Sonos App Update Brings Back Tabs and Smarter Controls

Sonos is bringing familiar tabs back to its mobile app, while giving owners better ways to organise speakers and adjust volume. The changes began reaching users on 14 July through version 87.00.36 for iOS and 87.00.35 for Android. Sonos is phasing in the update and says it could take up to two weeks to reach every device, so its absence for now does not necessarily mean anything is wrong.

The most obvious change is a new navigation bar across the bottom of the app. It provides direct access to Home, System and Search, replacing some of the swiping and menu-hunting introduced with the company’s controversial 2024 redesign.

Home returns users to recently played content, Sonos Favourites and connected music services. System shows every available speaker or group, along with anything currently playing, while Search brings music discovery and previous searches into a dedicated section.

The revised navigation is initially optional, meaning owners who have received the update can open Settings and switch on “Enable Improved Navigation”, while those who prefer the existing arrangement can leave it alone or turn the new layout off again.

Enabling the tabs also unlocks more useful sorting controls for larger Sonos systems. Speakers and groups can be ordered alphabetically, by how frequently they are used or according to what is currently playing. Individual products can also be pinned to the top of the System page.

The app will generally reconnect to the last room or group used. If that product is unavailable, or has been inactive for some time, Sonos says the app will select another room based on the chosen sorting preference. It is a relatively small change, but one likely to matter in homes with Sonos products spread across several rooms.

iOS users also receive a redesigned dynamic volume slider. This can show the current volume level or an EQ shortcut when enabled, with Sonos aiming to make adjustments feel quicker and more responsive. The Now Playing screen also picks up colours from the current album artwork, adding a little visual polish without changing how the

system works.

On another app, these changes might pass as ordinary maintenance. Sonos does not have that luxury. The May 2024 rebuild arrived with familiar functions missing, while some owners found their systems slower, less reliable and harder to control. Months of repairs followed, along with promises of better testing, more frequent updates and earlier customer input. Version 87 will not make people forget that experience. Still, letting owners opt in and concentrating on the controls they use every day suggests Sonos is proceeding with more care this time.

That software work also fits a wider change in direction. As StereoNET reported in March, the launch of Sonos Play and Era 100 SL signalled a return to the system-first thinking that built the brand, following app-related fallout, layoffs and leadership changes. Version 87 brings that same refocus back to the app supporting those products.

None of this is revolutionary, of course, which may be precisely the point. Sonos does not need more software drama. It needs an app that lets owners choose a room, find music and change the volume without having to think about it. Version 87 looks like another sensible step in that direction.

For more information visit Sonos