Quick Summary
Sonos has pushed a new app update that brings back some of the features missing after the recent redesign.
Accessibility features return, as well the ability to play music from your own, locally-stored library once more.
Sonos' recent and controversial app update just got a little respite, with the addition of some much-requested, fan-favourite features.
Users can finally play tracks from their local music libraries again, so don't just have to rely on streamers, such as Spotify. And, perhaps more important, there are welcome changes that relate to accessibility features.
Having moved quite quickly to add VoiceOver and TalkBack support for users who relied on them earlier in May, Sonos says that its latest app update makes enhancements to both to ensure they're working properly again.
We’ve heard your feedback and are moving quickly to improve your app experience. Our latest update reintroduces local music library playback, enhanced VoiceOver and TalkBack support, and more. You can find more details about the recent update on Sonos Support.…May 23, 2024
VoiceOver helps blind and vision-impaired users to interact with the app, and was missing completely when the new version first launched, which unsurprisingly led to some widespread criticism.
Now the system should be back working at something like its previous standards, and Sonos says it plans for more improvements to come.
The new app brought in a big design overhaul, but plenty of users were unhappy at the number of features that seemed to have disappeared overnight, causing consternation.
Importantly, Sonos has also moved from a slightly defiant tone on the update and its benefits – starting this announcement by saying: "We’ve heard your feedback and are moving quickly to improve your app experience."
An apologetic tone goes a long way, after all, although a slick app that doesn't launch with any bugs would have gone even further.
Between this update and presumably a raft of further tweaks on the way, Sonos will be hoping that it can divert attention back onto its newly-announced noise-cancelling headphones – Sonos Ace.
These bring the promise of high-quality sound with the potentially killer feature that they can instantly stream audio from a Sonos soundbar if you want to watch something on your TV without deafening any neighbours. For now, that feature will apparently only work with the Sonos Arc soundbar, but support will arrive for all its other sound systems in time.
Still, there are plenty more features that people want to see back in the Sonos app, so there's every chance this story continues to roll on for a while.
