Sonos S2: Major update arrives for smart speakers, with new app to download

Sonos has released a major new update for both its app and its smart speakers' operating system.

The new software, known as S2, brings a range of new features including more high-quality audio. Sonos has suggested that it will also allow for further updates in the future.

But it has also proved controversial because it is not being released for some of the company's older speakers. That means not only that many products are incompatible with it, but that any system using those older speakers will be incompatible too.

The new version of the app is available to download through the app stores on iOS or Android, or from the Sonos website on Mac or PC. It will also arrive as a more traditional update.

The speakers themselves will also need to be updated, which can be done through the old or new version of the controller app.

The old version of the app will be automatically renamed to "Sonos S1", to indicate that it is now out of date. The new one is simply called "Sonos".

As well as adding new features, the app comes with an update to the way it looks and functions.

If left unprompted, Sonos speakers usually update themselves overnight. But the S2 update will only arrive if the app is updated, too.

But the controller app is actually a separate version – which will be kept around for those with incompatible speakers – and so the new version will have to be manually updated rather than automatically updating.

Sonos' S2 update is being rolled out now for the release of the Sonos Arc, its new soundbar and the first of its products to use Dolby Atmos, which relies on the new features in the S2 operating system.

Just as older speakers are unable to function with the new version of the app, the new ones – which includes the Arc as well as new versions of its Sub and larger Five speaker – will not be able to work on the old, "S1" version of the app.