Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Brought Back from the Google Graveyard”.
Google returns features following a Sonos. Fumble recap: Google and Sonos have been locked in a patent War uh for the last few years, which, in early 2022, resulted in Google losing a case regarding controlling multiple speakers together in a group rather than pay Sonos licensing fee, Google pushed software turning off that relevant Feature on devices that users had already bought uh. I spoke out about this at the time and my take on this was Google. You actually may not just remove features from devices that you sold advertising those features um.
I am personally very frustrated by this. Google Sonos Tiff because it affects me personally – I invested in Sonos Hardware knowingly because it had excellent integration with googlepl music, and I described this on a recent when show or other recent video. I can’t remember when, and some people seemed to kind of misunderstand what I meant.
I know that you can still use YouTube music with Sonos. The problem is, you have to use, Sonos is clunky, crappy app and honestly, even the speaker grouping is clunkier in Sonos app compared to the extremely elegant integration that was in Google Play music. So I never touched the Sonos app. I just would come home and I would be listening to whatever I’m listening to my headphones and I would go into Google Play Music and then I would just use the cast button. The normal cast button and I would just click it. And then I could click a speaker or I could click a few speakers and confirm – and I don’t know if it supported like static groupings.
I I actually can’t remember because I haven’t seen the interface in years, but it was amazing cuz. It was just continuous and then, when I was on my way out, I would actually be able to walk out the door and just flip it back to my headphones and be good to go. It was just continuous music and it was so seamless and it was awesome, and then Google deprecated play music and then because of their patent tip with Sonos, have never integrated that same functionality into YouTube music and it sucks.
I know that Spotify has integration with Sonos. It is not as good, it is really clunky and inelegant by comparison. Um Gremlin injector asks, but why did you trust Sonos? Don’T you know better after they’re bricking debacle, I think Sonos learned an important lesson after the bricking debacle, which, if you paid close attention to it you’ll know never happened, nothing is bricked everything still works, which is great um, so yeah yeah, I’m I mean anything.
Smart can just disappear, which really sucks and is bad, but it seems like they actually learned something. Handyman says: L Mao, what nothing compares to Spotify connect. Do you know that? Did you use it? Okay, then. I also have a counter. Spotify connect does not come with YouTube premium yeah, but also I I I considered just switching over to Spotify, just if it had really good integration and it just didn’t, I’m sorry it didn’t uh. It was not as good. It was not as clean. It was not as seamless um Google play.
Music was really really awesome with with the uh, with the integration with Sonos come on. What do you mean come on? I don’t I I’m going to subscribe. My my thing on Spotify is: if you watch a lot of YouTube, I don’t think it’s worth it cuz. If you watch a lot of YouTube, YouTube premium is actually fantastic and it comes with uh YouTube music, which is a not amazing app, but it still gets.
You basically all of your music. You can listen to it without ads. It gets you the 80 % of Spotify. Maybe it doesn’t get you 100 %, but it gets you the 80 % of spotify, and it’s not another subscri prescription service they have to get.
I I don’t know anyway, as someone who had serious frustration with this situation. Um I basically went. Look Google. This is your product you sold and the feature no longer works and that that really sucks um, I I wish you guys, would just pay the licensing fee. However, it seems like, according to the facts of the case, Google may have been right here so last Friday, a judge decided that some of the patents in the case were invalid and threw out the decision on the grounds that two of the five patents were actually Filed in 2019 and Sonos, inappropriately tied them to its 20 2006 applications, so that it would appear as though they predated Google’s devices. Google’S immediate response to this overruling was to push an update, restoring some of the old features that update was released on Tuesday two business days after the decision, Google likewise released a blog post calling for patent reform uh.
This is not the only recent setback for Sonos who apparently have been trying and failing to address an Infamous problem with their $ 900 Sonos Arc Soundbars that causes the device to occasionally emit a loud bang described by many users as similar to a gunshot. Oh I’ve. Never heard this, I have an arc um. Maybe it’s, maybe it’s only certain revisions of the hardware. I don’t know.
That’S not great Sonos attributes the problem to an interoperability issue with Dolby Atmos and has advised users to turn it off and switch to do be. 5.1. Complaints about the issue go back at least 2 years.
Okay. In that case I don’t know. I have never experienced this with mine, but uh. Who knows maybe that time I thought that someone was firing a gun in my living room.
It was actually my arc. No, I’m no, I’m Kidd, I’m kidding. I’Ve never heard you never know. I mean our discussion question here is a good one. When companies remove a substantial feature from a device or a service, should they be obligated to offer a refund? I mean I I think.
That’S the least that they can do I or I feel like they should have to do something or, like you know what I or okay speaking of patent reform. Okay, you know what about this? What if what? If um, you know, pending the results of the of the litigation uh, Google pays the licensing fees into an escrow account that is returned to Google with you know, interest or something like that from Sonos if they win or goes to Sonos, if ultimately they lose, but At the end of the day, this shouldn’t be impacting the customer. That is definitely not the right way.
I agree. I just want Google Play music back so that I can cast to my speakers properly. Sorry, it’s okay! I I I tried I wanted to like. Oh, what is it called uh DTS connect, or something like that is that is that what it’s called Uh I I can’t. I can’t remember what what’s what’s that? What’S that other one called uh SVS has a box uh streaming SVS Prim yeah yeah.
Here it is the SVS Prime. I really wanted to like this thing on paper. It’S awesome.
It seems like a stop. It seems like a high quality amp and you know the hardware seems great um. It’S you know AirPlay 2 compatible. I don’t have an iPhone uh, but the the way that it worked for me was through.
I want to say: oh DTS, playi yeah. This is this is their. This is their audio over Wi-Fi solution and it’s behind last time I used it uh.
I really. I okay, full full disclosure, SVS would have given me a sick deal to outfit my house with those such that it would have been. I I don’t I don’t.
I don’t know what exactly they were offering. I don’t remember, but it definitely. What I know is from talking to uh Jake about it. It would have been cheaper than the used last gen Sonos boxes. I bought oh wow and I would have had brand new uh prime prime Wireless Pros um and I just said: forget it and I just I just bought them um. If I, if I had fewer zones, I I think from my experience with it.
It was like fine, but I don’t remember the exact details. I basically a lot of zones yeah. I ran into some kind of an issue and I basically went okay forget it. I can’t really do this anymore by the way.
Soop Cannon and Philip Lan chat says that they’re having that pop issue that you were describing – oh really yeah well so, apparently that is a thing. Well stop Cannon. Maybe should stop stop firing. The Canon stop pop Cannon, yeah horrible yeah.
I know actually terrible .