Sonos promises rapid-fire free updates to fix its broken app

Sonos has promised bi-weekly app updates to restore missing features and fix problems.

The updates will continue through October 2024.

If you're one of the Sonos users who remains unhappy with its controversial app update , the firm would like to apologise – and more importantly, fix the application.

The app update was intended to deliver a better user experience, but for some users it made it worse by removing key features. And CEO Patrick Spence has now published a letter , apologising for the issues and promising to fast-track fixes.

The letter is the first time Sonos has formally apologised for the app issues; previously the tone had been a bit off, with Sonos talking about the company's "courage" rather than its customers' unhappiness.

"I want to begin by personally apologising for disappointing you," Spence writes. "There isn’t an employee at Sonos who isn’t pained by having let you down."

More importantly. Spence has set out exactly how Sonos intends to fix it.

What's happening with the Sonos app?

Spence's letter says that Sonos has already done a ton of work on the app but that "since launch we have found a number of issues" that "delayed our prior plan to quickly incorporate missing features and functionality." As a result, the firm's plans have changed and Spence has set out exactly what's going to happen and when.

For July and August that means improving the stability of adding products, and implementing some of the most complained-about absences: Music Library configuration, browse, search, and play.

In August and September, app updates will improve volume responsiveness, fix the user interface and make the app much more stable. September will also see improvements to alarm consistency and reliability.

For September and October, Sonos promises to restore edit mode for playlists and the Queue, and to improve the Settings section.

The updates will be issued bi-weekly and Sonos promises to supply detailed release notes each time, as well as regular updates to the Sonos community.

"We deeply appreciate your patience as we address these issues," Spence writes. "We know we have work to do to earn back your trust and are working hard to do just that."