Sonos Promises to Recommit to Software Quality and Customer Experience After App Disaster - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Sonos Promises to Recommit to Software Quality and Customer Experience After App Disaster

by

Sonos today announced a series of new commitments that are meant to demonstrate the company's "renewed focus" on software quality and customer experience. The announcement and an accompanying video from Sonos CEO Patrick Spence come as Sonos tries to ameliorate the negative experience customers have had with the May Sonos app update.


Going forward, Sonos says that it isn't just going to fix its app mistake, but also build a better Sonos experience. To that end, Sonos made seven pledges:

  • Unwavering focus on customer experience with ambitious quality benchmarks, and a promise to not launch products that don't meet the standards customers expect.
  • More stringent pre-launch testing with a broader range of customers to resolve issues before new software comes out.
  • No more all-at-once app releases. Any new major changes to the Sonos app will be released gradually, and customers will be able to opt-in to test new features before they become default.
  • There will be a new Quality Ombudsperson role that will give employees a clear path to raise concerns regarding quality and customer experience.
  • Home speaker products currently under warranty will have their warranty extended for an additional year.
  • App updates will come every two to four weeks to "optimize and enhance" the app experience. This includes after the current issues are fixed.
  • Sonos is establishing a Customer Advisory Board to provide feedback and insights from a customer perspective to shape and improve products before they launch.

Sonos says that its Executive Leadership Team will not accept any bonus payout for the October 2024 to September 2025 fiscal year unless Sonos is able to improve the quality of the app and rebuild customer trust.

According to Sonos, more than 80 percent of the missing features from the app have now been reintroduced, and the company expects to be at close to 100 percent in the coming weeks.

Recent reports have suggested that Sonos employees raised an alarm prior to when the redesigned Sonos app launched in May. The app was an immediate disappointment to customers because it was riddled with bugs and missing many key Sonos features, and there was significant outcry over the downgrade. Sonos was not able to roll back the changes, and has spent 2024 trying to fix the app.

Sonos has delayed new product launches to focus on software, and as a result, will miss its annual revenue target by $200 million.

Tag: Sonos

Top Rated Comments

C
c84216
20 months ago


* Unwavering focus on customer experience with ambitious quality benchmarks, and a promise to not launch products that don't meet the standards customers expect.

I think being overly ambitious was what got us into this quagmire in the first place. I would much rather hear discussion of pragmatic quality benchmarks.

Alas, this is all just PR mumbo jumbo and nothing of actual substance.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
M
MNJohn
20 months ago
Too little, too late.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A
Anonymous123
20 months ago
Too late. There’s no telling the company won’t just go back to its antics once it hits its financial targets again. Without a change in executive leadership this is just temporary lip service.

All you have to do is browse the Sonos subreddit and you’ll see what’s really going on here. No one trusts the CEO anymore and the company's reputation has gone straight into the garbage.

When a company makes decisions like this only after it’s in shambles, it’s already shown its true colors.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
timborama Avatar
timborama
20 months ago
Hmmm, maybe iOS 18 photos app can take a lesson from Sonos.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G
goonie4life9
20 months ago
Good on Sonos for realizing that their employees want to do good work and that customers will support good work!
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A
arc of the universe
20 months ago
you can tell by the way he delivers that prepared speech that that guy himself is the biggest part of the problem.

i have never seen a worse example of a corporate apology / we messed up.

1 he comes across as arrogant
2 he doesn't come across as actually sorry
3 the changes that he talks about are patently surface level and perfunctory (he talks about an ombudsman who will give two reports a year, etctera)
4 he doesn't actually take the blame himself, rather blames it on the organisation

in short, nothing has or will change at sonos. and it will happen again, but they will try to have better PR next time.

universities will be using this video in classes for years to come as how to not make a corporate apology.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments