Sonos S2 Update & App

Sonos’ new S2 platform and app are now available to download via the App Store and Google Play. The new S2 app is the only way to control the company’s latest slate of speakers, including the Sonos Arc, Sonos Five and the updated Sonos Sub. Besides a new tan icon and a cleaned-up user interface, the new software adds support for Dolby Atmos on the Sonos Arc. Sonos says it has also made the app more secure. In the future, Sonos plans to add support for other high-resolution audio technologies.

The S2 app supports all of the company’s modern devices, including speakers like the Sonos One. That said, you can continue to use the old Sonos app — now known as Sonos S1 Controller — to control and manage your existing Sonos system if you want. However, Sonos notes on the App Store and Google Play listings for S1, it doesn’t plan to update the platform with new features. Moreover, should you decide to expand your Sonos system with any of the speakers the company is releasing this week or ones it announces in the future, you’ll need to update to S2 to accommodate those devices. The good news is that Sonos says it still plans to support S1 with bug and security fixes.

If you want to bring your system over to S2, all you need to do is download the new app, delete the old one and the software will take care of the rest. Those who own “legacy” Sonos devices, such as first-generation Play:5, first-generation Connect or Zone Players, will have to keep the S1 app on their phone if they want to continue using them. As you might imagine, where there’s the potential for things to get complicated is in households that feature a mix of current and legacy Sonos hardware. It’s possible to concurrently run S1 and S2 systems, but you won’t be able to group speakers from the platforms together. For most people that shouldn’t be an issue, however, and S2 promises a better Sonos experience down the line.