Facing Angry Users, Sonos Promises to Fix Flaws and Restore Removed Features

A blind worker for the National Federation of the Blind said Sonos had a reputation for making products usable for people with disabilities, but that "Overnight they broke that trust," according to the Washington Post. They're not the only angry customers about the latest update to Sonos's wireless speaker system. The newspaper notes that nonprofit worker Charles Knight is "among the Sonos die-hards who are furious at the new app that crippled their options to stream music, listen to an album all the way through or set a morning alarm clock."After Sonos updated its app last week, Knight could no longer set or change his wake-up music alarm. Timers to turn off music were also missing. "Something as basic as an alarm is part of the feature set that users have had for 15 years," said Knight, who has spent thousands of dollars on six Sonos speakers for his bedroom, home office and kitchen. "It was just really badly thought out from start to finish." Some people who are blind also complained that the app omitted voice-control features they need. What's happening to Sonos speaker owners is a cautionary tale. As more of your possessions rely on software - including your car, phone, TV, home thermostat or tractor - the manufacturer can ruin them with one shoddy update...Sonos now says it's fixing problems and adding back missing features within days or weeks. Sonos CEO Patrick Spence acknowledged the company made some mistakes and said Sonos plans to earn back people's trust. "There are clearly people who are having an experience that is subpar," Spence said. "I would ask them to give us a chance to deliver the actions to address the concerns they've raised." Spence said that for years, customers' top complaint was the Sonos app was clunky and slow to connect to their speakers. Spence said the new app is zippier and easier for Sonos to update. (Some customers disputed that the new app is faster.) He said some problems like Knight's missing alarms were flaws that Sonos found only once the app was about to roll out. (Sonos updated the alarm feature this week.) Sonos did remove but planned to add back some lesser-used features. Spence said the company should have told people upfront about the planned timeline to return any missing functions. In a blog post Sonos thanked customers for "valuable feedback," saying they're "working to address them as quickly as possible" and promising to reintroduce features, fix bugs, and address performance issues. ("Adding and editing alarms" is available now, as well as VoiceOver fixes for the home screen on iOS.) The Washington Post adds that Sonos "said it initially missed some software flaws and will restore more voice-reader functions next week."

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