The last time Sonos tried this, it nearly brought the company down.
Sonos is overhauling its mobile app. If that statement alone brings back painful memories, you are not alone.
According to Bloomberg, the audio company is planning a new round of changes to its iPhone and Android app in the coming months. New CEO Tom Conrad promises that the rollout will look nothing like the one that nearly brought the company down in 2024.
A Different Kind of Update
The upcoming app refresh will focus on improved navigation and easier-to-use controls. But after what happened last time, the specific tweaks matter less than the process behind them.
Conrad, who became permanent CEO in July 2025, previewed some of the changes at Sonos’ California headquarters last week. The exact details won’t be shared with customers until the company is further along, possibly in late March or April.
But the bigger story isn’t what’s changing. It’s how Sonos plans to roll it out.
The company will test the updates in “tens of thousands of homes” before going wide. Additionally, the changes will be opt-in until Sonos is confident they’re ready for all customers. Throughout the process, the brand will engage its user base on Reddit, its own forums, and other social media platforms.
“Everything we should have done the first time around,” said Conrad.
Conrad also acknowledged that the current app has room to improve. Some of the recent additions illustrate this more incremental approach. One recently added feature is lock screen controls for Android users, which let them switch songs without unlocking their phone.
The same feature for iOS, planned through Apple’s Live Activities, is still months away. Rather than forcing sweeping changes all at once, Sonos appears to be layering in functionality step by step.
What the 2024 Disaster Actually Cost
The caution Conrad is showing now makes sense. In 2024, under then-CEO Patrick Spence, Sonos launched a completely rebuilt app and phased out the existing version all at once.
The new software was meant to modernize the company’s technology and make it easier to ship new features. Instead, it shipped with laggy volume controls, missing features, and a design that frustrated longtime users.
Fallout was swift, marked by falling revenue, deep losses, a battered stock price, and workforce cuts. The troubled app also hampered the launch of the Sonos Ace headphones, undercutting the company’s debut in a major new product category.
Ultimately, the crisis cost Spence his job. He resigned in January 2025 after eight years in the role. Conrad, the co-founder of Pandora, stepped in as interim CEO and was eventually named to the role permanently. His mandate was straightforward: fix the app.
Conrad has said publicly that progress has been made. Even better, activity on the Sonos subreddit does seem to reflect a shift. Users are back to comparing speaker setups and celebrating new purchases.
However, a look at Sonos’ support forums paints a less tidy picture. Users are still reporting connectivity failures, speaker disconnections, and playback dropouts.
Taken together, the two communities suggest a split reality: casual conversation may be warming up again, while customers with unresolved issues remain vocal in official support channels.
Hardware Is Back, But Not for Everyone
While the app situation remains unsettled for some users, Sonos has started releasing new hardware again.
The Amp Multi, announced in January, is the company’s first new product in over a year. Even so, it is not available for direct purchase. Its page replaces the standard “buy now” button with “find an installer,” and no public pricing has been listed.
Sonos had originally indicated that new hardware launches would resume in the second half of fiscal 2026. Releasing the Amp Multi ahead of that timeline is the company signaling that it believes the worst is behind it.
Still, the installer-only model adds nuance to that signal. By targeting professional integrators rather than everyday consumers, Sonos is effectively rebuilding momentum in a channel less exposed to app-related frustration.
Conrad has also outlined a broader growth plan, telling investors he sees a $12 billion revenue opportunity in Sonos’ existing customer base.
The average Sonos household currently owns 3.13 devices. Conrad wants to raise that to six. In other words, the path to that revenue isn’t primarily about finding new clients. It’s about convincing current ones to add more speakers to more rooms.
That math depends on customers who were burned by the 2024 update choosing to buy more Sonos products. Whether the new app rollout earns back enough trust to make that happen remains to be seen.