Sonos launched a redesigned app in May, but instead of excitement, users were met with frustration over missing features like sleep timers, local music library management, playlist editing, and accessibility downgrades. The company initially defended the redesign, but now, after nearly three months and mounting criticism, Sonos leadership has issued a public apology and outlined a detailed roadmap for improvements.
CEO Patrick Spence admitted that the company “fell short” and expressed remorse for the inconvenience caused to users.He assured customers that fixing the app is the top priority, with updates scheduled to roll out every two weeks.Upcoming improvements include a better device-adding experience, local music library interface, volume responsiveness,UI enhancements, alarm reliability, and playlist/queue editing.
Sonos had previously acknowledged the issues in an email to partners, but this marks the most public and comprehensive response yet. The company’s apology comes days after Wirecutter, a popular consumer guide, removed Sonos from its top recommendation for multiroom wireless speakers, citing the app’s poor user experience and Sonos’ history of “poorly executed changes.”
The public apology and roadmap offer some reassurance to Sonos’ user base, demonstrating that the company is actively working to address their concerns and restore trust. Whether this will be enough to win back customers and regain their top spot in the market remains to be seen.
