After facing heavy criticism of its new app, Sonos decided to delay new products. The decision to launch Arc Ultra comes as the company believes the app issues are largely resolved.
The announcement came directly from Sonos CEO, Patrick Spence:
- "We've worked tirelessly to address the most critical app issues and reintroduce the most requested legacy features. We've now reached a level of quality that gives us the confidence to release our exciting new products," said Patrick Spence.
- "As outlined in our commitments, we will continue to improve the software regularly and are determined to make the Sonos experience better than ever."
90% back to normal
Sonos claims that 90% of the missing features have been reintroduced in the new app, with more fixes on the way. Sonos owners can follow the progress on this support page.
While it is difficult to verify Sonos' claims, many of the major issues do appear to have been addressed, based on user feedback on Reddit and Sonos' support forum.
The new Sonos app. Photo: Sonos
Moreover, Sonos claims that the new app will outperform the previous version for new users following a software update later this month, specifically in terms of system recognition, device setup and the ability to group Sonos speakers. The new Arc Ultra and Sub 4 are set to launch later this month.
Sonos has publicly apologized for the many issues and has postponed the launch of other products. Rumors suggest that Sonos is also planning to release its own Android-based media player.
