In May, Sonos released a new version of its mobile app, but it was met with persistent bugs and the removal of some features, which made it extremely unpopular among Sonos customers. Today, Bloomberg takes a closer look at what happened at Sonos before the app was released, and why it was released at all.
When Sonos launched its Sonos Ace headphones, it had to release a new app due to “technical debt.” The company essentially spent time developing new features instead of updating old code written in outdated languages, which led to infrastructure issues. Sonos procrastinated on addressing the underlying technical debt, but introducing the headphones required a complete overhaul of the Sonos app and the cloud setup behind it.
During the app’s development, Sonos laid off some employees to cut costs and also underwent internal restructuring, which “created chaos” by leaving people who had worked there for years. As the app’s release date approached, employees protested “violently,” even yelling and screaming, as it was clear the app was not ready for release.
Former Sonos employees told Bloomberg that the company prioritized making promises to investors and winning new customers over ensuring that longtime customers’ equipment would continue to work. One employee said he was afraid to delay the app release any further because he feared he would lose his job.
Sonos’ lead lawyer, Eddie Lazarus, told Bloomberg that an internal investigation into the app’s development had delayed it from early 2024 to May 2024, but that there was no “yelling” or “shouting” at the meetings. Sonos apparently had a list of “must-have” bugs that needed to be fixed before launch, but decided to wait until the app’s release to fix less critical bugs. “Our list of must-have bugs was clearly not comprehensive enough,” Lazarus told Bloomberg.
Sonos expects the app fiasco will cause it to miss its annual revenue target by $200 million, and the company laid off some employees in August and told others it was halting annual bonuses and performance-based raises.
Sonos CEO Patrick Spence apologized to Sonos customers in July and promised regular updates to fix bugs and add missing features. The company also considered bringing back the older app since it worked with the new version, but that proved impossible due to updates made to its cloud servers.
Sonos also decided to postpone two product launches scheduled for 2024 and instead focus on improving the Sonos app, and said it had “brought in some of its best and most experienced engineers” to work on the app until the issues were fixed.
