It’s difficult not to like Sonos’ hardware. Most recently, we got to play with the Era 100 SL and had about as good an experience as you can with a speaker. But the company’s biggest fault is its app, and it has been for quite some time. Sonos has been on a generational sprint ever since in an attempt to bring the app back to its former glory.
And it just took a pretty big step in that race. Announced in a Reddit post of all places, the speaker company confirmed several key features are headed for the app, starting today. There’s a chance you’ll have to wait up to two weeks to get hold of it. When it comes, expect “familiar” tab navigation and a whole bunch more.
One small step for man, one giant leap for Sonos-kind
📲New Sonos App & Player Updates Now Available!🔊
by
u/ShaunFromSonos in
sonos
Y’all got any more of them pixels?
The numbers you’re looking for are 87.00.36 (iOS) and 87.00.35 (Android). Seeing those means you have the features announced today, starting with ‘Improved Navigation’. Firstly, Home, System, and Search are now easier to find, with the app making it easier to see what’s selected. Enable Improved Tab Navigation in the settings.
Our favourite addition is the one that lets you sort speakers more intuitively. How intuitive it is… is entirely up to you. Users can sort their speakers alphabetically, by most-used, or even by those actively playing audio. If that isn’t enough, you can pin speakers to the top of the page, allowing easier access to your favourites.
iPhone owners, specifically, will get access to the revamped volume interface, supposedly making matters much more responsive. It’s replaced the old volume controls, a sentence that’ll make absolutely nobody sad. A bunch of smaller quality-of-life improvements have been made, with the feedback generally seeming positive online.
Read More: Sonos Era 100 SL review – Mic drop
Sonos’ CEO, Tom Conrad, had something to say about the update, also in a Reddit post:
“What I wanted from this work was simple: a series of enhancements that make Sonos easier to learn and easier to use. The team has spent hundreds of hours over the past year watching real customers use the Sonos app, longtime owners and brand new ones alike. We’ve learned a lot about what hangs people up, what’s confusing when you’re new to the system, and what slows you down when you’re just trying to change the darn volume.”
It’s good to see Sonos treating the update with the gravity it deserved. If you weren’t around for the Sonos 2.0 debacle, know that it nearly tanked the company’s reputation. It even delayed the launch of several hardware products while its employees cleaned the mess up. More than two years later, it’s restoring that legacy. All that’s left to do, Sonos, is deliver some lock-screen controls, please. A widget wouldn’t go amiss, either.
