Wake Up Sirius XM – Your Android App SUCKS!
I do not know how much more blunt I can be, but the truth needs to be spoken, and consumers deserve much better than they are getting. Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI) can have the best content on earth, but a poorly working app is no way to deliver it. How is it that a company bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue can not get an Android app to work correctly when all of their competition can.
About a month ago Sirius XM updated their iPhone app to include Satellite Radio 2.0 channels and features, yet somehow this company has ignored the largest and fastest growing smartphone platform. As a consumer with both an iPhone and a Droid I have experienced both apps. The iPhone app works….o.k., but the Android app is in desperate need of help. If you don’t believe it, check out these comments made in the Android marketplace made over the last two days:
Rating System 1 to 5 stars (5 stars being the best)
🙁 ** Sucks how it always wants to reset itself to check for updates 1/23/12
Bad App For Good Service * Drops out too often to enjoy music. Hard to believe it can have so many problems after so long in the market. Cancelling my subscription 1/23/12
Crappy – Cuts In and Out For Me Constantly * Evo 4G. It’s almost not even worth it 1/23/12
Not Good * – Crashes Constantly. The Howard Stern Channels disappeared. Bad app overall 1/23/12
… * Kills 2GB of data in 2 days and sounds horrible with no leveling. Constantly turning up and down. Pandora can run a month at work almost every day and not touch 2GB. Compression people!!! Uninstall 1/23/12
Junk * Free trial doesn’t work. Keep on saying it’s unavailable. Galaxy 2 1/22/12
Shuts Off Constantly While Listening ** I use this app to listen to Opie & Anthony in the morning while I am getting ready for work. I have to keep the phone close however, even when in the bath, because it just stops all of the sudden and I have to dry my hands off, unlock my phone and then it starts running again. Sometimes if it stops you have to leave it for 3 or 4 minutes, it will start up the sound again on its own. But it is very unreliable. I have an 18 mbps connection to the net and everything else is blazing fast, so I can’t possibly think it has anything to do with my connection. And this behavior happens on my Nexus S 4G, my ipad, and my iPhone. Sometimes it will even go into a loop and play the same 10-30 second clip over and over again until you shut the app down and restart it. 1/22/12
Bob * App stops working after around 5 minutes and then wont re-connect. Sirius could have done much better on the Android app. 1/22/12
What The Hell * All it does is repeat a 2 minute loop over and over on every station. I am paying for this? Even reinstalling didn’t help. 1/22/12
I’m About To Give Up On This App ** I listen to Howard every day and it kills me when there is a good interview and then no Sound. I’ll be sitting in the same place so it’s not the connection. It’s the app. PLEASE FIX. If this can’t be fixed then i am just going to get a Sirius radio again. I would like to keep the app but come on, who wants to keep using something that doesn’t work right? 1/22/12
WTF * I pay for service that started doing nothing but repeating my Howard Stern. Please fix 1/22/12
Such Junk ** It’s too bad because the content is great but such a flaky application. I still use but only because I have to hear Stern on my commute. Cuts out, sometimes doesn’t play at all…between 2 companies (or is it 1?) they should produce a decent product. 1/22/12
Awful * Unusable. Plays a minute or so, then stops, plays same selection over again when you restart. Deleting and cancelling sub. 1/22/12
Not a single positive comment for Sirius XM! By contrast Pandora (NYSE:P) has at least 10 times the amount of comments over the same two days and they are overwhelmingly positive. Slacker has mostly positive comments as well. What about iHeartRadio? Overwhelmingly positive! The bottom line is simple. According to consumers the Android app sucks.
I am certain that passionate Sirius XM fans and investors will not like this article, but something needs to be said. As a passionate fan of satellite radio myself, it is time that we as consumers and investors demand that this company deliver the top notch product we all expect and pay for. There is NO EXCUSE for missing the boat like this. NONE! If every competitor can deliver audio entertainment to consumers in a way that they like why can’t Sirius XM? Why is it that one of the largest subscription business in the nation can’t deliver a good app on the Android platform? Why is it that the company can report great profits in 2011 and promise even more in 2012 but decide to shortchange the consumer with an inferior app on the biggest smartphone platform? Why is it that the Android marketplace has to see negative comment after negative comment without the company doing anything meaningful to fix the problem? Why is it that Sirius XM rests the future on satellite radio 2.0 yet fails to deliver in the world of smartphone apps?
These are all questions that consumers and investors need to demand answers to. Sirius XM will be reporting their quarterly results in a matter of weeks. We all want to hear about great Q4 numbers, and a positive outlook for 2012, but it is IMPERATIVE that this company address the issue of the failed Android app. If we as consumers are being asked to pay more money for the service, and we as investors are being asked to have faith in Sirius XM, we need answers.
Smartphone use continues to grow at a mind numbing pace. The company gets a lot of subscribers from the automobile, but the added value of the service comes with the ability to stream your subscription content over a smartphone. It is time that we call Sirius Xm to the carpet on issues like this. We have lived with an inferior presence in the world of smartphones for far to long. While Pandora is adding active users at a pace of 1,000,000 per month, Sirius XM is adding them at a rate of 140.000.
Sirius XM needs to wake up. As a leader in audio entertainment it is time to take the reigns and be at the front of the pack. If this company wants to go to the next level it requires that they think about consumers. Upgrade the apps, improve the customer experience, and deliver the top notch content we want and deserve. In fact, do not stop with the app….Update the online player as well!
100% correct -the competition is years ahead. They really need to hurry up and overhaul the app.
Par for the course for this company. Terrible management, strategy, imagination, and completely deaf to the wishes of its customers. It is so bad that one has to wonder if, for some obscene reason, it is being done on purpose. Either that, or they have no one under the age of 50 working for the company.
Those old executives at SIRIUS do not understand the meaning of evolution as in smart phone apps, Internet TV apps… They need to hire more young enthusiastic tech experts who can keep up with our world of super fast technology evolution.
I agree totally. My question is why does Apple seem to get all the best app updates first? I have an ipod touch that I use for my siriusxm internet app. My cell is an android that I use while I am on the go. I think the negative reviews are a bit overstated. My android app works fine with wi-fi/ 4g. It works O.K with 3g. It is not as good as the iphone/ipod touch app though. I am sure Siriusxm is working on the update apps for all the platforms. They just need to put more urgency on it. Perhaps, the iphone app was launched to work out the “bugs” of all the new features of sat 2.0. With all the new features of the internet radio, I could see why they did not just do a 100% launch to all mobile and internet users. the pausing, “start now”, etc…would have been a tough load to launch all at once without a “test run”…I have to give them a benefit of the doubt.
great article! please forward it to karmazin…no?..your closing comment was on the money as well..the online player is like nothing ive ever seen…soooo NOT user friendly…horrible!…im long on the stock going into year number 8 and i would like to pull my teeth out with a pair of plyers about now..dont know how much longer i can wait for them to get their $%^%&* together!..again..please get your article to the right hands in the right department it corporate!..thanks again.
SiriusXM already has an incrediable Android App it is called LYNX and cost only 250 dollars…
dont be a moron!
sicilian….
I don’t want to come off as rude, but here goes:
The lynx is a decent product, but is severely neutered in terms of capabilities. It is actually less capable than the older XMP3 and the Sirius Stiletto.
Further, it does not allow any functionality with any app outside the spectrum of Sirius XM. By the way. It is no longer $250. It is $189. It will not be a big seller. It is already being discounted heavily
It is actually quite amazing that some of the passionate Sirius XM fans that comment here often are silent on this issue.
Spencer,
The point is valid and that the company tolerates this does suck. The real question is what they are going to do about it and WHEN!!! We need to make sure that the message is not only delivered but also HEARD!!!
Unfortunately I think that management is so focused on getting every penny on the balance sheet to look good that they are forgetting that the fundamental success of the company demands a superior service that consumers want and love.
Customer service is not good on a consistent basis.
Apps and web player are in bad shape
Sound quality is not what it used to be.
Music channels are becoming more crowded with jingles and interruption
As much as I hate to say it, there are many ways in which the customer is a second class citizen
Consumer loyalty only goes so far. At some point people look for less frustrating or less expensive potions.
I agree. Never take your customer or product for granted – this is a direct path to a disaster.
I think someone should bring up these very valid concerns with the SiriusXM executives at their next monthly AARP meeting.
LMAO…..
That is a good one!!!!!
How about an update for Blackberry Devices? Current app supports pre August 2010 OS and devices. You need a 3-4 year old BB just to use SXM app. What about Windows 7 phones?
jazz….
Unfortunately Blackberry will likely always be last. The platform has been slow to catch up, and the market share is minimal when compared to iPhone and Android. The two they really need to address ASAP are the big ones.
Make no mistake though, they need to address it all
geteeing back to spencer…the customer service is almost is bad as the web player…we are now …and have been for a while.. routing the calls to the philippines…nice!..i understand mel wants to cut costs but i could not understand 3 seperate reps because the could barely speak english!..
John,
Of late I have found customer service to be a hit or miss. That is not good enough though. It needs to be top notch and isn’t.
Overall, the consumer has been losing for the most part. The company has made some strides, but not enough yet
You have to hand it to Sirius XM. They have been nothing if not consistent, especially in the way they have ignored their subscribers for many years, offered inferior customer service (disservice is more like it), and slowly but surely dismantled the music programming, rendering it completely mediocre… and in some cases far less diverse and eclectic than some terrestrial FM stations in my area. Complaining to them is useless, unless you like innocuous form letter’s, and the standard “we strive to provide the finest in radio entertainment” bullshit. After years of shunning terrestrial radio, I have now started listening to a couple of stations that offer a diverse playlist, and don’t repeat the same songs over and over like Sirius does. We are paying for bad programming, unimaginative short playlists that resemble the exact thing that we abandoned for satellite radio, and last but not least, pathetic management that hasn’t a creative bone in their collective fossilized bodies. Mel and his decrepit cronies are clueless, aloof and arrogant – have no vision of what satellite radio can and should have been by now – and continue to regard their listeners as an afterthought. SHAMEFUL!!!
Could it be that Siri6 satellite needs to get lanched?
On SiriusXM I have two perspectives.
First, my primary reason for being a subcriber is I’m a business traveler and siri keeps me entertained or informed wherever I am. In a word, siri took the boredom out of sitting behind a steering wheel.
As a listener, I really don’t care about the techie stuff. I have to deal with too much of that in my business.
As a shareholder, I’m very concerned that siri hasn’t performed well with technological advances. Make no mistake about it, there will always be those gadget people, in great numbers, who cannot wait for the next move in technology. It is an issue that SiriusXM must correct.
I agree with you, Spencer. It is frustrating as a Long of the stock and fan of the product. This is a real issue that I hope and believe can be potentially fixed. The good news though is that as smartphone service providers continue screwing with their data fees, consumers will get ticked off and realize their free alternatives ain’t so free after all. This affords them some time on the matter, but on the flip side it’s also a double whammy to pay for SIRI service as well as additional data fees to stream it.
Those comments are actually better than the iphone app comments, the latest version of which doesn’t work at all and has over 50% one-star reviews. Stupid Sirius.
That is why I dropped my internet subscription with sirius…this app is HORRIBLE!
Thank you so much for giving a voice to all of us frustrated android sirius users! I try to use this app in bed every night while I’m reading- so great that they added a full-time bob dylan theme time radio hour- but I often end up getting stuck in the infamous two-minute loop, and it frustrates me to no end. There is supposedly some really complicated fix for it, but it’s over my head and I shouldn’t have to be scouring the internet for a way to get this very simple app to work right! I even like the interface, it’s pretty well-designed, but the bugs and glitches, the incredible data drain, and the connection problems are just inexcusable. Get with the damn program, people are paying good money for your service.
I got an android table for Xmas, and the siriusxm app doesn’t work on it. Why would Sirius not allow their app to work across all platforms and all devices. Called customer service and they said if I wanted to use the android OS. I should look at their Lynx device. That is why the android app sux. Spent all their time and effort on the Lynx Android OS, instead of concentrating on a decent android app for ALL. LAME LAME LAME!
I hope they rewrite the Android app to look more like the online version. I love having to move my mouse over 250 4px wide vertical bars to find a channel that isn’t in my favorites. I heart awful UX! I also love how we pay for 7 radios and yet we only get 1 concurrent online session. With the money we’re dropping, they want me to pay for each online user all of a sudden–AFTER 6 YEARS of allowing us to share an account. I also love when they disconnect me because I’m idle. It’s a radio!!! It’s not supposed to be interactive. But those greedy bastards must be doing something right… I’ve never continued paying a bill for a service as aggravating & disappointing.
I have lately been having problems with my Android app freezing up the screen when searching for a signal, so I have to power the phone off and restart it. This is usually a futile effort also. Sometimes when it actually acquires the signal, there is no sound, and I actually have to hit the phone a few times to get sound. This is totally unacceptable for a paid subscription service.
The app already exists….its called Tune-In Radio. All Sirius has to do is find a way to get their channels on the service and apply a logon permission to it. I used a similar radio software on my iPod that allowed this until Sirius put the hammer on it.
Ugh somehow the app has gotten worse in the past month, I get at most 10minutes before a freeze now 🙁
He look what I found, we should all contact them with complaints.
http://www.siriusxm.com/contactus
I owned a Moto Droid X with Gingerbread, now I own the MOTO Razor Maxx (same OS), and I have to say that one of life’s little constants is the suck factor of the SIRIUS/XM app. When it works, it is ok (admittedly, better on the Razor 4G/LTE phone), but it loops alot, as well as cuts out, and the sound quality is quite sub-par. Why? If Sat Radio fails, it will be because of their inherent greed in getting more and more subscribers, and ignoring their current customer base, which has been a huge sirius problem from day one. I will not be too heart-broken if they fail because it is their greed that will be their demise. And the “Stern effect” is dramatically dwindling…you can clearly tell that he is only in it for the money now; I have been a listener since ’86, and I can definitely tell the difference.
Droid App is super convenient. And Droids are currently largest smart phone market. Please fix how often it drops you. The ONLY time I find the app to NOT drop the transmission is when I get an incoming call. APlease auto pause the transmission so you can answer the phone call and then get back to lisening when done.
Apple gets updated monthly, android never. Why the neglect
I canceled my radio subscription since I no longer commute and had hoped to be able to use the app on my Xoom, but it’s not compatible. I’ve emailed customer service several times to inquire about updating the app for Android 4 tablets, but all I get are stock answers that are irrelevant to my question giving me the impression that they don’t care. I’ve since found alternatives to the programming I used to listen to on XM, but still wish they’d get their app together. Meanwhile, they keep emailing me coupons for 6 months for $20.
It was working fine till I installed the latest update. Now it crashes each time I try to start it. I’ve uninstalled, reinstalled and even hard rebooted by cell phone.
Apparently the latest version issued this week isn’t compatible with my Galaxy S series phone. I realize it’s two years old but with a PC, iPad, and even an old Sirius mobile receiver, do I really have to go get a new phone just to keep listening while I work out?
I’ve noticed the same songs popping up daily more than ever. I can do without the music as I’ve got I heart, Tune in, and even CBS Radio apps but I do think it’s easier to listen to ESPN Radio with Sirius and also The Paul Finebaum Show is on the College Sports channel.
Their customer service wasn’t too bad when I first signed up. I don’t even bother now.
Here we are six months later from this article and the app still sucks. I was a listener on sirius when Howard first came over then restated with the app just five days ago and this app crashes all the time and sometimes every five minutes. Once my free trial ends I won’t become a paying member. I would love to pay the monthly fee IF I COULD ACTUALLY LISTEN TO HOWARD but instead I will become another potential paying customer that won’t subscribe. This company blows my mind on this topic. SOMEONE NEEDS TO BE FIRED NOW!!!!
Because you think their iPhone app is any better? Well, it is better, but not by much. The 4 hour buffer is great, except that they’ve taken away the possibility to navigate it in any sort of practical way (to force you to listen to commercials) so using it as a radio TiVo is borderline impossible.
The only thing that sucks more than their mobile app (iPhone and Android) is their customer support.
Oh yeah, and good luck trying to run the Android app on a Nook Color or a Google Nexus 7.
App always shuts down on phone wondering if I’m “still there”. Also can’t get it to work on nexus 7. Horrible…
How XM ever got beat out by Sirius must have been a monumental mismanagement of a superior company.
This is such bogusness about the radio shutting off while your still listening just not scrolling on your phone. How does this make practical sense, I think it should run until the battery is dead or if its plugged into the charger, just not shut off at all.
How stupid this is… they want you to by there radio which doesn’t probably get the programming the internet version does, what crap ! Errrrr
It still sucks. They need to make it a native app. Half the time the song it says it’s playing isn’t even correct.
Thanks for posting this article. I just reviewed another product and gave it 5 stars so it’s not like I rate everything bad. SomeJerk knows what he is talking about too. If you have more than 2 employees learn to write native apps people!
It’s not just the Android app. The iPhone app is terrible too. Don’t get me started on the usability. Has anyone working there actually tried to use their app? Has anyone working there tried to use any apps from ANY other companies? Come on!
I’m not even talking about the app shutting off way too frequently. The app doesn’t work right. I think we can all agree the app does one thing good, and that is failing or shutting off very frequently. I was thinking about purchasing more online content from them, the internet only stuff, but who am I kidding, Their iPhone app is so aggravating.
I have a feeling they spend a ton of money on their internet/app radio delivery system, but the people in charge of their delivery system don’t know a damn thing. I hate companies like this.
They spend way too much trying to make sure you aren’t able to get the music without paying and making sure it shuts off automatically very regularly and not nearly enough on giving the paying users a quality experience. Why do I keep paying? The people who made the radio in my car appear to have a brain. Haha, it’s almost worth it just to cancel my subscription out of spite. Better yet, and I think I will actually do this, pay for their biggest package, then cancel it a couple months later and when they ask why I’ll point them here.
Ty Spencer!
I think this may be the first time I felt passionately enough about something to post a comment.
I suffered for 4 years with a stilletto2 until it fell apart on me. It crashed constantly and had lots of issues. This app is just as bad or worse. Where is the software department on this one? I would be so embarrassed to leave this POS out there with no updates. Were they all fired? Its like you would have to go out of your way to make an app this fckin bad!! Every time I go to download my favorite show in the morning, I have to reboot my phone! Driving down the road, the show stops mid-stream and all my downloaded programming is deleted?! You friggin kidding me?
SO IRRITATING!!!!
(But I’m pretty dumb, so I will stick with it. My favorite show is only on sirius the dog service. Maybe in another decade they will release a new version. Hope springs eternal.)
When I got a new car, I didn’t renew my service with them because I stream from my phone. I was with a friend a week ago and there was a station that I liked so I got the streaming service. OMG, what a piece of shit. The app is a joke. It crashes and it times out it…well, all of the above.
Why are you not fixing this? I will not buy a radio, I will do without and complain to everyone and their dog that you’re stuck in 1994. Seriously, my AT&T app updates more often.
I cannot run the new Android app on my mini tablet, which I purchased expressly for that purpose. Can I continue to use the old app, it keeps directing me to update then tells me the new app is not COMPATIBLE!!! What a piece of crap. Is there any way to know if a device is compatible before buying it???
This new app is awful.
3 years later and a totally new app and if it is possible (clearly it is), this is even worse. This new app which they obviously thought they would clone the web experience is beyond shit-awful. Attempts to make it overly complex and the basics are just pathetic. Won’t start. Won’t play and keep playing. WOn’t close. Locks up. Absolute abysmal piece of shit. Clearly Sirius XM is all about the content and their upper management has no clue – they need to fire the entire UX, UI, developer groups and just buy a hungry start-up who could develop an awesome app in about a month.
Un freakin believable.
This app is seriously inferior. Sirius radio is overpriced to begin with. You’ve got Howard Stern and O&A, correction Opie and Jim, because in addition to providing a lousy level of service you’re also a bunch of wooses. I’m getting ready to pull the plug on this service; after all these years, Sirius still can’t get it right. I know what to do…. give the executives a bonus, but only on the condition that they do nothing to merit one.
And this is how I know it will never change. Cha ching.
I pause the app during Howard Stern, then come back to it. It plays where I left off, then skips to an entirely new section with no way to get back to where I started. So frustrating! Or it just goes silent. I love listening to Howard Stern but I’m pretty fed up with this bad app. Come on guys, FIX THIS!