If you’re a Sonos user with relatively new speakers, you can now switch over to the Sonos S2 app.
The new app comes with a handful of new features, but the two main upgrades are a new visual design on mobile and support for higher quality music.
You can even link speakers together into pre-set groups to set up a multi-room experience much quicker, which is handy if you have lots of speakers. For example, in my office there are four speakers (two stereo pair sets). Late at night, I only use the speakers on my desk, however, during the day, I opt for all four. Now, with these new groups, I can make a four-speaker group that I can push music or podcasts to more quickly.
The app is free to download on Mac, PC, iOS and Android. However, desktop users seem to be having a hard time downloading the S2 version and instead are still getting the older S1 app. I was able to download the app on my Windows PC from this Reddit thread, but I’d suggest waiting until Sonos fixes the error on its website before you download the app.
The new app on PC seems to look the same as the older S1 app that already has a dated design, so I hope Sonos plans to update it with the same visual interface design as mobile app. I’m not sure what the app looks like on Mac but it’s likely very similar to the PC app.
On mobile, where I assume most people will be using the app, this refresh is nice. With my Pixel 3 XL, the app seems much smoother and responsive. Everything from searching for music in the app’s search function to browsing YouTube Music appears to be quicker and more fluid than the old app. On Android, the widget is still available as well.
Overall, things work as they did before, but they look a bit different and react more smoothly. Most of the other changes are behind the scenes and allow for better audio quality if your music source supports it. For example, the new Sonos Arc soundbar needs to be on the new app since Dolby Atmos requires the new HQ-sound codecs to work.
You can download the new app for free on iOS and Android. As I said before, the link on the Sonos website for the PC and Mac version seems to have the wrong download links as of right now.
The new S2 platform is compatible with the following products. If you have older Sonos devices, you’ll need to stick with the older app.
The following speakers are compatible with the new Sonos app:
- One SL
- One (Gen 2)
One (Gen 1)
Play:1
Move
Five*
Play:5 (Gen 2)
Play:3
Arc*
Beam
Playbase
Playbar
Sub (Gen 3)*
Sub (Gen 2)
Sub (Gen 1)
Port
Amp
Connect (Gen 2)
Connect:Amp (Gen 2)
Boost
Source: Sonos
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