Sonos CEO Addresses User Concerns: No Return to Old App Despite Criticism

Sonos will not be bringing back their previous app despite the substantial criticism directed at the new version. Discussions had arisen about the possibility of reverting to the old app following the issues that emerged with the newly launched version earlier this year. However, CEO Patrick Spence has stated that reintroducing the old app is virtually unfeasible. In a post on Reddit, Spence revealed that after extensive testing, the company determined that reviving the S2 app would likely compound the existing problems rather than resolve them, describing the situation as a significant disappointment.

The rationale behind this decision lies in the fact that the Sonos ecosystem now encompasses much more than just an application on a smartphone or tablet; it also includes software embedded within the speakers and cloud services. The software has undergone numerous updates, leading to the conclusion that the S2 app would now be less dependable and stable than it was in its earlier days, thereby making it impractical to revive the more favored version of the Sonos application. According to CEO Patrick Spence, this situation is particularly challenging.

Sonos is not solely a mobile application; it also comprises software that operates on both the speakers and in the cloud. As months passed since the introduction of the new mobile app, the software supporting the speakers and cloud services has been continuously upgraded. With these improvements, Spence noted that the current iteration of the S2 app is less trustworthy and stably functioning than users might recall. After conducting thorough tests, the company has come to the reluctant conclusion that reintroducing S2 would exacerbate the problems instead of alleviating them. This revelation is understandably disappointing for both the users and the CEO himself.