The new Sonos app is now available as a free update, but not everyone is crazy about it
The latest major update to the Sonos app is now available to download worldwide on iOS or as a new web app, and it’s a fantastic upgrade if you have one of the best Sonos speakers.
Update: or does it look so great? Although it looks much nicer, many people are unhappy with some of the missing features, and it also lacks compatibility with screen reading technology for blind people. Sonos asks for feedback. You can read about that and more about the problems here. So it might be worth delaying the update if you use some of the features mentioned in that article. The remainder of this article remains unedited from the originally published version.
The app should also be available on Android, but at the time of writing I still see the previous version in the Google Play Store (I’ve reached out to Sonos to confirm Android availability). But I now have the new update running on my iPhone.
I’ve previously written extensively about the new Sonos app, and how it’s a much slicker piece of software, and a smart hub for all your music services, but here are the key upgrades:
- New home screen that brings together recommendations from different services in one personalized space
- You can also pin specific elements of different services here, such as a row of ‘New releases’ of a particular service
- New Now Playing screen and faster access to speaker groupings
- Universal search from the home screen, prioritizing your favorite service
The first thing I noticed about this update is that it requires a new scan of your Sonos system, which immediately pops up requiring it. So, as with so much technology these days, it’s probably best to open this app and make sure everything works before you actually want to use it and explore all the options.
I definitely think Sonos users will want to check this out soon – a quick look at the Sonos app reviews will tell you that the app is the biggest that most people have with their Sonos setup, and while it’s still too early is to say how many problems the app will solve, it’s a step in a more user-friendly direction – a good thing if Sonos wants to remain dominant among the best wireless speakers.
The timing of the new app’s release also feels promising, with rumors of an impending launch of the first Sonos headphones boosted by a huge leak that claims to contain the name and design of Sonos’ cans.