SonoPhone for Sonos vs Roon
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SonoPhone for Sonos
This app offers a streamlined and faster way to control your Sonos system, featuring a cleaner interface and backward compatibility with S1 firmware. It simplifies common tasks, allowing for quicker navigation and management of zones and music sources.
- Faster common task completion
- Cleaner, stable, and fast interface
- Supports Sonos S1 firmware
- Manage zones and music sources
- Intuitive drag-and-drop zone grouping
- Volume and progress popups
- Touch To Play functionality
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Yes. There's a better way to control your Sonos system. - Speeds up most common tasks (less taps) - Cleaner, more stable and fast interface. - Backward compatibility is king (we support Sonos S1 firmware and also iOS15 devices) - Manage zones and music sources. You control your Sonos. Not the other way around. See the features in action on YouTube (https://youtu.be/aMEuaZPUH58) or read more below. This application is a third party app and not endorsed by or associated with Sonos, Inc. (which is why it is not free) ◆◆◆ A new, intuitive and concise user interface ◆◆◆ SonoPhone is designed to leverage the latest iOS design principles: - Tap or drag the player on the top and you'll find the players view to select a new player and with volume controls for all players. From here you can also enter Zone Management, where you can group and ungroup players with drag and drop. - Tap or drag the Track infos on the bottom and you'll be at the big covers screen - Drag the main menu from any place to the left or right to have instant access to playlist or shortcuts - volume + progress popups: when changing volume or progress of a song, you get popups telling you the actual values. Stop guessing your desired values today! ◆◆◆ less taps for common tasks ◆◆◆ SonoPad tries to optimize most often used tasks to have the least taps needed. In the end you are able to navigate and control your players much more fluently. - Touch To Play: are you sick of always beeing asked what to do when you tap a track or album? SonoPhone defaults to just starting an album or song. A long press still gives you access to all options - you can also change the tap default in the settings menu. Want to build a playlist fast? Just set the default to 'always add to end' and off you go ... - tap an album cover image and the whole album starts to play immediately - aggregated search: search results are collapsed into one view, so you see immediately in what category you have the best results, without switching back and forth - shortcuts to most used functions: drag the main menu to the right to get shortcut buttons for artist, albums, radio and musicservices. - you can control the volume of every player directly from the player selection screen. No need to switch players anymore. ◆◆◆ S1 and S2 devices in one app ◆◆◆◆ - If you still have old S1 devices, the time of always having to change apps is over. We simply display all existing players in the network in one list. Grouping is unfortunately not possible, this is prevented by Sonos. ◆◆◆ Limitations ◆◆◆ - all music services except YouTube Music are supported - no support for administrative features (adding/removing players, music service, ...). You need the official Apps for initial setup of your system, SonoPad will pick up all changes automatically. - no options to set alarms or sleep settings - no playing of music stored on iPhone - no support for discontinued WD100 dock ◆◆◆ Other stuff ◆◆◆ - Sonos is registered trademark of Sonos, Inc.
Roon
This app serves as a controller for a Roon Server, enabling users to browse and play their music library. It offers a rich metadata-driven interface for musical discovery, connecting to over 1,000 compatible audio devices for seamless playback.
- Music library browsing and playback
- Rich metadata for musical discovery
- Connects to 1,000+ audio devices
- Seamless in-home audio connection
- Access music library remotely via Roon ARC
- Bit-perfect playback and format support
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*** The Roon experience requires a Roon Server on your network. *** The Roon App is another controller for your Roon Server. You browse and play your music library on over 1,000 compatible audio devices, and provides a seamless in-home connection. You can install the free Roon App on as many devices as you like. What is Roon? The very best way to experience your music: Roon reshapes the way you browse and explore music. Powered by rich metadata, Roon's interface invites you on a new journey of musical discovery every time you log in. Your music library becomes the starting point on a vast map of performers, composers, influences, and genres. Follow the path emanating from the music you love to discover exciting new sounds and reconnect with long-forgotten favorites. You can delve even deeper through lyrics, artist photos, bios, reviews, and tour dates - then continue the journey with recommendations specifically tailored to your tastes and listening habits. Listen anywhere, on all your gear: Roon lets you play from your collection of music files and TIDAL, Qobuz, and KKBOX libraries on thousands of Roon Ready, Airplay, Chromecast, and USB devices from one app inside your home. Meanwhile, Roon ARC provides access, playback, and precision audio control for your entire Roon music library directly from your phone, wherever you are in the world. Flawless playback. Everywhere, every time: Roon is built to ensure your music sounds perfect every time you hit play, no matter where you are. Roon guarantees the best possible sound quality from every piece of audio gear - our MUSE sound engine delivers bit-perfect playback, exhaustive format support, and precision audio control for a fully customizable and flawless listening experience. From headphones to your home hi-fi, and everything in between.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: SonoPhone for Sonos at 85% against Roon's 33%. SonoPhone for Sonos also leads on rating (4.4 vs 3.6) and chart position (#138 vs unranked). Roon's advantage is price (Free vs $3.99). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Roon is free to download; SonoPhone for Sonos costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
SonoPhone for Sonos holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 235 and 556 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of SonoPhone for Sonos's written reviews are positive against 33% of Roon's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SonoPhone for Sonos | Roon |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.4 (235 ratings) — better | 3.6 (556 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 84.6% of reviews — better | 32.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 235 | 556 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #138 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 13 MB | 616 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stefan Hansel Solutions UG (haftungsbeschraenkt) | Roon Labs |
Customer experience
SonoPhone for Sonos
Roon
User reviews
SonoPhone for Sonos
From 235 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Exceptional performance
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 🔒 Reliable and stable
- 👍 Restores functionality to Sonos system
- 👍 Seamless integration with music services
Room to improve
- 🔧 Dated user interface design
- 🔧 Missing some advanced Sonos features
- 🔧 Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
Roon
From 556 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great when it works
- 🎨 Fantastic app
- 🎧 Best way to experience music
- 🤖 Powerful music management
- 🔍 Excellent music discovery
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🔌 Unstable connection
- 🕰️ Slow performance
- 🤯 Confusing interface
- 🚫 Lack of accessibility
Bugs and requests
SonoPhone for Sonos
Reported bugs
2 issues- Occasional connectivity issues
- Playback problems with large music libraries
Requested features
4 requests- Sleep timer
- Graphic equalizer
- Ability to customize main menu
- Support for Sonos S2 devices
Roon
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes on search
- Audio devices disappearing
- Volume issues after updates
- Inability to find Roon core
Requested features
5 requests- Dark mode option
- Offline music playback
- Better Tidal/Spotify integration
- Improved metadata editing
- Apple Watch support
In-app purchases
SonoPhone for Sonos
No in-app purchases
Roon
No in-app purchases









