Sonos' Redesigned App Faces Backlash From the Community

Sonos redesigned app's functionality was questioned by the community during the company's Ask Me Anything (AMA) event on forums.

The company launched its new mobile and web app last week but the redesigned version failed to impress the users, citing a lack of core features.

Sonos Users Share Concern Over Redesigned App

During the AMA, most of the participants asked Sonos about the redesigned app. Upon its launch, the community forum was bombarded with complaints from users who updated their app.

For instance, iPhone users said they lost their music library that was on network-attached storage (NAS). The mobile app also had a visible missing feature which made it difficult for users to search their music library, especially from NAS devices.

The Verge reported that private beta testers have raised concerns with the software prior to the app's launch. Sonos also gave them unsatisfactory solutions to the issues, according to the testers.

Sonos Defends Redesigned App, Says Still Unfinished

Sonos prompted a response to the questions, citing that the app is still not finished. Tucker Severson, director of product management, explained that the new app came from scratch as the team stopped investing in the old app code.

"Over time we 'cross-faded' our engineering attention into the new app. We need to make the new app be the app going forward so we stop splitting our attention," he added.

In addition, senior director of software development Diane Roberts detailed that the new UI design is based on the needs that were gathered by the team on the forum. Sonos firmly believes that the customizable home feed is the optimal solution for all concerns.

The company also assured its users that more fine-tuning will be released on the following updates which are expected to roll out in the coming months.