Sonos CEO offers software mea culpa: ‘We know we have work to do’ | Digital Trends

Sonos CEO Patrick Spence today issued a written apology to Sonos customers for “significant problems with our new app.” The apology — which was uploaded as images on various social media accounts, in an email to customers, and as proper text (with additional links) on Sonos’ blog — acknowledges the various issues users have had since the Sonos app received a major update on May 7.

As we’ve documented, the new app not only was missing basic features users had enjoyed previously but it was also just buggy.

“I want to begin by personally apologizing for disappointing you,” Spence wrote. “There isn’t an employee at Sonos who isn’t pained by having let you down, and I assure you that fixing the app for all of our customers and partners has been, and continues to be, our number one priority.” The letter links to the official release notes page, if you want to keep up with the app changes.

The botched app rebuild came just ahead of Sonos releasing its first headphones, the Sonos Ace.

Sonos, for its part, has at least noted the issues since the May update and kept users abreast of a general roadmap for fixes via a thread on Reddit. And the app indeed has received a number of updates with bug fixes and new (or resurrected) features, as recently as July 22. Spence adds that software updates will continue on a biweekly basis.

Here’s the update roadmap that appears in Spence’s letter:

Coming in July and August

• Improving the stability when adding new products
• Implementing music library configuration, browse, search, and play

Coming in August and September

• Improving volume responsiveness
• User interface improvements based on customer feedback
• Improving overall system stability and error handling

Coming in September

• Improving alarm consistency and reliability

Coming in September and October

• Restoring edit mode for playlists and the queue
• Improving functionality in settings

“We deeply appreciate your patience as we address these issues,” Spence concludes. “We known we have work to do to earn back your trust and are working hard to do just that.”

Sonos is scheduled to announce its fiscal 2024 third-quarter earnings on August 7.