The new Sonos app lacks a lot of features and people aren’t happy

Last month, Sonos announced a complete redesign of its mobile app for iOS and Android. The goal was to significantly simplify the previous version, “bringing system services, content, and controls to a customizable home screen.” Sonos wanted the app to feel more personalized and more modern and to make “hopping from guide to guide a thing of the past”.

I didn’t have the opportunity to use the new app firsthand in April; Sonos only gave the press an overview and a brief demo that covered the basics. But even so, some sources warned me that a lot would be missing from the initial release.

Yesterday, the new app was released – largely for iPhone users and somewhat sporadically for those on the Android side. (I haven’t received the Galaxy S24 Ultra update yet.) Judging by the reaction on the very active Sonos subreddit, yes, the company took a scalpel to things and left a ton of things out. The new app takes steps backwards in certain areas, but Sonos has succeeded in some of its overall design goals. Whether you’re a fan of the new app will vary depending on how you use Sonos products.

Resources related to local music libraries are a mess – especially the search. The accessibility of the application has regressed, something Sonos says The goal is to fix it by June. The sleep timer functionality is gone entirely, and the company is advising customers to use the Sonos Windows or Mac desktop apps to set sleep timers until they are added again. Something as simple as editing the next queue from within the app? Even that is not available at the moment.

This is never the feedback anyone expects after a comprehensive app overhaul.

To be fair, no all is disappointed. I have seen several positive comments about systems — especially large ones — that respond better after updating. And the revamped design felt more intuitive to some users, which is exactly what Sonos intended. It’s also objectively more customizable than before. System control took a backseat to music control, but there are people willing to give Sonos some time (and several updates) to work out the kinks and get back to parity with the S2.

Still, if you consider yourself a Sonos power user, you might be better off not hitting the refresh button. There’s no way to downgrade to the previous S2 app – at least not on the iPhone. So make sure you know what you’re getting into and that you really want the new design, even if it means missing out on features big and small for a few weeks. Hopefully not months.

On the edge has reached out to Sonos for comment.