Anyone with even the slightest interest in audio equipment will have heard a lot about the problems Sonos has continued to experience since the redesign of its app this past May Users have been complaining for some time about the usually very expensive audio setup no longer functioning as advertised, with established audio systems disconnected, speakers missing, streaming corrupted, alarm clock mode missing, etc

Now, it turns out that users were not the only ones frustrated; a revealing report from Bloomberg reveals that Sonos staff were not happy with the app's rollout either

Sonos itself commissioned its own report on the problems it faced, led by its lead attorney, Eddie Lazarus The purpose of the report is to “dig deep” and “reflect” on the events leading up to the launch of the new app in May Unfortunately, no one but key people at Sonos will be able to read the report's findings However, Bloomberg reports that the investigation unearthed 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 hanging from previous versions of software, hanging like the proverbial sword of Damocles, is about to break what you are now trying to do Sonos It is inevitable that a company like Sonos, or any software that has been around for a long time, is going to have a dangerous amount of technical debt, and that's what we're trying to avoid

Sonos staff warned that problems were brewing in upper management, and in addition to the technical debt, the app was not ready for launch However, with a major product launch on the horizon, they could not stop the rollout of the new app, and as a result, Sonos' problems became public and affected the user experience

Reports detailed shouting matches in meetings as staff tried to communicate to management that something was going wrong, and frustration mounted It is not hard to imagine that the same supervisor now regrets, “If only I had listened to him then,” as he watches the stock price fall and sales of products such as the Sonos Ace noise-canceling headphones slump