Sonos recently faced significant backlash after launching a revamped mobile app that lacked essential features, causing frustration among its user base. Key functionalities like sleep timers, alarms, and pairing options for many speakers were absent, and users experienced difficulty in adjusting the volume of paired speakers.
Additionally, the music search and playback capabilities were compromised, leading to widespread customer dissatisfaction and numerous complaints.
In response to the criticism, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence issued an apology through a blog post, acknowledging the “significant problems” with the new software. He expressed that the entire Sonos team was distressed by the situation and reassured customers that resolving the app issues was the company’s top priority. Spence emphasized that every employee was dedicated to fixing the app for all customers and partners.
Spence explained that although Sonos intended to quickly reinstate the missing features and address errors, these efforts were hindered by several unique issues related to the update. Despite these challenges, the company has been consistently releasing patches approximately every two weeks to tackle a broad range of concerns. These ongoing efforts aim to improve the app’s functionality and user experience.
The CEO also outlined the future plans for enhancing the app. Upcoming updates will focus on increasing stability when pairing new products, enhancing music library configuration options, improving volume responsiveness, and overhauling the alarm clock feature. Furthermore, the entire user interface will be revamped based on customer feedback, aiming to address users’ concerns comprehensively.
Sonos plans to roll out these improvements through multiple app updates from now until October. Spence acknowledged that the company needs to regain the trust of its loyal customers and is committed to doing so. In a positive development, Sonos also launched a new pair of headphones, offering some good news amidst the ongoing app issues.