What is multimodal AI? Simply put, it’s a toolset that allows an AI assistant to process multiple types of information, including photos, videos, text and audio. It’s an AI that can view and understand the world around you in real time. This is the underlying concept behind Humane’s maligned AI Pin. Meta’s version is more conservative with its promises and, honestly, we came away impressed during our initial hands-on.
Multimodal Meta AI is rolling out widely on Ray-Ban Meta starting today! It's a huge advancement for wearables & makes using AI more interactive & intuitive.
Excited to share more on our multimodal work w/ Meta AI (& Llama 3), stay tuned for more updates coming soon. pic.twitter.com/DLiCVriMfk
Here’s how it works. The glasses have a camera and five microphones, acting as the AI’s eyes and ears. With this in mind, you can ask the glasses to describe anything you are looking at. Do you want to know a dog’s breed before you go up and give it a good pet? Just ask the glasses. Meta says it can also read signs in different languages, which is great for traveling. We enjoyed exclaiming “Hey Meta, look at this and tell me what it says” and listening as it did just that. There’s even a landmark identification feature, though that wasn’t available to test.
There are some other potential use case scenarios, like staring at loose ingredients on a kitchen counter and asking the AI to whip up a relevant recipe. However, we need a few weeks of real people running the tech through its paces to gauge what it's actually good at. Real-time translation is going to be something of a killer app, particularly for tourists, but here's hoping it keeps the hallucinations to a minimum. Mark Zuckerberg has shown the AI picking out clothes for him to wear but, come on, that’s about as pie in the sky as it gets.
Multimodal AI wasn’t the only update for the smart glasses announced today. Meta revealed hands-free video call integration with WhatsApp and Messenger. There are also some new frame designs for the fashion-conscious. These new styles can be fitted with prescription lenses and are available for preorder right now. The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses start at $300, which isn’t chump change but is certainly better than $700 for a clunky pin.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ray-ban-meta-smart-glasses-do-the-ai-thing-without-a-projector-or-subscription-175403559.html?src=rss
Both Amazon and Best Buy are selling unlocked models of Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra with 256GB of storage for $200 off the list price. That brings the smartphone down to $1,100 and marks the lowest price we've seen yet (outside of trade-in and carrier offers). Last month, all three handsets in the S24 lineup were on sale, with the base model going for $100 off and the S24+ and S24 Ultra both getting $150 discounts. This time, the top-end Ultra has an even bigger price cut and the S24+ is the same $150 off. The base model Galaxy S24 is only nine percent off, however, which is about $25 more that it was during that last sale.
We named the S24 Ultra the best premium Android smartphone in our guide and gave it a review score of 89 when it came out at the beginning of this year. This generation got a new titanium frame, one upgraded camera and, like everything else in 2024, a whole bunch of AI accoutrements. It has a snappy Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip and a battery that lasted through 24 hours-plus of continuous video playback in our rundown tests and went for a good two days of regular use.
The four rear cameras stayed much the same as on the S23 Ultra, with the exception of the old 10x lens getting replaced with a 5x optical zoom and a higher-res 50-MP sensor, a move we found created a lens that was more practical in a wider variety of situations. The AI tools can proofread your texts, edit images and transcribe recordings. The display is one of the sharpest and brightest we've tested. Plus the built-in stylus is handy.
But even with a $200 discount, the S24 Ultra remains a very expensive phone. Our overall pick for an Android smartphone, Google's Pixel 8 Pro, starts at $999, and is currently 20 percent off at Amazon and directly from Google, making it just $799. Engadget's Sam Rutherford gave the Pixel 8 Pro a score of 93 upon its debut last October, praising its bright screen, speedy performance and "genuinely useful AI features."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-galaxy-s24-ultra-is-on-sale-for-its-lowest-price-yet-at-amazon-and-best-buy-173023101.html?src=rss
After asserting itself as an overshadowing presence in retail, Amazon is still experimenting with ways to leave a similar mark in groceries. The company’s latest tweak to its service lowers the minimum price for free grocery deliveries to $35. However, most customers using the service will also need to pay a $10 monthly subscription in addition to having a Prime membership ($15 monthly or $139 annually).
To participate, you must live in one of the 3,500 supported cities and towns in the US. (When signing up, it will let you know if your primary shipping address isn’t supported.) The service offers unlimited grocery deliveries from Amazon Fresh, the Amazon-owned Whole Foods and various local and specialty partners. Those include Cardenas Markets, Save Mart, Bartell Drugs, Rite Aid, Pet Food Express, Mission Wine & Spirits and more.
The subscription includes one-hour delivery windows where available, unlimited 30-minute pickup orders and priority access to the company’s Recurring Reservations. This feature lets you pick a guaranteed weekly grocery delivery window. To use it, you’ll need to pick your weekly two-hour slot at least 24 hours in advance.
Amazon
People using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other government assistance programs can get the same grocery delivery benefits for half the price ($5 monthly). If you fall in that camp, you can get those perks without needing a Prime subscription on top of the subscription fee.
It remains to be seen if this latest iteration of the program will stick since Amazon’s strategy has been all over the place. Early last year, the company increased the minimum checkout price for free grocery deliveries from $35 to $150, then dropped it to $100 (while voiding the Prime requirement) about 10 months later. If you like this version of the program, cross your fingers that Amazon doesn’t change it again in a few months.
Before rolling out the program’s latest version on Tuesday, Amazon tested it in Columbus, OH, Denver, CO, and Sacramento, CA, in late 2023. The company says over 85 percent of survey respondents who used the service were “extremely” or “very” satisfied, leaving high marks for its convenience and savings on delivery fees.
You can see if the program is available in your area on Amazon’s groceries sign-up page. If it is, you can try it free for 30 days before paying.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-updated-grocery-delivery-program-has-some-strings-attached-171513989.html?src=rss
If you're in the market for a new mechanical keyboard with some retro flair, here's a deal worth noting: the 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard is down to $70 at Amazon subsidiary Woot. That's the lowest price we've tracked. This offer has been live for a few days, but it comes in $30 below 8BitDo's list price and $10 below the wireless keyboard's previous low. Unfortunately, the deal only applies to the device's Fami Edition, which has a color scheme and Japanese characters inspired by the Famicom console Nintendo released in Japan during the '80s. 8BitDo sells another variant that's modeled after the US NES, but that one costs $20 more as of this writing. (A third model based on the Commodore 64 is also on the way.)
Though it isn't a formal pick in our guide to the best mechanical keyboards, the Retro Mechanical Keyboard earned a spot in our retro gaming gift guide last year. The vintage aesthetic is the main reason to consider it: If you dig old tech, there aren't many options going for this kind of look. Still, this is a solid keyboard in its own right. Its tenkeyless form factor should be comfortable for most people, and it can connect over Bluetooth, a wireless dongle or a detachable USB-C cable. While it's made from plastic, the chassis doesn't come off as cheap. Its PBT keycaps are crisply textured, and its keys largely feel stable, with no major rattling on larger inputs like the space bar. It also comes with a goofy yet fun pair of NES-style "Super Buttons," which you can program to perform different commands.
Be warned, though: It's on the louder side. The Retro Mechanical Keyboard ships with clicky Kailh Box White V2 switches, which are generally satisfying to press but have a high-pitch tone that your spouse or coworkers may find aggravating. This fits with the retro aesthetic, but the keyboard might be best kept tucked away in a home office. There's also no backlight or adjustable feet. The switches are hot-swappable, however, so it's easy to change them out for a different feel down the road.
In the end, how much you enjoy the old-school styling will determine whether the Retro Mechanical Keyboard is worth getting. If you want something a little more subdued that costs less than $100, we recommend Keychron's V Max series in our buying guide. But 8BitDo's board is still a decent value, and this discount only furthers that. Woot says the offer will run for six more days or until the device sells out.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/8bitdos-nintendo-style-retro-mechanical-keyboard-hits-a-new-low-of-70-at-woot-170000966.html?src=rss
You may be able to give those plastic Rock Band guitars you have stuffed away in the attic a new lease of life. Fortnite Festival (a Rock Band-style mode that debuted in Fortnite in December) now supports several Rock Band 4 controllers across PlayStation, Xbox and PC, as detailed in a blog post.
If you have a compatible plastic guitar, you can use it to play new Pro Lead and Pro Bass parts in any Jam Track. These parts have colored notes for each lane that match with the guitar controller buttons. They also include hammer-on and pull-off notes — just like Rock Band and Guitar Hero.
Epic Games (which bought Rock Band developer Harmonix in 2021 to build music experiences for Fortnite) plans to add support for more peripherals down the line. Hopefully, the developers will make the whammy bar more useful beyond triggering a visual effect too.
Epic previously said it would add support for Rock Band guitars. Earlier this year, third-party peripheral maker PDP (which Turtle Beach recently purchased) unveiled a new Xbox and PlayStation wireless guitar controller for Rock Band 4 and Fortnite Festival.
Support for the Rock Band peripherals come just as Billie Eilish joins the game as its new music icon. Several of her songs are available to buy and use in Fortnite Festival, and you'll be able to purchase an Eilish outfit (or unlock one through a secondary battle pass) and play as her in the Battle Royale mode.
Meanwhile, Epic has added a setting that allows players to hide certain emotes that others often use for trolling in Battle Royale. For instance, after being eliminated, a player might not want to see a rival using the "Take the L" emote, which involves making the shape of an "L" (for "loser") on their forehead and doing a silly dance. The setting won't stop players from using any emotes and it only hides four of them for now. Somehow, one of the emotes that the setting doesn't hide is a personal favorite called "Rage Quit."
Starting today, these Fortnite emotes will be hidden with a "confrontational emotes" setting.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/your-old-rock-band-guitars-now-work-in-fortnite-festival-164054839.html?src=rss
X just announced a smart TV app for streaming video. Or, more accurately, that it claims it's building one, with absolutely no launch date mentioned. The appropriately-named X TV wants to be “your go-to companion for a high-quality, immersive entertainment experience on a larger screen.” By high-quality entertainment, X likely means that one Tucker Carlson video where he’s really impressed by grocery carts in Russia. That’s not a joke. Carlson is featured prominently in the little teaser video.
X CEO and marketing robot Linda Yaccarino promises “real-time” content and wide availability, but other than that details are scanter than scant. There’s some corporate speak nonsense about AI, of course, and boasts about “effortless casting” from a mobile device to a TV. Wait, I thought this was a TV app? So it’s also a mobile app that casts to a TV? Is there another word for less than half-baked? Does raw work?
In other words, we don’t know much. This is X. All we get are word salads that don’t really mean anything and then, one day, the app may or may not actually appear. If it does, it’s likely to be hopelessly broken. That sounds harsh, but there’s plenty of proof-laden pudding to go around. We got receipts.
Back when Twitter first rebranded to X, the company promised the whole thing would soon be “powered by AI.” X eventually did create a chatbot, Grok, but it’s not exactly the sharpest algo in the shed. It also doesn’t look to be “powering” the site anytime soon. Elon Musk promised that X would soon become a payments and banking platform, which thankfully hasn’t materialized. Remember when Musk said that all major X decisions would be conducted via user poll? When was the last time you’ve seen one of those? There’s also the whole ongoing blue check fiasco.
The long-promised Elon Musk says its his turn to have the remote, but it’s just kind of crappy. X did pursue original video content for a while, but things seem to have cooled off ever since the Don Lemon/Elon Musk debacle. Two years after Musk purchased the site, it’s still far from being the “everything app.”
There’s also the question of what kind of content will be streaming on this platform. Again, this is X. I’m just not sure how many people want to sit on their living room couch and watch a guy scream into the void about how the video game site Kotaku is ruining American society. The ad spotlights Carlson, as mentioned above, which indicates an endless stream of videos of people complaining about the word woke without actually defining it. Call me crazy, but I’d rather watch actual TV.
Heck. Even if I wanted to watch a vlog of impotent rage, YouTube is right there. It’s on smart TVs now and it works just fine. It has everything Yaccarino promises that one day will come to X TV. Plus, YouTube can teach you stuff, beyond how to block folks with a blue check next to their name.
X TV may or may not release in the near or far future on some or all smart TVs. It may be an actual app on the TV or an app on a phone that casts to a TV. It may be powered by AI, or not. It may have “tailored search” or it may just show you endless loops of Jordan Peterson bursting into tears. Who the heck knows. Be on the lookout for this latest pivot to video… or not.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/elon-musk-says-its-his-turn-to-have-the-remote-161914334.html?src=rss
Razer has rolled out the Viper V3 Pro, its latest high-end wireless gaming mouse. What makes a gaming mouse “high-end,” you might ask? Mainly, it’s super lightweight and packed with impressive wireless and sensor tech, all of which makes it extremely responsive in competitive games. I’ve had one on hand for about two weeks now and have felt next to zero delay flicking through rounds of Halo Infinite and Apex Legends.
The other thing is the price: The Viper V3 Pro is available today for $160 in the US or €180 in Europe. That isn’t unheard of — Razer’s own DeathAdder V3 Pro, the top wireless pick in our gaming mouse buying guide, costs the same — but it’s certainly not cheap.
If you keep up with the gaming mouse market, here’s the short version: The Viper V3 Pro has virtually the same shape and soft-touch coating as last year's midrange Viper V3 HyperSpeed, but it’s far lighter at 54 grams, plus it has optical switches, a technically superior sensor and a few small design tweaks. It’s the follow-up to the popular Viper V2 Pro from 2022 and the ambidextrous complement to the aforementioned DeathAdder V3 Pro, which has a more dramatically contoured ergonomic shape.
The Razer Viper V3 Pro (left) and Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 (right), another high-end wireless gaming mouse with a symmetrical shape.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
For everyone else, the main thing to know about mice like this is that they’re built for competitive gaming above all else. As such, the Viper V3 Pro deliberately excludes features that’d make it more convenient for day-to-day use: There’s no Bluetooth and only two side buttons, while the DPI switch is located on the bottom of the mouse. The scroll wheel can't tilt left or right, and there’s no lighting, either. But these omissions make sense if you view the mouse as a tool for esports: They keep the weight down and make it harder to hit buttons by accident.
The most important thing with any gaming mouse is its shape, and the Viper V3 Pro’s should fit most hand sizes well. It’s highly similar to Logitech's G Pro X Superlight 2, its chief competitor, but slightly longer and flatter. A modest but noticeable hump in the center rests naturally in your palm, while the sides are gently contoured in then out to welcome the tops of your thumb and ring finger (or pinkie). The main click buttons are grooved, slightly flared and amply sized. None of the angles are aggressive. Razer says it works best with a fingertip or claw grip; I have few issues as someone who uses the latter. But the design isn’t so short or flat that it’s horrible for palm grips. In total, it measures 5.0 x 2.51 x 1.57 inches.
The mouse’s coating is pleasingly soft and smooth. It’ll pick up fingerprint smudges over time, but it should be grippy enough for most people out of the gate. (Razer includes some pre-cut grip tape in the box if it still feels too slippery.) The device as a whole is sturdily built, with no sign of flex or creaking in my two weeks of daily use.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
The Viper V3 Pro isn’t the absolute lightest gaming mouse, but calling a 54g device too heavy to move around would be splitting hairs. Notably, it achieves this weight without any cutouts in its top or bottom shell. Rival gaming mice like the Pwnage Stormbreaker or Pulsar X2V2 are similarly light but leave their interiors more open to dust and detritus.
The mouse’s main click buttons are fast, not sticky and on the softer side for a device that uses optical switches. They aren’t as loud as the clicks on the G Pro X Superlight 2, though the right-click panel on my test unit sounds a little less full than the left-click one. (That’s more of a nitpick than a dealbreaker.) As with most optical mice, the main buttons may not be as satisfying to press as good mechanical switches, but they’re more likely to avoid durability issues over time. I’d also give the Viper V3 Pro the edge over Logitech’s mouse when it comes to the side buttons and scroll wheel. The Viper's wheel is tighter, quieter and has grippier ridges on its exterior, while its side buttons are a bit less mushy by comparison.
In terms of performance, the Viper V3 Pro uses Razer’s new “Focus Pro 35K Optical Sensor Gen-2.” It can reach a maximum of 35,000 DPI, and you can adjust that sensitivity in 1 DPI increments. A max speed of 750 IPS and max acceleration of 70 G accompany that. Per usual with gaming mice, these higher figures are partly marketing fluff: Many older gaming mice have few issues when it comes to sensor accuracy and consistency.
The mouse is available in black or white, though Razer says the white model weighs a gram more.
Razer
Along those lines, the mouse comes with Razer’s HyperPolling Wireless Dongle, which costs $30 on its own. It advertises a maximum polling rate of 8,000Hz, which technically allows for more precise movements but has a negligible effect on real-world performance. Mostly, it saps battery life: Razer says the Viper V3 Pro can last up to 95 hours at a 1,000Hz polling rate, which is fine, but that dips to just 17 hours at 8,000Hz.
Still, while I am far from an pro-level player, I can’t foresee many complaints about the Viper V3 Pro’s responsiveness or connection quality. The shape, weight and sensor all play a role in that — as do the large PTFE feet, which let the mouse glide smoothly across surfaces. Somewhat less agreeable is the included cable, which is cleverly angled to reduce drag but isn’t the thinnest or most flexible cord I've seen. The dongle still requires running the cable from a PC to a desk, too.
Nevertheless, the Viper V3 Pro is well worth a look if you take competitive gaming seriously, prefer an ambidextrous shape and have money to burn. To be clear, there are still several gaming mice that’ll feel comfortable and perform well for less cash, especially if you’re OK with a wired model. And if you own an older Viper you’re still happy with today, there’s no pressing need to upgrade. A mouse like this is closer to a Ferrari, when most people can live just fine with a Subaru. That said, Ferraris are pretty nice, right?
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nobody-needs-to-spend-160-on-a-gaming-mouse-but-razers-new-viper-v3-pro-is-excellent-anyway-150017198.html?src=rss
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is only a few weeks away, but the company simply can't wait that long to make some more announcements. It has scheduled a virtual event for May 7. The stream will be available on Apple's website and the Apple TV app (and likely YouTube) and it will start at 10AM ET.
As usual, Apple hasn't been totally forthcoming about what to expect. However, the animated image it included in the announcement shows a hand holding an Apple Pencil in the center of a stylized, colorful Apple logo. That indicates the event is very likely going to be focused on iPad.
Rumors have been swirling for some time that Apple was likely to update the iPad Pro and iPad Air in a couple of sizes in May with M3 and M2 chips, respectively. The company is expected to bring OLED displays to the iPad Pro, while adding a larger 12.9-inch iPad Air to the lineup. Reports suggest a new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro and a fresh Apple Pencil may be in the offing too. In any case, it's been over two years since the last iPad Air and around 18 months since the M2-powered iPad Pros debuted, so both are due for a refresh.
For most wireless headphones, active noise cancellation (ANC) is a primary feature, especially at the mid-range to premium levels. ANC is a popular tool, especially for headphones you’re going to use in a variety of locations and settings. To help you cut through the noise of all the options on the market, we’ve compiled a list of the best noise-canceling headphones you can buy right now. Judged primarily in terms of ANC performance, this guide not only offers suggestions in various scenarios and prices, but also gives you advice on what to look for on a spec sheet while you’re shopping.
How to choose the best noise-canceling headphones for you
Design
When you’re shopping for a pair of wireless headphones, the first thing you’ll need to decide on is wear style. Do you prefer on-ear or over-ear? For the purposes of this guide, I focus on the over-ear style as that’s what most noise-canceling headphones are nowadays. Sure, you can find on-ear models with ANC, but over-ear, noise-canceling headphones are much more effective at blocking sound since your ears are completely covered.
Type of noise cancellation
Next, you’ll want to look at the type of ANC a set of headphones offers. You’ll come across terms like “hybrid active noise cancellation” or “hybrid adaptive active noise cancellation,” and there are key differences between the two. A hybrid ANC setup uses microphones on the inside and on the outside of the device to detect ambient noise and cancel it out. By analyzing input from both mics, a hybrid system can combat more sounds than “regular” ANC, but it does so at a constant level that doesn’t change.
Adaptive ANC takes the hybrid configuration a step further by continuously adjusting the noise cancellation for changes in your environment and any leakage around the padding of the ear cups. Adaptive ANC also does a better job with wind noise, which can really kill your vibe while using headphones outdoors. For the purposes of this best headphones list, I’m only considering products with hybrid ANC or adaptive ANC setups because those are the most effective at blocking noise.
Customization
You’ll also want to check to see if the ANC system on a prospective set of headphones offers adjustable levels of noise cancellation or presets. These can help you dial in the amount of ANC you need for various environments, but it can also help you save battery life. Master & Dynamic, for example, has ANC presets that provide both maximum noise blocking and more efficient cancellation that is more energy efficient. Other companies may include a slider in their companion apps that let you adjust the ANC level to your liking.
How we test noise-canceling headphones
The primary way we test headphones is to wear them as much as possible. I prefer to do this over a one-to-two-week period, but sometimes deadlines don’t allow it. During this time, I listen to a mix of music and podcasts, while also using the headphones to take both voice and video calls.
Since battery life for headphones can be 30 hours or more, I drain the battery with looping music and the volume set at a comfortable level (usually around 75 percent). Due to the longer battery estimates, I’ll typically power the headphones off several times and leave them that way during a review. This simulates real-world use and keeps me from having to constantly monitor the process for over 24 straight hours.
To test ANC performance specifically, I use headphones in a variety of environments, from noisy coffee shops to quiet home offices. When my schedule allows, I use them during air travel since plane noise is a massive distraction to both work and relaxation. Even if I can’t hop on a flight, I’ll simulate a constant roar with white noise machines, bathroom fans, vacuums and more. I also make note of how well each device blocks human voices, which are a key stumbling block for a lot of ANC headphones.
ANC-related features are something else to consider. Here, I do a thorough review of companion apps, testing each feature as I work through the software. Any holdovers from previous models are double checked for improvements or regression. If the headphones I’m testing are an updated version of a previous model, I’ll spend time getting reacquainted with the older set. Ditto for the closest competition for each new set of headphones that I review.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-noise-canceling-headphones-130029881.html?src=rss
If you use Sonos speakers, chances are you’ve used their app and encountered at least a little frustration at some point. I don’t think it’s a bad app when you consider the many functions it needs to juggle: finding and playing music from dozens of services, managing multiple connected speakers, running people through setup and troubleshooting and so on. But at the very least, it’s fair to suggest that it’s a little long in the tooth. Sonos knows this, too, and is announcing a totally new app for Android and iOS that was written from the ground up. It’ll be available on May 7.
I spoke to Sonos VP of user experience and user research Neil Griffiths about the redesign, and he said that it came as a result of talking to hundreds of customers about their listening habits and the way they want to use the app. From those conversations came two principles the company followed for the new app. One was to make it easier for people to play back whatever audio content they have, whether it’s streaming music, podcasts, radio, audiobooks, devices plugged into Sonos speakers like TVs or turntables and more. The second is making the app into a hub that’s better-suited to getting to exactly what you want to hear.
The end result is a much simpler app — the old one had the usual five tabs along the bottom, three of which could be used to find music. Now, there’s a single, customizable home screen with a persistent search bar and rows of content. By default, you’ll see a “recently played” section at the top that pulls things in from any service you use; below that you’ll see a carousel of the different services you have hooked up to Sonos. There’s also an area that controls different inputs, like line-in to speakers that support it or TVs plugged into soundbars. That way, you can tap those to switch between streaming music and playing back the connected device.
Sonos
There’s still a “now playing” bar at the bottom of the app that you can tap to get the full playback controls and volume adjustments, but if you swipe up from the bottom of the screen you’ll instead get a view of your whole Sonos system. This shows all your speakers and what’s playing where; you can adjust volume for each from here or group speakers together.
Easily the best thing about this new app is the customizable home screen, though. Not only can you change the order of things that appear there, you can also pin content directly from within different apps so you can get to it immediately. For example, Spotify, Apple Music and basically every other music service typically have a “new releases for you” section that shows recent albums based on your listening habits. If you always want to see that, you can pin it straight to your home screen and it’ll dynamically update when Spotify has new picks. And you can re-order these carousels so your most-used one is right at the top of the screen.
The old Sonos home screen had a recently played section at the top and let you pin songs, albums, playlists and stations from across your services, so it had some degree of flexibility. But being able to add full, dynamically updating sections from the apps you use feels like a major step forward. I can easily see pinning a half-dozen lists from different apps to my home screen, which will make the process of starting music from the Sonos app itself a lot more fluid. I still mostly use AirPlay or Spotify Connect to broadcast to my speakers, but I think it’ll be worth setting up my home in this new app and see if I use it more. Pulling together content from the too many streaming apps I use in one place sounds like a nice improvement over jumping in and out of apps depending on what I want to hear.
Sonos also made it easier to jump right into the service of your choice. All of the streaming apps that you’re logged in to will appear in a carousel as well, with your default / favorite option always at the beginning of the list. The same goes for search — when you open the search bar and type something in, you’ll get the results from your favorite service first.
Sonos
The company is also replacing its existing desktop controller app for Mac and Windows with a web app that'll offer the same functionality and design as you get on your phone. That's probably a good call, as the Sonos controller feels pretty out of step with the company's current design and feature set, though I'm sure some will bristle at it being a web app. That should also start rolling out on May 7, and the existing Mac and Windows app will eventually be shut down.
For a lot of people, I wager the Sonos app will still be a “set it and forget it” kind of thing, used to get speakers set up and then tucked away in case something goes wrong. If you only have one or two speakers and do nearly all your listening through Spotify, for example, it’ll probably be preferable to just use the Spotify app itself still. But people who have a more involved speaker setup and use multiple sources for audio should find a lot to like here when the app arrives in a few weeks.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-rebuilt-sonos-app-focuses-on-getting-you-to-your-tunes-faster-130022601.html?src=rss