Sonos finally brings back a long-lamented iPhone feature, but you have to turn it on first

Sonos has finally brought Live Activity to the iOS app, meaning you'll get Sonos control from your lock screen and Dynamic Island on compatible devices.

Sonos says that the feature has been widely requested and after a slightly tumultuous couple of years, it's going to be welcomed by those using Sonos on an iOS device.

Live Activity will mean that you can glance at what's playing and get immediate controls without having to open the Sonos app.

The new additions come to the latest version of the Sonos app for iOS and the feature is turned off by default, so you'll need to switch it on to get it working. Head into Account > App Preferences > Live Activity.

Live Activity will appear from Sonos when you open the app and start playing music. At the moment there's no support for album art, although Sonos says that work is in progress to explore other ways to "enhance the lock screen".

Once you stop listening, the Live Activity will stay in place for 15 minutes before it disappears.

The Live Activity is also supported on Apple Watch and in Apple CarPlay, although currently the playback controls aren’t supported, so it's sort of pointless. A fix is expected in the future to change that.

Sonos, reporting on the changes on Reddit, also mentioned that there could be more coming with the arrival if iOS 27 later in the year. For those with the app already installed, make sure that you update it to get the latest feature.

Sonos is also thought to be working on an updated version of the Beam, potentially with more AI skills to support better voice control, while new Ace Ultra headphones are said to be in the works too, with the new hardware potentially appearing in September.

Sonos has been plagued by setbacks over recent years, from ending support for older speakers, an app update that broke everything and plenty of changes in the C suite, but it now looks like the company is getting back into its stride.