As we reported earlier this month, Sonos responded to the fierce criticism of its revamped iOS and Android app with a pledge to deliver multiple updates that'll fix some of the missing features. There was a big update in May (following no small amount of negative customer feedback on the Sonos app update) and another in early June, and now yet another update is available.
Sonos has issued official release notes for the new update but to save you a click, the key changes are:
- Introduced mute button on Android.
- Added numerical values to the volume and group-volume sliders.
- Updated the volume icon to reflect the volume level on iOS.
- Added stereo or mono configuration for Amp/Port output on iOS.
- Improved TalkBack screen reader support for volume sliders on Android.
- Added support for SonosNet channel selection on iOS.
- Expanded support for service reauthorization on Android.
Suffice to say, the response from Sonos customers so far has been mixed: the app does seem to improve a lot of things, but some concerns remain.
What the new Sonos app update does and doesn't do
The users of the r/sonos subreddit are saying that the app update does appear to deliver better performance and responsiveness than before, but some key things are still missing, such as queue management features and library search. They're also reporting crashes when trying to add or use services such as Apple Music, use Trueplay or connect some additional speakers. As one Reddit poster put it, "essentially we are the beta testers."
Sonos has previously published a roadmap for app updates, which has been updated to reflect this latest update. And some of the key features remain on the to-do list but are promised for delivery this month. The Coming Soon list currently contains the following items:
- Continued improvements to navigation for visually-impaired customers: mid-June
- Local music library search and playback: mid-June
- Improved playback settings including Play Now: July
- Create and edit local music library: July
- Improved Autoplay settings: July
- Improved Sub audio settings with Amp: July
- Snooze alarms: TBD
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