Sonos has announced a new controller app for tablets and phones, launching today in beta mode on Android and coming to iOS devices later this spring.
Sonos also told What Hi-Fi? that there will be "more service developments in coming weeks and months", but that there would be no new Sonos products in 2014, and that neither high-res audio or Bluetooth support were on the roadmap.
The new Sonos app promises an enhanced user interface and a refreshed design, which together will make it "easier to find and listen to the music the way you want".
Central to the new Sonos app experience is 'universal search', which aims to bring together all your chosen music services for a 'cross-service search'.
The new controller app will automatically search all your music services - Last.fm, Spotify and Qobuz, for example - whenever you search for an album, artist or track.
The simplified design of the Sonos app focuses on three main modules: the music currently playing, the room it's playing in, and how to find your next track.
The streaming music landscape has changed dramatically since the first Sonos wireless music system launched back in 2004, and there are around 50 music services now offered through Sonos compared to around five when it first launched.
Sonos claims it has learnt from the last 10 years and is now building for the next 10, with this new Sonos controller app sitting on a new platform that will allow for easier updates and iterations.
The new Sonos controller app for smartphones and tablets is available in beta on Android now and will launch fully in spring. The desktop controllers for Mac and PC are set to be updated later in the year.
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by Joe Cox
