This Sonos Update Should Make It Easier to Find Music
Finding music in the Sonos interface has always been a bit frustrating, requiring a lot of additional panels and too much back and forth. Today, Sonos promises to ease that pain with a new home screen experience in the Sonos app and desktop. News of the upcoming changes leaked earlier this month, but now we can see real screenshots and get details on what the update will actually look like.
The new interface , which will be released worldwide on May 7 , will focus on customization and ease of access. While Sonos has the ability to integrate with over 100 streaming services, you likely only interact with a few of them regularly. The new design will allow you to choose which services you see and easily change those preferences. Here are some of the other big changes:
No more tabs
The most painful part of the Sonos navigation process will disappear. The new home screen will bring all your content into one screen, so you can easily return to recently played content, your libraries, and recommendations.
Pin and group services based on how you stream.
You’ll be able to group rows of content together so you have a section for podcasts, music, and audiobooks. Sonos promises they’ll be easy to swap on the fly.
Simplified search for services
A little more vague is the promise that you’ll be able to search for a piece of content or author across all your platforms. Sonos already does this, but hopefully they promise a better experience. I’m often frustrated that search results are inaccurate or that I can’t find all the content I want, even if I know the service provides it.
New location to access the system
Continuing with the “fuck tabs” theme, you’ll swipe up on the home screen to access your system and a visual overview of what’s playing, on what speakers, and at what volume, so it looks like this will replace the system tab.
The main goal of the new app is to provide faster access and eliminate multiple layers of tabs. The new interface will support all S2 products , including new Sonos products such as the Arc, Beam and Era speakers. Typically, older Sonos products such as Play 1, Play 3 and Soundbar are included in all applications, with the exception of legacy products such as Bridge.