I love my Sonos system. I love it enough that I have a Sonos component in just about every room of the house. I love it enough that I purchased a PLAYBAR as soon as the product was announced (our review is forthcoming), and I added a Sonos SUB a few days after that. The one Sonos component I never purchased was the Sonos Controller. The reason was simple — by the time I entered into the Sonos ecosystem, their iOS and Android Controller apps were functional enough that I didn’t need a dedicated controller. At this point my Sonos system can be controlled from any smartphone, tablet or computer in the house. I was clearly not alone in the use of the Sonos Controller App; last year Sonos discontinued the product.
Sonos has slowly and methodically added hardware to their portfolio over the last few years. First they added the PLAY:3. Then they added the SUB. Most recently it was the PLAYBAR joining the ranks.
Similarly, the company has also been slow and methodical when updating their Controller apps. Today’s update to version 4.1 adds small but welcome changes to an already-rich remote control. I’ve been using a Beta version of it for some time, and I am pleased to see it released in its final form.
Sonos Controller 4.1 is designed to “give owners faster access to the music they can’t live without”. With it you can now select tracks from any music source and compile them all into a single, cohesive playlist. In other words, each music source no longer lives in its own walled garden of melody.
Version 4.1 of the Controller app also lets users directly create and edit Spotify playlists. Previously playlists had to be created in Spotify and then opened in the Sonos Controller. It wasn’t a huge deal, but it was enough of a pain that I, as someone who uses Spotify constantly I have been really happy to have this functionality. In addition, any Spotify playlist or folder is now visible directly in the Sonos Controller. Finally, with the updated Controller app, users can add a Spotify account to Sonos via Facebook log-in credentials.
In all this update isn’t a huge leap forward, but it is one more step in the maturation of the already-awesome Sonos ecosystem. Learn more here.