Sonos has launched another new app. Stop me if you’ve heard this before.
The smart speaker company, once a favorite in the audio industry, lost much of the goodwill it built with its multiroom speaker system after a series of software updates disrupted the Sonos app in 2024. Users criticized the redesigned app for removing or limiting essential features, including volume control and accessibility tools that helped a blind user operate a wireless speaker system. Sonos eventually acknowledged the problems, considered restoring the previous app experience, and changed its CEO. In an effort to rebuild trust, the company introduced new leadership and issued repeated apologies to frustrated customers.
Now, Sonos says its latest app update includes a range of generative AI features. The company has also announced a new soundbar and a second pair of over-ear headphones. Sonos representatives say the company is expanding its identity beyond speakers to become a broader, more connected audio platform.
“For years, people have looked at us as a speaker company,” says Brandon Holley, interim head of hardware at Sonos. “What we really are is an audio operating system.”
Sonos calls this operating system Sonos 27, and it will appear across several products and services. The first major component is an updated Sonos app.
Sonos 27 App: New Features and AI Tools
Sonos understands that the phrase “new Sonos app” may make some customers nervous.
“When you say it out loud, you know exactly what comes to mind,” Sid Patel, vice president of software at Sonos, told WIRED. Patel says the new app was developed with a customer-focused approach that emphasized user feedback, community discussions, and forums such as Reddit. Improvements include clearer tab navigation, better room sorting, an updated in-app volume control, and other usability enhancements. Sonos also plans to introduce a system health view in the fall, giving users a way to diagnose connectivity problems for individual products.
One of the biggest additions is Sonos 27voice, the company’s generative AI integration, which will initially be available through an early-access program. Similar to Amazon Alexa and Google Home, Sonos 27voice lets users speak to their speakers and request music based on a mood, activity, or preference. The platform also supports the Model Context Protocol, allowing users to connect an AI service of their choice and ask tools such as ChatGPT to play music throughout their Sonos system.
Sonos is also promoting Custom Agents, which let users configure AI assistants to perform tasks across their audio system. For example, a custom agent could activate speakers in specific rooms at scheduled times. Users can also select different AI voices, whether they want a sophisticated French chef in the kitchen or a pirate speaking through a bathroom speaker.
“AI is clearly something that is very hot these days,” Patel says. “So we integrated a variety of AI into the system.”
Sonos says Sonos 27 and its AI features will work with the company’s S2 app, but not with the S1 app used to control certain older Sonos devices. That means owners of some legacy Sonos hardware will not have access to the newest AI capabilities.
“Sonos 27 is designed to take advantage of new hardware features, so not all products will support all new features,” a Sonos representative wrote in an email. “We want to be transparent about these limitations while continuing to support our products with security and continuous updates, as hardware allows.”
Source: www.wired.com