Sonos adds lock screen control, 3D Touch shortcuts on home screen, split view, more, in iOS update
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac :
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple announced iOS 10 just over a week ago with a redesigned lock screen, homescreen widgets, and expanded 3D Touch across the system (iOS 10's lock screen and 3D Touch expansion) — and Sonos is already shipping an update that adopts all three surfaces in its controller app. The groundwork was laid earlier: iOS 9 introduced Force Touch to the iPhone 6S (Force Touch arriving in iOS 9), and Tumblr showed in December that even non-Apple apps could ship 3D Touch quickly.
The significance is positional: Sonos sells whole-home audio controlled almost entirely through its app, so every iOS control surface Apple opens — lock screen, home screen shortcuts, split view — becomes free distribution for the company.
First-order effects
- Sonos users gain playback controls directly on the redesigned iOS 10 lock screen and 3D Touch quick actions on the home screen icon, cutting the steps to pause, skip, or jump into a room.
- iPad owners can run the Sonos controller in split view alongside other apps, turning a dedicated full-screen app into a persistent side panel.
Second-order effects
- Rival multi-room audio and smart-home app makers are pushed to match lock-screen-level control as Apple's new APIs become table stakes rather than differentiators.
- Deeper iOS integration compounds: two years later Sonos extended the same Apple relationship into AirPlay 2 multi-room playback with HomePod and Siri control (Sonos's later AirPlay 2 rollout), suggesting these early surface adoptions were the entry point.
Third-order effects
- The lock screen consolidates as the default control surface for ambient devices — a trajectory Apple itself doubled down on when iOS 16 made lock screens customizable and widget-driven (iOS 16's customizable lock screens), meaning hardware makers compete for placement on Apple's surfaces, not just shelf space.
The trend: Smart-home hardware makers are increasingly competing for placement on Apple's OS-level control surfaces — lock screen, home screen, Siri — rather than only inside their own apps.