Sonos Can’t Bring Back Old App to Appease Customers Unhappy With Design Changes

Speaker maker Sonos had been considering bringing back its old iPhone app, as customers have been dissatisfied with the new version of the app. However, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence today said on Reddit that the company will not be able to re-release the old app.

Spence said that he had been hopeful that the company would be able to re-release the old version up until “very recently” to provide an alternative to users who were having issues with the new Sonos app. Unfortunately, the company found that doing so would make things worse, due to backend updates to the firm’s cloud servers, as well as the software the speakers run.

Everything has been on the table in terms of finding the fastest path to fixing your systems. In fact, until very recently I’d been hopeful that we could re-release the old app (S2) as an alternative for those of you that are having issues that we’ve not yet resolved.

The trick of course is that Sonos is not just the mobile app, but software that runs on your speakers and in the cloud too. In the months since the new mobile app launched we’ve been updating the software that runs on our speakers and in the cloud to the point where today S2 is less reliable & less stable then what you remember. After doing extensive testing we’ve reluctantly concluded that re-releasing S2 would make the problems worse, not better. I’m sure this is disappointing. It was disappointing to me.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Sonos was mulling over possibly bringing back the original version of the app and that the company was hopeful that allowing customers to revert to the old app would appease them by providing an interim solution as the company works on fixing the issues with the new app. However, it now sounds like Sonos has scrapped that plan, meaning customers who are having issues with the app redesign will need to muddle through.

Sonos released the revamped app in May, and things have not gone well for the company since that release. Sonos users found that the updated app lacks basic features, such as alarms and timers. Sonos CEO Spence apologized for jumping the gun with the new app’s rollout and he also promised a bi-weekly update cycle for new features. The company also postponed its launch of two new products which had been expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 2024, as it focuses its resources on fixing the app. 

Spence assured Redditors that the “original architect of the Sonos platform” has been put back in charge and that Sonos has “pulled together the very best and most experienced engineers” to work on the app until it can be fixed.

Sonos will reportedly take a hit of $20-$30 million to its balance sheet, in addition to the goodwill and customer faith it has lost.

Spence’s comments came in a Reddit AMA, Spence also talked about the possibility of two-factor authentication. he assured Redditors that the app “remains my #1 priority.” However, he also promised that he’s going to “pop back on Reddit some nights and weekends to engage on the most upvoted questions.”