Sonos’ app revamp points the way towards upcoming new hardware – but what will come first?
Sonos has completely revamped its app and there's a new web app for desktop use as well
It’s pretty much nailed on that Sonos will be bringing us new audio hardware soon.
The Sonos headphones have been very long-awaited and we’re expecting to get those in June. We’re also thinking that we’re going to get a third generation of the Beam soundbar, while there may also be a replacement for the Sonos 5, too, to sit above the Era 100 and Era 300.
Ahead of all that though, Sonos has revamped its app – though there’s only a little hint of what’s to come. Although there’s clearly been a lot of under-the-hood work – it’s mostly just design and functionality that has been improved rather than a big dump of new features.
Perhaps the biggest change is actually not on the mobile app at all but on the desktop; Sonos is discontinuing its separate desktop apps in favour of a single browser-based web version – the functionality is exactly the same as the mobile app.
One thing that has been dramatically improved in the new app is the management of what’s playing on your system. There’s now a more visual overview of what’s playing on different bits of your Sonos system. You can also quickly group speakers, too.
Where the app also improves is in its management of your streaming favourites – when you have stacks of streaming services at your fingertips, surfacing the right content is a challenge. The home screen now more important than before for this; you can customise the order of the rows on your home screen and personalise it with quick access to your preferred streaming apps.
As before, there’s also universal search for different services and your favourite services will be prioritised, while you can pin particular playlists and so on. The idea is that once you set it up you no longer need to browse through the tabs to find what you want (though you can still explore this way).
Sonos clearly wants you to be able to move through the app quicker and reduce some of the friction that inevitably comes when you’re browsing different services for content.
The app supports all Sonos S2-compatible products and will start rolling out in early May alongside the new browser-based version.
Dan Grabham
Editor-in-Chief 
