Retired Sonos Staff

News

The new Sonos Mobile App & Web App

Related content:Software

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
April 23, 2024
1674 replies
97127 views

Today we are introducing the most extensive app redesign ever, creating an unprecedented streaming experience that allows listeners to organize their favorite playlists, stations, albums and more from over 100 services on one customizable Home screen.

The new Home screen provides faster access to Sonos system controls with one easy swipe up, making tab to tab jumping a thing of the past. As a leader in sound experience that’s focused on creating a better way to listen, Sonos intentionally redesigned the app on a modern software platform for an easier, faster and better experience that can support more rapid innovation.

The reimagined app supports all existing S2 products and will be available globally through a software update for the S2 mobile app.

100+ streaming services, one Home screen

The redesigned Sonos app prioritizes a listening experience that’s human - allowing you to bring your true favorites front and center and giving you more control to make your streaming experience your own.

Get into your music (and off the app) faster: No need to tap between tabs — the new Home screen serves up all your favorite content and controls, all in one place. Quickly jump back into your recently played, browse libraries and recommendations from your preferred services, and fill your home with music and all the sounds you love.
Customize and curate: Enjoy unparalleled curation by designing your Home screen to reflect how you listen. Pin rows of your favorite content and services; then move, edit, or rearrange them to your liking.
Search every streaming library: Look for an artist, song, podcast, or audiobook across all your preferred streaming apps at once via an easy-to-use search bar that’s always available right on your Home screen.
Elevated system control: Swipe up from the bottom of your Home screen to seamlessly control your entire system and access a visual overview of what’s playing on each of your products, quickly group speakers, and dial in on the perfect volume from anywhere in the app.

Accessible from any modern web browser, a brand new web app allows listeners the same seamless system control as the mobile app.

The Web App will be available alongside the redesigned mobile app on May 7, 2024.

Want to find out more about the new Sonos App? Have a look at the Info Hub section of the community for a complete rundown of the new user interface.

Here you can find the full press release.

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M

mjw303

Lyricist I

It’s basic but I find navigation throughout the new app experience to be worse. A quick tap to go back to previous now requires a swipe from the top and down (and you need to make sure to really swipe or else it bounces back to the top). When doing it frequently to navigate, you really start to notice that a back button would feel more responsive than having to swipe constantly.

M

mjw303

Lyricist I

Sorting favorites has always been a bit of a challenge in the app. I had been renaming items like my favorite stations to “{1} Station Name”, “{2} Station Name”, “{3} Station Name”, etc. But now that doesn’t even seem to help… ugh.

SirDigitalKnight

Enthusiast I

Will the Windows11 Desktop application be updated?

Windows and MacOS desktop apps for S2 and S1 can be downloaded here:

https://support.sonos.com/en/downloads

Since SONOS has decided to move to a cloud base system of control of your SONOS products they most likely will not be supporting these desktop apps nor updating them. Hopefully they leave the desktops Apps up on the SONOS download page for those who do not want to downgrade to the 80.0 version of their platform or have decided to stay on S1 or upgrade from S2 to S1… yeah I know it sounds backwards and yes this is the first time in my 60 years on this rock that I am actually saying that I upgraded my system by rolling back my firmware! Think about it! How many other pieces of electronics have you had to rollback to an earlier version? Usually I love updating my software and firmware on ALL my electronics but this time, for the first time in my history I have rolled it back on a product! Go figure! 🤦🏼

T

Tim_81

Contributor I

Just updated to the new app on iOS and now my Sonos system is inaccessible to me.

Tim, Sonos says they will bring back voiceover accessibility on May 21. I don’t know if this means full accessibility or just partial access.

Jonathan Mosen is blogging about the issue at the following link, I’m sure he will continue to post updates https://mosen.org/sonos2024/

Thanks, some really useful info. I have sent an email to the ceo@sonos.com and I will attempt to join the AMA on Tuesday (US time).

T

Tim_81

Contributor I

It probably depends which country you’re in, how long you have owned the system and whether the now-missing features were present at time of purchase.

If you happen to be in the UK I suspect the Consumer Rights Act 2015 might be relevant. It provides some protections (separate from general store/manufacturer warranties) on product quality (including durability) and whether products are fit-for-purpose and as described. Depending on product it can apply for up to 6 years after purchase. However I have no expertise in this area or any prior experience making a claim via this route so I’m just thinking out loud really. Summary info here: https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl.

If not in UK might be worth looking for similar consumer rights laws in your country.

Thanks. I’m in Australia. All the features were there and accessibility was a major deciding factor when I choose Sonos initially. The company should have just stated their app no longer met minimum accessibility standards and provided a way to avoid upgrading.

I would even put up with a small amount of loss in accessibility support, but as it stands, the app is completely unusable when VoiceOver is enabled. Claims by Sonos that they tested with VoiceOver are either nonsense, untruths or indicate Sonos is incompetent at software testing. Take your pick.

I have 35 years experience as a software developer. My guess is that someone came up with a new visually ‘exciting’ app and nothing was going to get in the way of that visual design. I cannot believe a company who previously implemented an app with good accessibility support could screw this up so spectacularly by accident. Software accessibility does not happen by accident. It has to be part of the design goals for the application. You cannot ‘tack it on ‘ later. Some companies fail to make their software accessible because of a lack of awareness of accessibility issues. Given previous app versions worked well wrt accessibility, one can only assume lack of awareness is not the cause here and that dropping accessibility support must have been a conscious decision.

C

castalla

Local Superstar

It probably depends which country you’re in, how long you have owned the system and whether the now-missing features were present at time of purchase.

If you happen to be in the UK I suspect the Consumer Rights Act 2015 might be relevant. It provides some protections (separate from general store/manufacturer warranties) on product quality (including durability) and whether products are fit-for-purpose and as described. Depending on product it can apply for up to 6 years after purchase. However I have no expertise in this area or any prior experience making a claim via this route so I’m just thinking out loud really. Summary info here: https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl.

If not in UK might be worth looking for similar consumer rights laws in your country.

Thanks. I’m in Australia. All the features were there and accessibility was a major deciding factor when I choose Sonos initially. The company should have just stated their app no longer met minimum accessibility standards and provided a way to avoid upgrading.

I would even put up with a small amount of loss in accessibility support, but as it stands, the app is completely unusable when VoiceOver is enabled. Claims by Sonos that they tested with VoiceOver are either nonsense, untruths or indicate Sonos is incompetent at software testing. Take your pick.

I have 35 years experience as a software developer. My guess is that someone came up with a new visually ‘exciting’ app and nothing was going to get in the way of that visual design. I cannot believe a company who previously implemented an app with good accessibility support could screw this up so spectacularly by accident. Software accessibility does not happen by accident. It has to be part of the design goals for the application. You cannot ‘tack it on ‘ later. Some companies fail to make their software accessible because of a lack of awareness of accessibility issues. Given previous app versions worked well wrt accessibility, one can only assume lack of awareness is not the cause here and that dropping accessibility support must have been a conscious decision.

We'll they also failed spectacularly with the 'visually exciting' 😎 part too!

Reminds me of the famous Tate Gallery artwork

It's the courageous bee's knees - all 6 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝. - - - - - Make Sonos Great Again - - - - -

N

npcekberg

Contributor I

Honestly Sonos. Are you happy with the new update? Let us know your response to all angry customers. Don't hide under a rock and hope it will blow over. It never will. This is war.

K

kevocl

Contributor I

Whoever approved this update must be stupid.

Removing useful features like queue management and alarm/sleep timer is dumb, but removing accessibility functions is cruel.

It’s 2024 and Sonos are actively making their devices less accessible. Incredible. 🙃

T

Texasconsultant

Lyricist I

DO NOT DOWNLOAD THIS UPDATE! This new app is a train wreck. All of my playlists are gone and there does even appear to be an option to show user created playlists. The system will not hold speaker selections and plays in rooms I do not want it to play in. It is cumbersome and annoying to be kind.

Ken_Griffiths

DO NOT DOWNLOAD THIS UPDATE! This new app is a train wreck. All of my playlists are gone and there does even appear to be an option to show user created playlists. The system will not hold speaker selections and plays in rooms I do not want it to play in. It is cumbersome and annoying to be kind.

The Sonos Playlists are now in the Sonos Favorites ‘Pinned Category’, you probably just need to expand it.

I’m not seeing any issue with the App holding onto speaker selections in either the ‘room picker’ or ‘grouped rooms’ screens? For me, it’s more about the missing features, as widely discussed here in the community.

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