End of Software Support - Clarifications

End of Software Support - Clarifications
Ryan S
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  • 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

S

We spent more than £1500 on Sonos Speakers. To hear they will not receive Updates and Security fixes from now on  and will eventually never work is a complete and utter disgrace.  To the Sonos Management - I liked the quality, the sound, the multi room flexibility,  I am a satisfied customer. You have now lost my loyalty and support. As a result, I will never spend any more money on your products. You have lost me as a customer.

A
Userlevel 2

“SONOS REVERSES COURSE, AGREES TO SUPPORT LEGACY UNITS AFTER COMMUNITY OUTRAGE”  (please!)

Well, that’s my dream.  Please Sonos, make that your message, and then tell us some new features won’t make it to our legacy systems.  Got it.  Understandable.  It’s not much off where we’re at now.  Just a different view on how you handle your formerly very loyal community.  Make it happen quickly.

Or all of us in just about the same place will find another solution. 

Expensive upgrades and bricks are not the solution. 

Listen Sonos, please listen ...

T

Just found out that Sonos are going to make my Sonos 5, Sonos 3 and my Sonos 1’s obsolete!!!. Future software updates will not cover these devices and any current devices will not be able to be connected. I have spent over £1800 on Sonos products since 2011 and have been one of the brands most fervent supporters. I estimate having recommend the system to over 10 others I’ve the years.  If my loyalty is being rewarded this way I’ll be taking my future business elsewhere. 

A
Userlevel 5
Badge +5

This doesn’t explain why speakers that play music now won’t be able to music in the future.  I understand why they won’t have additionally features; but, this doesn’t explain at all why music won’t be able to be played.

They will be able to play music in the future!

I’m affected by this news (4 out of 6 zones are ‘legacy’) and wholeheartedly agree the announcement was incredibly badly handled, that the forced creation of e-waste is abhorrent, the splitting of zones into ‘legacy’ and ‘modern’ networks negates half the reason for owning a Sonos system and that the 30% ‘upgrade’ discount isn’t enough, but this thread is becoming more and more hyperbolic!

No one’s equipment is suddenly being ‘bricked’ and the share price, while falling, is not ‘sinking faster than the titanic’. By all means continue to voice displeasure, it might have an affect, but at the moment its hard to see past the melodrama and people patting themselves on the back for lowering a company’s score from 4/5 to 1/5 in various places. Why would anyone from Sonos come on here to comment currently? - nothing constructive would come of it.

Who’s side are you on? if they don’t positively respond soon they’re a bigger bunch of morons than we all believe them to be already. All these comments are going global, not just here.

Hear hear,

 

really melodrama!!! I brought into sonos that I could expand the system, nowhere did it say in the small print that a minimum EOL of 5 years would apply. My 10 year iPhone although no longer supported still works, my windows 7 computer still works. A year after may will my sonos work as now NO I think not

B
Userlevel 1

I looked up old Spence on LinkedIn seems that he used to work at Research in Motion.  You know the company that invented the Blackberry devices.  He worked there for quite a long time, probably learned how to destroy a perfectly good company there.  Seems he learned very well.  Blackberry was The only mobile smart phone at the time before the iPhone.  Everyone had to have a Blackberry device.   Now look at them.  Bankruptcy, suing everyone trying to stay relevant.    

SirDigitalKnight
Userlevel 2
Badge +4

The whole 30% upgrade thing is a joke especially when it doesn't even let me upgrade since I moved my Sonos gear out of the USA and into Colombia, not that I could even afford to make the upgrade even with the 30% (which is really only 10%) discount :-(

I have been searching and researching what might be the best solution to replace Sonos with.

Hopefully Bluetooth LE  will make this change from Sonos to another system less painful and less costly

https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2020/01/07/bluetooths-new-standard-will-support-streaming-to-multiple-devices/

A
Userlevel 5
Badge +3

I have given 1 star reviews to previous purchases on AMAZON. Ending support after 5 years is ludicrous. It means you don’t own the stuff you buy. I will join a lawsuit against SONOS when one happens.

M
Userlevel 4
Badge

Also, 

 

This trade up nonsense they are offering. 

It’s a bit like buying a new car and agreeing to your old one being smashed up so you can’t sell it. 

Im sorry, but anyone contemplating this needs to have a word with themselves. Don’t willingly be ripped off. 

 

 

A
Userlevel 5
Badge +3

This doesn’t explain why speakers that play music now won’t be able to music in the future.  I understand why they won’t have additionally features; but, this doesn’t explain at all why music won’t be able to be played.

They will be able to play music in the future!

I’m affected by this news (4 out of 6 zones are ‘legacy’) and wholeheartedly agree the announcement was incredibly badly handled, that the forced creation of e-waste is abhorrent, the splitting of zones into ‘legacy’ and ‘modern’ networks negates half the reason for owning a Sonos system and that the 30% ‘upgrade’ discount isn’t enough, but this thread is becoming more and more hyperbolic!

No one’s equipment is suddenly being ‘bricked’ and the share price, while falling, is not ‘sinking faster than the titanic’. By all means continue to voice displeasure, it might have an affect, but at the moment its hard to see past the melodrama and people patting themselves on the back for lowering a company’s score from 4/5 to 1/5 in various places. Why would anyone from Sonos come on here to comment currently? - nothing constructive would come of it.

Who’s side are you on? if they don’t positively respond soon they’re a bigger bunch of morons than we all believe them to be already. All these comments are going global, not just here.

Hear hear,

 

really melodrama!!! I brought into sonos that I could expand the system, nowhere did it say in the small print that a minimum EOL of 5 years would apply. My 10 year iPhone although no longer supported still works, my windows 7 computer still works. A year after may will my sonos work as now NO I think not

 

True, I use old iPhones for home video security purposes. It has saved me some coin and given new life to something I don’t use anymore.

P

After spending thousands on eight pieces of Sonos equipment, have now been told three are no longer going to be updated, and will not be able to play music throughout the house anymore. That is the main reason people buy this expensive equipment!
Not impressed at all. Before that they rendered my £100 dock unusable too. Just packing up two Sonos speakers to return to Amazon under their 30 day returns policy. I will never spend another penny on Sonos again. I hope your company goes bust, because that’s what you deserve with your corporate greed.

T
Userlevel 4
Badge +5

I have added to my system over time, and now have 22 devices, including 17 legacy ones.  Even if I didn’t love my Sonos (which I do), I am pretty committed to the ecosystem.

My 17 devices consists of a mix of connect, connect:amps, and play:5.  If I estimate an average replacement cost of $350 (which is based on an average of about $500 and reflecting the 30% discount), and add local sales tax (13% where I live), I’m looking at an upgrade cost of $7700.  Wow - if I think about what alternative solutions I can achieve with that kind of money, I have a lot of options!

This change by Sonos allows me to escape from the ecosystem with no added cost vs staying in it!

L
Userlevel 5
Badge +1

 

this is precisely the actions we can and should take…. i.e spread it wider than this forum.

 

I think there are enough of us to leave 1 star reviews that the average product ratings will drop to 1 or 2 on major product review sites. They have significant impact on people’s buying habits and we should warn others before they potentially part with several thousand or hundreds of pounds/dollars for a system that will be knackered in a few years.

UKUser can I ask on which website this screen shot is from so I can register and contribute to Sonos’ average product rating?

Why don't Sonos commit to letting me play Spotify and some radio through my existing system? I know it can be done and dont give me the bumfff about memory, I have a degree in electronics and life in software dev. I (like many others here) know that there are easy solutions available to continue making your products WORK…. I am not talking about new features, I dont give a toss about new features… I can live without them, I am just talking about maintaining a few basic features. WHY are you trashing my £2k system?

 

J

Fail

S
Userlevel 4
Badge +1

should be interesting as from 6pm GMT Sonos will be clocking in at work (seems they have 1x employee, poor ‘ol Ryan) 

I think if nothing happens until 6pm to 6am then i guess they are ok with whats happened and will wait until May. 

 

‘thread closed, 1801’

U
Userlevel 4
Badge

 

G

Just joined this group to add to the frustration/outrage. Has anyone seen/heard a response from Sonos to the consumer anger at their position. In a world where everyone should be trying to reduce their carbon footprint this approach is scandalous

P
Userlevel 1
Badge

Like many others 4 of my 7 Sonos players are now “Legacy”, 2 Connects and 2 Play 5’s.

Can anyone else see the irony though?

Of the 2 Connects - 1 is connected to a 25+ year old Arcam amplifier and 40 year old Kef speakers, the other to a similar aged amplifier and 25 year old speakers.  All of which work as good as new - who’d have thought the weakest link in the chain would be the newest?

Having been a Sonos evangelist and encouraged family, friends and work colleagues to buy it I’m now embarrassed and ashamed to have done so.  They’ll never get another penny from me and if there is any justice this will turn out to be their Gerald Ratner moment!

 

U
Userlevel 4
Badge

 

this is precisely the actions we can and should take…. i.e spread it wider than this forum.

 

I think there are enough of us to leave 1 star reviews that the average product ratings will drop to 1 or 2 on major product review sites. They have significant impact on people’s buying habits and we should warn others before they potentially part with several thousand or hundreds of pounds/dollars for a system that will be knackered in a few years.

UKUser can I ask on which website this screen shot is from so I can register and contribute to Sonos’ average product rating?

Why don't Sonos commit to letting me play Spotify and some radio through my existing system? I know it can be done and dont give me the bumfff about memory, I have a degree in electronics and life in software dev. I (like many others here) know that there are easy solutions available to continue making your products WORK…. I am not talking about new features, I dont give a toss about new features… I can live without them, I am just talking about maintaining a few basic features. WHY are you trashing my £2k system?

 

These are the recent ratings for the Android Sonos App

 

Presumably there is a similar facility for the iPhone App

 

There is also a head of steam building up on the Trustpilot site - 11 pages of 1 star reviews and counting:

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.sonos.com

C
Userlevel 4
Badge +2

Quote from Sonos Annual Report: Our product roadmap is largely focused on delivering products with voice control.

Might be a nice to have, but not what I bought into Sonos for and not something I’m particularly bothered about. And still not a reason legacy products should stop working - no-one expects them to miraculously become voice-controllable. 

For voice control you have Alex and the like …. besides how many listening devices from different manufactures does somebody want in the house ?

D
Userlevel 7
Badge +1

With it being written on the investors reports and filings page I’m pretty sure they won’t backtrack. They knew it would cause a fallout… why backtrack now? It would make them look indecisive.

“We may choose to discontinue support for older versions of our products, resulting in customer dissatisfaction that could negatively affect our business and operating results.
We have historically maintained, and we believe our customers may expect, extensive backward compatibility for our older products and the software that supports them, allowing older products to continue to benefit from new software updates. We expect that in the near term, this backward compatibility will no longer be practical or cost-effective, and we may decrease or discontinue service for our older products. If we no longer provide extensive backward capability for our products, we may damage our relationship with our existing customers, as well as our reputation, brand loyalty and ability to attract new customers.
For these reasons, any decision to decrease or discontinue backward capability may decrease sales and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.”

 

Form 10-K page 16 https://investors.sonos.com/reports-and-filings/default.aspx

 

 

D

Like the many other unhappy owners of sonos hardware I will not invest in new replacement hardware. I will use the system until it stops working. I can no longer recommend their products. Really poor show. Rip sonos. 

L
Userlevel 5
Badge +1

https://forums.whathifi.com/threads/sonos-everything-you-need-to-know.111173/

 

The link above shows the first of over 30 reviews I will be leaving on various consumer review websites. Each review I write will be unique so it doesn't throw up any flags with duplicate content with the search engines or websites themselves. If you feel like I do, I suggest you write some honest reviews outside of this website yourself.

In the same way I fully committed to Sonos when I bought 6 of their devices for over £2k, I am now fully committed to telling people how they operate. 

While it's great to vent our fury here we are talking to a closed audience, ie just other cheesed off owners, we should be telling non sonos owning people who may be thinking of “investing” in Sonos what will happen.

Never have I been so distrusting of any company or shocked by the immoral, anti-environmental, dirty, money grabbing tactics as I am now with Sonos (even Ryanair comes second place to Sonos)

 

If the link is removed, here is the text from my review….

“I have been a hifi enthusiast for over 30 years. I finally sacrificed sound quality for convenience and bought 6 pieces of Sonos equipment for plugging into existing legacy Amps and bringing sound to new rooms.

The experience has been painful with intermittent reliability but the main issue is that after spending over £2k ALL of that investment is now obsolete since Sonos have just announced they are withdrawing support for my devices, they offer 30% of the value against new products (yeah right, as if I am going to do that)

Sonos are the only equipment manufacturer I can think of that you buy a product from, then the company decides to effectively destroy it remotely (other than Apple of course). they are effectively hiring the device to you with payment upfront for 5 years. Its a recurring revenue model that is hidden from the consumer.

My Dual, Thorens, Nakamichi, B&W, REL, Denon equipment still works very well, some of it after 35 years and if it needs a new drive belt etc I can buy one for a few pounds or have the equipment repaired, (although I've never had too)

I urge anyone considering buying Sonos to look at alternatives unless they they are prepared for their investment to disappear via a remote update at a random stage in the future. The nagging fear in the back of your mind that would prevent me from enjoying anything whilst I owned it. The fact that a company I once believed in do this deliberately to their early adopters, brand ambassadors leaves me seething.

I will never buy sonos again, I recommend nobody else starts...”

 

In the very, very, very small chance that someone from Sonos actually reads this I urge you to keep my system working, I don't want new features, I don't want my sonos to boil the kettle, I don't want to talk to my stereo, for it to tell me a joke or the temperature in Jakarta or the next bus to Kings Cross or the significance of the number 42…...I just want it to play spotify and occasionally some radio stations. Comon, how hard is that?

 

 

Ohhh, I forgot to mention that I also have a few Roberts and Hacker transistor radios that date from the 60’s, guess what…. THEY STILL WORK!!!! 

I even have a very early Russian pocket radio alarm from 60’s or 70’s, guess what IT STILL WORKS! “incredible” you say, “it can't be” you say! but it IS true. They all work despite being over 50 years old! Its really true, they really do still work!

Time to buy a google chromecast or similar for £10 to £20 ish and plug it into my 60year old radio for a near Sonos like experience!!!! (the sound on these old radios is amazing) google also lets you play to multiple rooms using chromecast and the best part is that I can still use the spotify app (what I use to control my spotify equipment since the Sonos App is so crap) that will cast to multiple chromecasts simultaneously so I don't even have to change my UI.

 

A
Userlevel 2

Heart goes out to Ryan.  Tough job and doing your best.  

A
Userlevel 6
Badge +10

So what it’s 9.30 in CA ?… think that’s were they based.

Another day …. let’s see if there is any word of comfort today for their loyal and high spending customer base today.

Two days of silence bar Ryan doing his best to support. Let’s hear from decision makers with a way forward.

We all angry sure,  … but a direction, a message, a modification of approach...ANYTHING would be good!

Sonos senior management can we have a brief please? 

J

Appalling. 
 

I have kitted out my home with Sonos products as my research at the time suggest a quality product and company. As with everyone else, I have been dumped by your company. 
 

My PS4 is older than the Sonos system, yet they are happily supporting updates. 
 

Anyone know of or interested in starting a class action lawsuit?

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