Sonos is rebuilding its app experience around a staged, user-tested rollout with Sonos 27, after its 2024 redesign removed or disrupted core controls and created one of the company’s most damaging software crises. The new navigation is being introduced progressively rather than imposed on every customer at once, with feedback from existing and new users shaping the interface.
The app is organized into three primary areas: Home, System and Search. Users can pin favorite rooms at the top of the interface, while Sonos says it has adopted more familiar iOS and Android conventions. That is a deliberate shift from an earlier design that users found cluttered and unintuitive, with overlapping cards, custom gestures and basic actions that could require too many steps.
Tom Conrad, Sonos’ CEO, said the company spent hundreds of hours observing people use the app, including long-time Sonos owners and newcomers. The navigation was initially offered as an opt-in experience, allowing customers to try it, revert from it and provide feedback before it became the default. Sonos also says it discussed the changes directly with users on Reddit and through its community.
The more cautious process reflects the scale of the failure that followed the previous app launch on May 7, 2024. Sonos had presented that release as a major simplification, but customers reported instability and the loss or unreliable operation of features including Sleep Timer, queue and playlist management, local-library access and some accessibility tools. Then-CEO Patrick Spence publicly apologized for the problems.
The fallout extended beyond user frustration. Sonos cut its 2024 financial outlook because of the app issues and estimated that resolving them would cost between $20 million and $30 million. Two hardware launches were delayed, while a planned streaming device was deferred as resources were redirected to repairing the software. Spence left the CEO role in January 2025, although Sonos did not identify the app crisis as the sole reason for the leadership change.
Sonos had already pledged in October 2024 to use wider beta testing, phased releases, opt-in access and a Customer Advisory Board for major changes. Sonos 27 is the first substantial indication of that policy in practice, focusing less on a single replacement app launch and more on incremental changes across several months.
Further features are planned for the autumn, including Presets, a redesigned iPad interface and a Virtual Volume Knob controlled by rotating two fingers. Sonos also plans expanded automations through Siri and Shortcuts. iPhone users already have playback controls through the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island.
The technical changes themselves are relatively straightforward, but their delivery will be the larger test for Sonos. For a multiroom audio ecosystem whose speakers are controlled through software, restoring confidence that fundamental controls will remain available may matter more than any individual new interface feature.
