Sonos Employees Say They Warned Bosses About Coming Troubles — Then This Infamous App Came Along

If you’re even a little interested in audio gear, you’ve probably heard a lot about Sonos’ ongoing issues since the company introduced its redesigned app in May of this year. Disconnections from existing audio systems, missing speakers, broken streaming, no alarm mode – users have been unhappy for some time because their usually very expensive audio systems no longer work as advertised.

It turns out that users aren’t alone in their frustrations. In a revealing report from Bloomberg, it turns out that Sonos employees weren’t happy with the app’s rollout either — and it looks like they tried to warn higher levels of the company that something was about to go wrong.

It’s all about “technological debt”

Sonos has commissioned its own report on the issues it’s been grappling with, led by the company’s general counsel, Eddie Lazarus. The report aims to “take a deep dive” and “reflect” on the events leading up to the launch of the new app in May. Unfortunately, no one outside of Sonos’ top brass is allowed to read the report’s findings—though Bloomberg’s investigations have uncovered some very revealing details about the situation.

At the heart of it all is what software engineers call “technical debt” — the idea that old code from previous versions of software is hanging like the proverbial sword of Damocles, ready to undo what you’re trying to do now. With a company like Sonos and software that’s been around for long over time, dangerous amounts of technical debt inevitably accumulate, and that’s exactly what happened.

Sonos employees warned senior management that problems were brewing and that, on top of technical debt, the app simply wasn’t ready to launch. But with major product launches looming, there was no way to stop the new app rollout—and Sonos’ problems became public, and the user experience suffered.

The report describes shouting matches in meetings as employees tried to tell management that something was going to go wrong, and frustration grew. One can only imagine that those same bosses are now regretting not listening as they watch the stock price plunge and sales of Sonos Ace noise-cancelling headphones plummet.