Sonos CEO apologises for the app redesign that deleted key features

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Sonos CEO Patrick Spence has apologised to users for the disastrous mobile app redesign, and set a timeline for fixing it.

The multi-room specialist redesigned the app on 7th May to coincide with the launch of its Ace wireless headphones. The Ace turned out to be a rushed product – with certain features missing at launch – and the same is true of the new app. Ostensibly redesigned to accommodate the Ace, the new app lacked a lot of the old one's features, including sleep timers, management of locally-stored music, and the ability to edit playlists and song queues.

Sonos initially tried to brazen it out, acknowledging that while it meant taking "taking a few steps back", redesigning the app took "courage" and would help the company to "ultimately leap into the future".

Its latest statement is more of a mea culpa. In a post on the Sonos website, Spence writes: "I want to begin by personally apologising for disappointing you. 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."

He says that Sonos intended to add missing features back in much sooner, but various issues mean this has been delayed. He says updates every two weeks have stabilised the app for many, and sets out a timeline for further improvements. However, restoring the edit mode for playlists and song queues isn't scheduled until September or October, and that's if everything runs to schedule.

That's unlikely to appease customers who are frustrated that Sonos has not only degraded the app experience, but taken nearly three months to apologise for its actions.

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