4 Lessons From Sonos’ App Upgrade Fiasco | Laptop News

Sonos released its much-anticipated app controller upgrade on Tuesday. It promised to provide a new look and feel that would make using Sonos’ audio equipment easier and provide a more personalized experience. Instead of being wowed by positive improvements, many in the normally loyal and enthusiastic Sonos community were greeted by a half-baked solution that was missing core functions.

Surely something had gone wrong. How could the fiasco have been avoided?

A Highly Anticipated Upgrade

Sonos, a Nasdaq-listed company based in Santa Barbara with a market cap of just over $2 billion, has earned a reputation since its founding in 2002 for producing high-quality audio hardware with modular design enabling buyers to customize their needs.

Central to the Sonos experience is its iPhone and Android-supported controller app. While a desktop controller exists for both Windows and Mac, most users enjoy the convenience of the smartphone app for selecting a music source and having it play on any number of speaker configurations in their home or office.

Prior to May 7, the app had already been through several generations of upgrades. For a luxury sound system, it still surprised many how clunky the interface was and the number of glitches that persisted. Users complained of hardware randomly disconnecting, audio tracks skipping and the frequency of error messages.

The Sonos community eagerly anticipated the promise of a completely new app with an easier interface. However, the upgrade arrived and missed the mark by a long way.

New And Missing Features

While the look and feel of a new interface can be subjective—and, to be fair,…