Sonos S1 Controller vs Bose SoundTouch
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sonos S1 Controller
Manage your older Sonos systems with ease. This app allows you to control volume, group rooms, set alarms, and stream from your favorite services. Enjoy thousands of free stations with Sonos Radio.
- Control older Sonos products
- Adjust volume
- Group rooms
- Save favorites
- Set alarms
- Stream from services
- Listen to Sonos Radio
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This app controls systems that include the earliest Sonos products: Zone Players, Play:5 (Gen 1), Bridge, Connect (Gen 1) and Connect:Amp (Gen 1) Easily control your system. Adjust volume levels, group rooms, save favorites, set alarms, and more. Stream from popular services. Connect your streaming services and browse all your music, podcasts, radio, and audiobooks in a single app. Listen to Sonos Radio. Enjoy thousands of stations free on your system, including live radio from around the world, genre stations, artist-curated stations, and original programming from Sonos. If you are a California resident, for more information about our privacy practices, please see: California Privacy Notice: https://www.sonos.com/legal/privacy#legal-privacy-addendum-container
Bose SoundTouch
Control your wireless home speakers to play music throughout your house or in different rooms. Access streaming services, internet radio, and your personal music library with ease. Personalize presets for instant access to your favorite content.
- Stream music from multiple services
- Personalized one-touch presets
- Access over 100,000 radio stations
- Play music from local libraries
- Control multiple speakers
- Play music everywhere or in different rooms
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Experience your favorite music from one or many SoundTouch® speakers, with the SoundTouch® app. SoundTouch® is a family of wireless speakers for your home that play the same music throughout, or different music in different rooms. SPEED TO MUSIC It’s faster than ever to browse and play the music you love from Spotify®, Pandora®, Amazon Music, TuneIn, SiriusXM, iHeartRadio™, Deezer and more, all from within the new SoundTouch® app. ONE-TOUCH DISCOVERY Personalize your home with “living” presets like Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” or Pandora’s “Thumbprint Radio.” Always have a fresh list of favorites a touch away, without having to even find your phone. MORE STATIONS, MORE FUN Effortlessly stream more than 100,000 radio stations from around the world with TuneIn. Check out tastemaker-curated playlists, live sports, concerts, 24/7 news coverage and great podcasts in every genre. YOUR OLD STANDARDS Have a library of your favorite albums and artists? Connect your laptop or NAS drive to have access to your stored music libraries. TOTAL CONTROL Play the same music throughout your home with “Play Everywhere,” or listen to different music in different areas, it’s up to you. The SoundTouch® app lets you control one or multiple SoundTouch® speakers in your home, from any room. Privacy Policy https://worldwide.bose.com/privacypolicy California Privacy Notice of Collection https://www.bose.com/en_us/legal/california_privacy_notice_of_collection.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Bose SoundTouch at free against Sonos S1 Controller's free with in-app purchases. Bose SoundTouch also leads on iOS requirement (10.0 vs 12.0). Sonos S1 Controller's advantage is ratings volume (821K vs 121K). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Sonos S1 Controller against 4.7 for Bose SoundTouch. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sonos S1 Controller has 821K ratings behind it against 121K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 52% of Sonos S1 Controller's written reviews are positive against 56% of Bose SoundTouch's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 15, 2026.
| Parameter | Sonos S1 Controller | Bose SoundTouch |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (821K ratings) | 4.7 (121K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 52.1% of reviews | 55.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 821K — better | 121K |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 103 MB | 84 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Sonos, Inc. | Bose Corporation |
Customer experience
Sonos S1 Controller
Bose SoundTouch
User reviews
Sonos S1 Controller
From 821K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great sound quality
- 🔍 Versatile and easy to use
- 💡 Whole-home audio experience
- 🎨 Sleek and modern design
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent connectivity issues
- 🔀 Confusing and unintuitive app updates
- 🔍 Difficult to navigate and control
- ⚠️ Planned obsolescence of older products
Bose SoundTouch
From 121K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎉 Great sound quality
- 👍 Easy to use app
- 💯 Excellent product
- 🔥 Awesome speakers
- 🌟 Superior audio experience
Room to improve
- 🐛 Connectivity issues
- 😤 Unreliable app performance
- 🤯 Frustrating setup process
- 🤔 Lacking features compared to competitors
- 😞 Disappointing user experience
Bugs and requests
Sonos S1 Controller
Reported bugs
3 issues- App fails to recognize speakers
- Music playback randomly cuts out
- Inability to control volume from lock screen
Requested features
4 requests- Restore previous app interface
- Improve search and playlist management
- Add Bluetooth connectivity
- Better integration with personal music libraries
Bose SoundTouch
Reported bugs
5 issues- App frequently loses connection to speakers
- Speakers randomly drop out during playback
- Firmware updates cause more problems than they solve
- App unable to locate music libraries on network devices
- Inconsistent volume control between app and hardware
Requested features
5 requests- More presets/favorites in the app
- Ability to control subwoofer volume from the app
- Seamless integration between app and hardware controls
- Support for additional music services (e.g. Pandora Premium)
- Improved multi-room synchronization
In-app purchases
Sonos S1 Controller
No in-app purchases
Bose SoundTouch
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Sonos S1 Controller free?
Is Bose SoundTouch free?
Which has better reviews, Sonos S1 Controller or Bose SoundTouch?
Do Sonos S1 Controller or Bose SoundTouch have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sonos S1 Controller or Bose SoundTouch?
Other comparisons
