End of Software Support - Clarifications

End of Software Support - Clarifications
Ryan S
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
  • Ryan S
  • Retired Sonos Staff
  • 12372 replies

We announced yesterday that some of our oldest Sonos products will be moving into a legacy mode in May of 2020. Our commitment is to support products with regular software updates for a minimum of five years after we stop selling them, and we have a track record of supporting products far longer. 

Here is some public information we’ve shared, gathered into one place to respond to some of your questions in one easy thread, so that people can find the correct information easily.

Beginning in May, software updates and new features from Sonos will only be delivered to systems with only modern products.

After May, systems that include legacy products will continue to work as before - but they will no longer receive software updates or new features. 

Sonos will work to maintain the existing experience and conduct bug fixes, but our efforts will ultimately be limited by the lack of memory and processing power of these legacy products.

We don’t expect any immediate impact to your experience, but access to services and overall functionality will eventually be disrupted, particularly as partners evolve their own services and features. 

 

Customers with both legacy and modern products have time to decide what option is best for them. You can continue to use your whole system in legacy mode - in this case, it will stop receiving updates and new features. 

You will also be able to separate your legacy products from your modern products, so that the modern products can still receive updates and new features, and legacy products can still be used separately. We’ll have more information on how to do this in May when you can take that action.

Another option available to all customers with legacy products is to take advantage of the Trade Up program, which allows you to upgrade older Sonos products to modern ones with a 30% discount. Trade Up will be open to customers at any time should they decide to upgrade. 

We recognize this is new for Sonos owners, just as it is for Sonos. We are committed to help you by making options available to you to support the best decision for your home.
 

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate with asking.

Update 2/22: A message from our CEO

We heard you. We did not get this right from the start. My apologies for that and I wanted to personally assure you of the path forward:

First, rest assured that come May, when we end new software updates for our legacy products, they will continue to work as they do today. We are not bricking them, we are not forcing them into obsolescence, and we are not taking anything away. Many of you have invested heavily in your Sonos systems, and we intend to honor that investment for as long as possible. While legacy Sonos products won’t get new software features, we pledge to keep them updated with bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible. If we run into something core to the experience that can’t be addressed, we’ll work to offer an alternative solution and let you know about any changes you’ll see in your experience.

Secondly, we heard you on the issue of legacy products and modern products not being able to coexist in your home. We are working on a way to split your system so that modern products work together and get the latest features, while legacy products work together and remain in their current state. We’re finalizing details on this plan and will share more in the coming weeks.

While we have a lot of great products and features in the pipeline, we want our customers to upgrade to our latest and greatest products when they’re excited by what the new products offer, not because they feel forced to do so. That’s the intent of the trade up program we launched for our loyal customers.

Thank you for being a Sonos customer. Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback. I hope that you’ll forgive our misstep, and let us earn back your trust. Without you, Sonos wouldn’t exist and we’ll work harder than ever to earn your loyalty every single day.

If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

 

Patrick Spence
CEO, Sonos

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4256 replies

N
Userlevel 5
Badge +9

I am interested to know what new features SONOS intend to introduce that render legacy (as they like to call it) speakers redundant? Mine play music now? 

busy trying to edit the queue
A
Userlevel 3

It’s beginning to look a lot like Ratner’s….

P
Userlevel 1

What a fantastic way to treat your customers, well done Sonos

S
Userlevel 2
Badge

So… lets have a look at this.

“Legacy devices” will stop receiving updates in May but *could* continue working with the services you use for many years…

 

and the reason they will stop working is likely api changes or such from the music streaming services.

Isnt it great then that they are targetting google and amazon in law courts.  Now if i was in charge at  Amazon i might consider changing the api/streaming format from June effectively rendering that service useless on those devices and who will users blame… probably not Amazon.   Kinda handing your competitors the power to really influence the satisfaction of your most lotal early adopting customers.

 

 

hmmmm… not very smart

K
Userlevel 7
Badge +16

I'm sure all my kit will be on the chopping block for "Phase 2" redundancy (Playbar, Play:1s Play:3 etc).

Whats the most shocking part of all this is the distain whith which Sonos have treated all it's "early" adopters.

This Phase 1 Hardware cull (that's reall what it is), has not only pissed off all the owners of the early hardware BUT sent a clear message to all Sonos owners that we really are just a commodity.

All the talk of Legacy systems been split off and Silo'd, the whole Ideal behind Sonos that is it's a Whole Home Sytem!. What's the point have having your house split down the middle due to hardware build date?.

This truely is a shocking turn of events and I doubt anyone on here will be investing in more Players given the fact they could be hung out to dry when Sonos deems it so.

You really have damaged the brand (possibly beyond repair) at this point.

Then there's the environmental cost, binning hundreds of thousands of perfectly servicable units, just absolute madness.

Problem is though if Sonos go under due to their own stupidity ALL our systems will be basically scrap. You couldn't make it up..

chickentender

Very unimpressed by this decision by sonos. 
They should be looking at possible ways and costs to be upgrade the older speakers with better processor etc. 
this would be more environmental and speaker’s would not be thrown away in half hearted attempt at recycling. Sonos would be part of the proper recycling of their speakers. In other words they would reduce electronic waste. 
if a speaker has broken other components then the decision to scrap it would be the owners. 
 

with the current legacy idea in May I gather that  my older equipment will stop future updates to my whole system. In that case I will be happy to stay with sonos update I have. I can use the system as it is. I guess I can add to the system by buying older speakers which will now be plummeting in price as they won’t update. 

this is devaluing sonos’s reputation  too!!
 

overall sonos should find better solutions 

You know what… I never considered this brilliant option! I could care less about voice control and other features. My Sonos system does what I want already. This could be an incredible 2nd-hand upgrade path for expanding a legacy system.

chickentender

Sonos: I don’t need my old gear to forever act as a streamer for future music services. But I do expect newer Sonos gear to know how to room share music to older Sonos gear, forever.

The same way my Amp’s line-in can share music with my Play:1 that has no line-in.

If I have to buy a new product every few years to maintain an entry point for modern streaming services, fine, but all my older powered speakers need to inter operate with that newer Sonos product. Otherwise, you’ve lost your vendor lock-in and my perception of Sonos value is plummeting.

This is everything, succinctly put.

K

You know what… I never considered this brilliant option! I could care less about voice control and other features. My Sonos system does what I want already. This could be an incredible 2nd-hand upgrade path for expanding a legacy system.

Lol, true. Watch out though against getting ripped of with a unit that has been selected online for recycling!

chickentender

You know what… I never considered this brilliant option! I could care less about voice control and other features. My Sonos system does what I want already. This could be an incredible 2nd-hand upgrade path for expanding a legacy system.

Lol, true. Watch out though against getting ripped of with a unit that has been recycled!

No doubt.

“Let’s go ahead and see you connect to it powered on with the mobile controller, please/thanks...”

S
Userlevel 3

I am disgusted by this announcement. I have spent thousands of pounds on Sonos products to be told that some will no longer be supported and my WHOLE SYSTEM will not be supported if the legacy products remain connected. How to DESTROY a great product in one announcement?

 

Can future customers have any confidence that this won’t happen again? 

B
Userlevel 2

This is criminal. Bought a lot of equipment in good faith and huge cost and now learn that that potentially this stuff will be obsolete in the near future. This is a disgraceful desicion and will hugely damage the sonos brand. I will be looking for an alternative. Hope sonos as a brand suffers as a result. Customer service clearly mean nothing to this company. 

L

Sonos this is absolutely outrageous, I own a series of your products, none of which will be affected by your latest decision to force your products to be obsolete. However if this is how you decide to run your company’s ethics then I can no longer invest in Sonos. This is a destructive capitalist move to force people to buy your latest product and it’s shameful. 

O
Userlevel 3

I have been a Sonos customer for 10 years. I have built up my Sonos system and trusted in the brand, recommended to friends, and been happy with my choice. I understand that older products become increasingly obsolete with time, but some of the people here have only had their speakers for a few years and are already facing them being classed as 'legacy'. My 'legacy' speakers work fine and I don't get why Sonos can't support older devices in mixed systems whilst still providing app and device updates to the newer devices. I use Sonos for the same thing I did 10 years ago - i just want to play music. The app from 10 years ago did everything I need to do. Not being able to build on my existing purchases without separating them is what annoys me most. How long before 'newer' products don't support 'older' versions of the software and we are forced to update and separate them?

There's nothing wrong with my Play 5s (1st gen) - they sound great, and 30% is nowhere near enough incentive to replace them, and i'm not going to brick a perfectly good speaker - it's wasteful and consumerism at its worst. I have several Play:1 speakers that bought new last year, are they next? Surely Sonos have a plan that they can share so we know where we stand?

Sonos have been great, but i'm unlikely to be buying any more of their products - times have moved on and there are many more alternatives around these days.

B
Userlevel 2

The upgrade for a 30% discount is essentially blackmail. Give us another £xxx to ensure your perfectly good system continues to work.

Legally questionable and morally abhorrent. 

Disgusting from Sonos. 

R
Userlevel 1

Goodbye Sonos!

I accept technical obsolescence is a fact of life with equipment but when e.g. Apple stop updates for legacy iPhones, they don’t threaten their loyal customers with the message “you need to re-purchase and upgrade every Apple product you own or we will prohibit you from updating your newest iPhone.” The approach by Sonos is a disgusting and ugly way to treat customers.

Like many others, I have spent many 1,000s on Sonos kit including my personal system at home, various workplace systems and as gifts for friends. However, I refuse to support such blatant profiteering and have already listed (for sale) my entire array of Sonos equipment which I’m breaking into legacy and modern so the new owners are not held to ransom by Sonos’ marketing ploy.

It is a shame because I love the quality of my Sonos kit but as a customer I feel completely let down. I and you all have a choice; demonstrate your dissatisfaction for the contempt shown by Sonos by taking your business to a competitor.

Goodbye Sonos...

A
Userlevel 2
Badge

Another future ex-customer here. I will never, ever buy another Sonos product again and will actively discourage anyone I know from doing so. This announcement will start the very swift demise of your company.

M
Userlevel 5
Badge +8

As an owner of a 10 unit system including a 5.1 set up, I’m not happy to say the least. It’s not beyond the capability of Sonos to allow legacy units to work alongside newer products, albeit with limitations introduced with updates. You could even introduce a Sonos network box, which would allow two systems to work together so you could at least share output from a newer device to the rest of the Sonos system & vice versa. The ability to share shouldn’t be an issue!? 

As far as I can see you’re using a bomb to make a hole, when a circular saw would be enough. I’ve not seen any positive reactions either on here or social media. Doesn’t that tell you something? Since Sonos was put on the stockmarket, I suspect that there’s pressure to increase profits as the share price hasn’t grown as expected.

It’s financially prohibitive to replace several legacy units, especially due to the strong dollar. However, you’ve lost my trust as I’ll be wondering when you will make the other units I own, legacy. Your 30% discount will bring the prices down to where they were before the dollar became so strong! The environmental impact is very high, despite the recyling option. The units work perfectly today! 

It’s now placed great doubt in mine and others in the future of my buying decisons with Sonos. The Play 5 was only replaced in 2015! So only 5 years of use if you were unlucky!? 

I have recommended Sonos to my friends and it has always been a chuckle when I visit them next and there’s a brand new Sonos system. I can’t recommend Sonos anymore.

If you want to reclaim the PR disaster this has been, I would seriously ask Sonos to delay this discontinuation of older products and find a way to allow legacy products to work (with limitations of course) with the newer products. Most customers are using it to listen to Spotify/Apple music & radio. Of course, products become unnecessary like the CR100/200 controllers, but the Play 5s and AMP are still relevant and being used! Listen to your customers or see your business model suffer. The alternative is to offer a much higher discount or make your products much cheaper, so they are priced as commodity items, rather than premium. 

Oh well, I guess Sonos won’t listen and will do what they want. But, it will be without me and when my system no longer provides the basic functionality of streaming Spoitfy & TuneIn. I’m OUT!

Act in haste, repent at leisure.
A
Userlevel 2

I don't want to repeat at length what has been eloquently stated in many of the previous posts, but I do want to add my voice of complaint.

I have been a highly satisfied with my Sonos products, recommending them to family and friends. That satisfaction has come at a premium price, over £2000 spent. To find out that half of my system is to start to become obsolete in under five years is just not acceptable.

Sonos need to find a way to allow so called Legacy products to continue to function with newer products, even if it means not being able to update the newer items. Otherwise I will have to replace my Legacy products, but it won't be with anything from Sonos.

 

T

Just adding my displeasure to the many posters already here. I get that Sonos has a tricky position to balance the disposability of modern consumer smart devices with the expectation of longevity that comes with hi fi equipment. They've taken the wrong direction entirely here and underestimated their community in a big way. Sad to see such a misstep from a company I have been a fan of. 

 

Reversing this decision on this and their poor approach to ewaste and sustainability with the bricking of devices etc. Is only way they will win me back as a customer

 

I hold out a glimmer of hope that they can admit to a terrible decision and commit to sustainability and rewarding long term loyalty.

S
Userlevel 2

If I buy a Sonos product today, when will it become “legacy”?

A
Userlevel 2
Badge

I’ve just left a one star review on Amazon and a brief explanation why. I suggest everyone on here does the same :)

Guy_19
Userlevel 5
Badge +4

Thanks Sonos. 

I have Play:1 x3, Play:5 Gen2 and Connect/ZP90 x2 - I only bought the 2nd ZP90 on eBay last year and you are saying it is obsolete already and to replace just 1 would cost me £400 - 30% = £280, if I can afford that.  So total cost to Sonosify 1 room £500.

And it’s not as if the Connect or Port are even good value - I have never understood why they cost twice the price of a One, yet a One gives you a speaker as well.  All the Connect / Port give you over a One is some RCA and digital connectors.  Time to look at some of those hacker projects where they take a £100 IKEA / SONOS speaker to dismantle it and make a Connect out of it :)

I genuinely feel embarrassed that I had been recommending Sonos all these years, especially with this, on top of the “bricking” environmental disaster story.  To think that at the time, I didn’t think it would affect me.

You used to be an audio company, but now it is just about profit. 

7 rooms: One SL Stereo Pair, One SL x 2, Move, Play:5 Gen2 & Port into Arcam AVR with AE floorstanders, Port into Denon microsystem.
O
Userlevel 3

30% discount to upgrade your older speaker is an incentive.
30% discount to upgrade but we will break your old speaker is wasteful.
30% discount to upgrade or you can't mix/upgrade/use your old speaker feels like blackmail.

These aren't cheap products - people have invested thousands, that's why it feels so wrong. I don’t think there are any empty threats on here about leaving Sonos, it’s just the reality given the options.

K
Userlevel 5
Badge +2

It’s just a music streamer, I can build one using the processor power of a Casio watch, this is just an invented reason to scrap older products in perfect working order. What needs to be done now in order to restore confidence and avoid a death spiral is the following: 

1.    CEO fired. You need a scapegoat; this is the one. The Board is of course in on it, but they cannot be replaced as easily. 
2.    A statement saying that the decision was ill advised, and we hear you loyal users. We will do all we can to keep your experience up to the standards you expect for the best music brand there is. Sonos is an investment, not a perishable good. This is what sets us apart.   


If not I think the company is doomed. Who dares buy expensive equipment that can be killed at the whim of a company? Who dares buy expensive equipment from a company that you think will not survive? 

This needs to be done this week, if they wait any longer the damage will be irreparable. 
 

S
Userlevel 2

The biggest issue for me is interoperability of old and new products.  I accept that older models will not necessarily be capable of running the same features as newer versions, but backwards compatibility, especially the basic feature of “group”, should be deliverable in all newer products.   I can see no good reason for SONOS not to offer this.  

 

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