I have been waiting for a over a month for the Sonos iPad application become approved because the wireless home stereo company has told me it was on its way and had new features. The software was approved last night and I spent a few minutes with it this morning.

In short the large screen size of the tablet allows the simple single zone interface to be been replaced with a multiple zone interface allowing you to see the status of  music players around the house.

Sonos Remote Control for iPad in action – video

Other interesting things you can do with this new app is drag and drop songs and albums into queues corresponding to various zones and create playlists with friends.

Sonos Controller 200 – standalone hardware remote – for comparison purposes

In addition you can now listen to AAC radio stations which means 100,000 additional choices to entertain you. in the past I have lauded the company for its ability to rapidly connect you with the programming of your choice so Sonos has made something great even better.

Sonos Remote Control for iPad in action – photo

One warning – when you download and run the iPad software it asks you to upgrade your Sonos system with new firmware and it takes a few minutes per device you have. And since the iPad has no multitasking ability at the moment, you can’t do anything else with your Apple tablet while this upgrade takes place.

Sonos iPad remote and black S5 all-in-one music player

In short – this new and free software makes a great product better and moreover it makes using the physical remote control pictured above or iPhone software seem inferior by comparison.