Sonos contemplates bringing back its old app amid hardware headwind and layoffs

Sonos has had a tough time since it launched a brand-new app in April that was met with instant and harsh criticism from customers. While the company has a plan to fix the new app, Sonos leadership is considering the possibility of relaunching its old app to provide relief for itself and its users.

Last month we saw a formal apology from Sonos CEO Patrick Spence with a detailed timeline on how it would approach updates for fixing the app:

• Sonos CEO apologizes for its new app, details timeline for fixing it

But now it appears that the plan may not be enough to satisfy customers. Reported by The Verge, Sonos leadership has been discussing the idea of bringing back its old “S2” Sonos app to solve users’ complaints while it tries to iron out all the issues with the new app.

The news comes as Sonos announced a layoff of 100 employees this morning. Spence also shared earlier this week that fixing the new app could cost between $20-30 million.

The app snafu has caused the company to delay two new products from launching and Spence has said the software trouble has “completely overshadowed” the Ace over-ear headphones.

Sources have told The Verge that Sonos is still hoping to release one of those two delayed products – an updated Arc soundbar – in October.

Even though the company is mulling the idea of bringing back the old Sonos app, no decision has been made.

In the meantime, the company should stick to the previously released bi-weekly update schedule set out by Spence:

Sonos app update timeline

July and August:

• Improving the stability when adding new products
• Implementing Music Library configuration, browse, search, and play

August and September:

• Improving Volume responsiveness
• User Interface improvements based on customer feedback
• Improving overall system stability and error handling

September:

• Improving the reliability of Alarm consistency and reliability

September and October:

• Restoring edit mode for Playlists and the Queue
• Improving functionality in settings

What do you think? Should Sonos bring back the old S2 app to restore functionality and trust while it works on the new app? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Top image via Sonos