Sonos has recently rolled out a new update for its mobile app, bringing long-awaited support for iOS Live Activities. This feature allows iPhone users to conveniently access playback controls directly from their lockscreen, providing a seamless listening experience.

According to a recent post on Reddit, this addition has been highly requested by users and is considered a valuable and necessary feature by the Sonos community. While features like displaying album art are currently not available, the Live Activity feature offers essential details and controls for managing music or podcasts played through a Sonos system without the need to unlock the iPhone or open the app.

The concept of Live Activities and lockscreen controls similar to those found in the Android version of the Sonos app was initially mentioned by Sonos CEO Tom Conrad in an interview with Bloomberg last year. Following user feedback on a previous app update, the Live Activities support is disabled by default but can be easily enabled through the Sonos app preferences and iOS settings.

Once activated, the Live Activity feature will display relevant information, such as the group or room where the audio was last played and the title of the current content. The display will automatically disappear from the lockscreen after 15 minutes once playback has stopped.

While support for Apple Watch and CarPlay is included, the Live Activity controls are not available on these platforms. Sonos is continuously working to enhance this new feature, with potential future updates to include album art display on the lock screen for an improved user experience.