Sonos Restores iPhone Lock Screen Controls in New Update
Photo Credit: Sonos
Sonos has released an app update that returns speaker controls to the iPhone lock screen, built on Apple's Live Activities notification system. According to Sonos, the addition is a "much requested, anticipated and needed feature," restoring functionality that users once relied on before it disappeared several years ago.
Once the feature is enabled, the lock screen displays what is currently playing across a Sonos system, allowing users to keep track of active playback without opening the app. Volume adjustments and track skipping are supported. However, those controls only become available after the phone has been unlocked through Face ID or a passcode. When playback stops, the live activity clears itself after 15 minutes.
The integration carries a few limitations. It does not display album art on the lock screen, and Sonos says it is exploring "alternative ways to enhance" the experience on that front. The feature extends to CarPlay and the Apple Watch. However, according to the company, the controls are not yet supported in those environments, meaning users can see what is playing without being able to make adjustments.
Lock screen support is not new territory for Sonos. The company first introduced the capability in 2016, and it remained in place until 2023, when the feature was removed. Per that same reporting, the method Sonos had used to integrate with the lock screen no longer aligned with Apple's updated design framework, and as a result the company dropped it rather than rework the connection at the time.
The timing of that removal proved awkward. Shortly afterward, Sonos rolled out a redesigned app that launched in 2024 missing a range of core features. Consequently, restoring lock screen support fell down the priority list while the company worked through more pressing problems, including repairing volume controls and addressing connection failures that frustrated users after the redesign went live.
Sonos committed to fixing the app and has issued a series of software updates in the months since. Those releases addressed nearly every major complaint tied to the redesign, adding an improved queue management system, a reliable local library and other functions that had gone missing. An update the company pushed in early 2025, version 80.16.32 for both iOS and Android, introduced the ability to create zones for select players, snooze an alarm from within the app, and revised System Settings management. With those repairs largely behind it, the company has now circled back to lock screen support.
The return of lock screen controls signals that Sonos has moved past the recovery phase of its app overhaul and back toward adding features rather than restoring basic reliability. Live Activities gives the company a supported path to sit on the lock screen without repeating the design conflict that ended the original implementation. As a result, this version should prove more durable than the one it replaces.
For Sonos owners on iPhone, the update is available now and requires only that the feature be enabled to begin surfacing playback details and controls from the lock screen. The absence of album art and the incomplete CarPlay and Apple Watch support leave room for further refinement.
