Sonos' Latest Update Focuses on Convenience Features, But Users Want More

Sonos announced its 8.3 software for Android and iOS apps Tuesday. Among the changes are the addition of tabs to the Now Playing screen to help with navigation, a return to a black Now Playing screen for readability and a higher density experience on the Rooms tab for convenience, blogged a principal product manager identified as Oliver. Comments were generally positive, but users also posted unrelated gripes and wish lists. Jeffrey Myers asked for Siri integration “since most of your users are probably iPhone users. Alexa is buggy, not as user friendly, talks out at random times at night, and requires extra hardware.” Community Manager Ryan S. said Sonos is working with Apple to bring Airplay2 to Sonos. “It won't be Siri on the Sonos One, but you'd be able to ask Siri using an iOS device to play on a selection of Sonos players. The Sonos One will be able to receive Airplay2 streams,” he said. JDM also had a complaint about Alexa: “Anyone know if the software for Sonos One has been updated to silence the Wake chime and control the volume of Alexa's voice? Very annoying!” Reganowen wanted to know when a Trueplay room analyzer update would be available for iPhone X users; Ryan replied that Sonos is working on certifying the iPhone X for Trueplay. Audible is coming soon, too, he said. Branedamig wasn’t impressed by the importance level of the update. “Adding Airplay2, Google Home, Bluetooth, playing directly from a music app, etc... those are major updates,” said the user.