Sonos has finally added Live Activities support to its iPhone app.
The new feature, rolling out to iPhone users now, gives users quicker access to playback controls without having to reopen the app. The feature appears on the Lock Screen after you start playing audio on a Sonos device and leave the app.
Once active, the Live Activity shows the room or group that was last playing audio, along with controls for playing, pausing and skipping tracks. This means you can make basic playback changes directly from the Lock Screen.
The feature also works when playback is started outside the Sonos app. Sonos says the controls will still appear when audio is initiated through Direct Control from supported services. They also work with Bluetooth or AirPlay. This gives the Live Activity a little more flexibility than simply acting as an extension of the app.
There are some limitations at launch, though. Album artwork isn’t currently displayed in the Live Activity. Sonos says it is looking into other ways to improve the Lock Screen experience, so there is every chance that this could change in a future update.
Sonos also confirmed that Live Activities work with Apple Watch and CarPlay. However, the playback controls aren’t currently supported on either platform. That makes the iPhone Lock Screen the main place where the new feature is useful for now.
Live Activities have become a handy way of keeping information from apps accessible without constantly opening them. Therefore, the addition is a welcome one for Sonos users. It’s also a surprisingly basic feature to be arriving only now, given how useful quick playback controls can be when listening around the house.
Sonos itself described the addition as a “much-requested, anticipated, and needed feature,” so it seems the company is well aware that this has been a long time coming.
