May and June have been rough months for Sonos owners as the company’s completely overhauled mobile app has been a big source of frustration. I’ve had several of my Sonos speakers become unresponsive, among other details. Feeling the heat from my family, I took the plunge and tried the iOS app SonoPhone to see if it could manage my system better. Turns out, it can.

SonoPhone to the Rescue

SonoPhone ($2.99) isn’t a new app trying to capitalize on the recent software issues that Sonos customers have been experiencing. The app was released around eight years ago. (Its description makes that clear with mention of an iPod Touch and iPhone 4S.)

Instead, by focusing on the fundamentals of getting music to stream to the wireless speakers, the developer has tapped into what so many customers have been looking for, a solution that just works.

I’ve experienced several of the frustrations plaguing Sonos users on my home system, including not being able to manage song queues. My particular issue has been the Sonos speakers in my kids’ rooms weren’t playing music. I would select an album or songs like normal in the official Sonos app and it would show that music was playing but nothing would come out of the speaker. I used a few workarounds to bridge the gap, like grouping various speakers, but even that wasn’t foolproof.

I knew the Sonos app was really in trouble when my wife mentioned it to me, without prompting. She politely said that she didn’t like the updated app and I just nodded and told her she wasn’t alone.

Using SonoPhone, I was able to select the speaker in my kid’s room and start music immediately. I’m not quite sure why using the third-party app works and the official Sonos one hasn’t, but it does.

There’s nothing fancy about the app. It looks downright ancient by modern design conventions, but it works. Without signing in, only allowing it to search for devices on my network, I instantly gained access to all my speakers and music services. The app is quick and hasn’t lagged for me. Mostly, I’ve appreciated the simple queue management that allows me to actually delete songs from the list.

The Future of the Sonos App

Despite my newfound love for SonoPhone, I don’t see it being my primary Sonos app forever. But it is a great stop-gap measure right now. (I wouldn’t be surprised if other burned Sonos customers do end up sticking with the SonoPhone app, or another third-party one, for as long as they can.) If you like SonoPhone you might also like Lyd, which adds Sonos controls to the Apple Watch.

I’m still optimistic that Sonos will find its way with its own app. It has been releasing new updates weekly to address issues and it is slowly improving the experience. Until then, it’s good to know that there are at least some other solutions to help Sonos owners make it through this transition period.