The new Sonos app is available as a free update now, but not everyone loves it

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Update: think carefully before you download

New Sonos app home screen shown on an iPhone, held in a person's hand
(Image credit: Sonos)

The latest big update to the Sonos app is now available to download worldwide on iOS or as a new web app, and it's a great-looking upgrade if you've got any of the best Sonos speakers. 

Update: or is it so great-looking? While it's much nicer in appearance, a lot of people are unhappy with some of the missing features, and it's also missing compatibility with screen-reading tech for blind people. Sonos is soliciting feedback – you can read about that, and more about the issues here. So it may be worth holding off on the update if you use some of the features mentioned in that article. The rest of this article remains unedited from its originally published version.

The app should also be available on Android, but at the time of writing, I'm still seeing the previous version in the Google Play Store (I've approached Sonos to confirm Android availability). But I've got the new update running on my iPhone now. 

I wrote in-depth previously 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 bringing recommendations from different services together in one personalized space
  • You can also pin specific elements from different services here, such as a 'New releases' row from a particular service
  • New Now Playing screen, and quicker access to speaker groupings
  • Universal search from the Home screen, prioritizing your favorite service

The first thing I noted about this update is that it requires a re-scan of your Sonos system, popping up immediately to demand that. So, as with so much tech these days, it's probably best to open this app and check that's all working before you actually want to use it and get into all the options.

I definitely think Sonos users will want to check this out quickly – a brief glance at the reviews of the Sonos app will tell you that the app is the biggest most people have with their Sonos setup, and while it's too early to say how many problems the app will solve, it's a step in a more user-friendly direction – a good thing if Sonos is to stay dominant among the best wireless speakers.

The timing of the new app's release feels auspicious too, with rumors of an upcoming launch of the first Sonos headphones being boosted by a huge leak that claims to include the name and design of Sonos' cans.

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Matt Bolton
Matt Bolton
Managing Editor, Entertainment

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Entertainment, meaning he's in charge of persuading our team of writers and reviewers to watch the latest TV shows and movies on gorgeous TVs and listen to fantastic speakers and headphones. It's a tough task, as you can imagine. Matt has over a decade of experience in tech publishing, and previously ran the TV & audio coverage for our colleagues at T3.com, and before that he edited T3 magazine. During his career, he's also contributed to places as varied as Creative Bloq, PC Gamer, PetsRadar, MacLife, and Edge. TV and movie nerdism is his speciality, and he goes to the cinema three times a week. He's always happy to explain the virtues of Dolby Vision over a drink, but he might need to use props, like he's explaining the offside rule.