanctioned" drivers

No complaints

Wrong.

Delete your UPnP (8.12, 8.13, etc) Sonos drivers aka the reverse engineered ones. Add the endorsed ones: Network Endorsed and Sonos Endorsed. Let me know how the Tune in, Pandora, Deezer, you name it, service looks via that shiny new Sonos button ;-)

It is favorites only. UPnP drivers are no longer in the online db and no longer supported or recommended for any systems.

Yet they still work perfectly fine. :)

Surely the endorsed functionality will increase over time. If not, we deal with it. No big deal.

Why did they buy out EV again?

What's most disappointing to me is that none of the other players (Yamaha, Denon..Crestron...etc..) who are supposed to understand our industry have come up with a real competitor after all these years. It's great that MusicCast will eventually have supported drivers for our control system but if they don't allow access for all the music services available to Sonos they are going nowhere. A lot of my Canadian customers are Apple Music subscribers. Why is it only Sonos can support them? Then I thought, at least it supports Spotify - you know what? It really doesn't beause a user has to exit the MusicCast app then open the Spotify app to send to Yamaha devices. I'm glad Fusion is looking at this thread. Do you have plans to support Apple Music and the million other music services available on Sonos?

We all need to be limiting our clients to what actually works. If they want access to some music service that is a pain in the ass, then they need to learn how to use Airplay and you put in a rock solid wireless network. If they really love Spotify, that's how it has to be. Don't want it to glitch when your phone roams around the house in your pocket? Here is your dedicated iPad in a mount that doesn't let it move around. It's not going to be my fault that the streaming audio services don't care to integrate properly into big homes with multizone audio systems.

Spotify is like that due to Spotify forcing that. Evidence that Sonos will be the same way sooner then later now that Sonos can be controlled within Spotify. The writing is on the wall with Sonos integration. Spotify wants to control the user experience.

Apple Music is a licensing issue. It was huge news when Sonos got Apple Music

They do in most cases yes. I'm starting to see failures or anomalies if you will with some still on the UPnP drivers. Functionality could be broken entirely at any time now.


I hope so; if for no other reason to decrease the whining lol. But in all honesty I don't see it as that big a deal with the endorsed drivers only having favs. A big draw back is the lack of the global line in functionality now but if you're designing systems in the traditional sense (matrix/amps) that shouldn't be a big deal.