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

J

It is not too late for them to go back, just have one apps supporting legacy and new stuff and just create good features and people will upgrade. I am willing to upgrade but not with this split S1 and S2 and S3 and S4 stuff. Keep it simple one app and go back to your grassroot

This strategy failed and wont get existing people to buy more Sonos

The strategy was to get the extremely limiting older devices out of the way so that the system could develop and remain market-leading.  Absolutely essential.  No chance of them going back.  Less than no chance.

N
Userlevel 1
Badge +2

Despite your promise not to you’ve  essentially bricked my system. (Macintosh OS Sonos version 10 auto updates disabled.) How and WHY are you getting to my application On my iPad and iPhone!?


This morning all I can see is a screen telling me I need to find my speakers. Yesterday my speakers work fine. I can still play music but I can no longer control anything.

 

 What’s up with that?

melvimbe

Despite your promise not to you’ve  essentially bricked my system. (Macintosh OS Sonos version 10 auto updates disabled.) How and WHY are you getting to my application On my iPad and iPhone!?


This morning all I can see is a screen telling me I need to find my speakers. Yesterday my speakers work fine. I can still play music but I can no longer control anything.

 

 What’s up with that?

 

If you can play music, then it’s not bricked.  What you’re describing sounds like a network issue, most likely IP address conflicts.  Quick fix is to unplug your router and your speakers, then plug back in your router, followed by the speakers.  This should resolve conflicts.  For a more permanent fix, reserve IP addresses in your router.

Danny
P
Userlevel 1

Pure greed. Sonos got funding, and now they’re looking for ways to squeeze profits out of existing users to increase revenue and valuation. Wrong move. Sonos just killed its customer loyalty. 
 

i woke up this morning to find that over $3,000 of “legacy” products no longer work cohesively or get updates. My newer Sonos products (which are inferior quality btw) don’t function with the whole house. Wow. How long before the $2,000+ in newer products doesn’t work right?!! I will not spend another penny on your products. And I’m leaving reviews warning new users wherever I possibly can. DO NOT BUY!!

Have you actually read the information about legacy kit?.  There is still a spported S1 system for all your kit to work with so what’s with the lies?  Just trolling probably.  Grow up.

In practical terms it is bricked. Here is why. I bought my first Sonos products over a decade ago, and I bought it because it did two things well. First, it streamed both my music library and paid streaming services through a large old house with minimal drop off. Second, anyone could pick up the remote and use it. They were expensive then, but worth it for the hassle free quality.
 

Now, we are far from that. I have to run two apps (which are slow to interact on a mesh Sonos network that has hardwired components) to work a whole house system that technically is not a whole house anymore at a cost that was in excess of $8k. In addition, I suffer constant drop offs that I didn’t have until the last year or so, and it is no longer a snap for my family or friends to use because of the need for two apps. 
 

So, yeah it’s bricked for the reasons I bought the product line, and after countless recommendations and thousands spent, I’ll no longer buy another Sonos product, and I’ll strongly recommend against buying it while the current C-suite is in place.

A

Music from legacy product stopped and this s***!!!  

 

 

 

*Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the community guidelines.*

G
Userlevel 4
Badge

Guess “Sonos” wish to go out of business!

If I’d have known that the company would pull this stunt at the start I’d have never bought one, and most certainly not the five that followed. alas the original concept of a speaker system that you add to as time goes on was good, but as they’ve practically changed the logo to  “it’s a system you have to add to as time goes on, because we’ll brick them every so often” I won’t buy another.

Well done sONOS, from an ex-loyal customer!

Airgetlam

Legacy products, using the S1 software, continue to operate exactly as they always have. There has been no reduction in functionality. 

If you’re experiencing an issue, I’d encourage you to open a new thread in the ‘Ask a Question’ area of the forum, and provide details of your situation, so that you can get help in resolving your issue.

Bruce
T

Legacy products, using the S1 software, continue to operate exactly as they always have. There has been no reduction in functionality. 

If you’re experiencing an issue, I’d encourage you to open a new thread in the ‘Ask a Question’ area of the forum, and provide details of your situation, so that you can get help in resolving your issue.

 

Sorry but this is absolutely false.  Legacy products will **not** to continue to operate for much longer.  If updates are not continued for the S1 controller then it will cease to work on new computers / phones / tablets due to OS version incompatibility, and not being able to run the S1 controller will render my system useless. 

Sonos must commit to at least minimal updates to the S1 controller.  There should be no requirement that I stop updating one of my computers for the sole reason of not bricking my Sonos system.

K

 

If updates are not continued for the S1 controller then it will cease to work on new computers / phones / tablets due to OS version incompatibility, and not being able to run the S1 controller will render my system useless. 

Sonos must commit to at least minimal updates to the S1 controller.  There should be no requirement that I stop updating one of my computers for the sole reason of not bricking my Sonos system.

Does it really work like that - I know that the Sonos controller will not work with older OS but does the reverse, in general, apply? Do older apps not continue to work on the latest OS on phones or computers?

That said, Sonos has committed to minimal updates to the extent needed to keep the S1 controller at present functionality.

106rallye
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

This is new. The usual complaint is that the Sonos app will not work on older OS's….

T

Apples program is that you send them the device at their cost and they ensure it’s recycled. 
Sonos’ program is that they render the old device useless, declare the recycling to be the users’ responsibility and [green]wash their hands of the problem.

They’re not directly comparable policies, are they?

 

Sonos offers the same policy.  You can ship your units to them at their cost and they will recycle them.  It's not mandatory, but you can choose to do it.

Fair enough, I didn’t realise that. Ok, objection to that aspect of the scheme resolved. 

There are other than sonos with these offers., this man ******* offers than trade-in, recycling apples.

 

 

*Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the community guidelines.*

N
Badge +1

Well this has made me rethink the entire concept.

This will happen again when the newer ones are not up to the job in a few years.

If I spend a load of money trading in my old Sonos, that is just kicking the can down the road.

Clearly I’m not going to add more Sonos to my house now.

Patrick, the CEO says:  “I hope that you’ll forgive our misstep, and let us earn back your trust.​​​​​” - OK, give me a 70% discount on replacing my Play 5’s and you will have earned my trust back. But you’re not that sorry are you? Only 30% sorry….

W
Userlevel 1

I am a long time Sonos user and have spent thousands of dollars on your products. I am no longer going to spend a single penny on your products any more. 
 

I don’t even own these ”obsolete” products. I’m just worried now you’re going to do the same thing to the speakers I bought only 4 years ago. I can’t trust any speaker you sell today will become obsolete in a couple of years. I want my system to continue to receive updates and work with older speakers.

 

What a shame. I felt so much loyalty to Sonos


I totally agree - Brand suicide

W
Userlevel 1

Well this has made me rethink the entire concept.

This will happen again when the newer ones are not up to the job in a few years.

If I spend a load of money trading in my old Sonos, that is just kicking the can down the road.

Clearly I’m not going to add more Sonos to my house now.

Patrick, the CEO says:  “I hope that you’ll forgive our misstep, and let us earn back your trust.​​​​​” - OK, give me a 70% discount on replacing my Play 5’s and you will have earned my trust back. But you’re not that sorry are you? Only 30% sorry….


Agree - you cant trust Sonos with such moves

W
Userlevel 1

Rethink your market strategy Sonos or loose all your customers

N
Badge +2

Since this thread has so much history, I’ll simply say that my first and only purchase was three Sonos Ones.  Seeing this and all the topics not responded to is ending any future purchases, you lost selling 5 current speakers from me alone by Spring 2021.  Guess I will converse with you all again after Sonos goes belly up and is bought out.  Or maybe not!

106rallye
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

@nacunis Can I ask why? Your One's are still in production and will be supported for (at least) five years after production  ends. Buying elsewhere will not get you a better guarantee, certainly not at this price point.

There's a lot to say about how Sonos communicated this from the beginning, but the unavoidable split between S1 and S2, and promising to keep supporting devices that where bought as far back as 2006 should be applauded.

W
Userlevel 1

I myst admit - Sonos support has been very helpful. I got all my units back to function on S1.

N
Badge +2

All, those in the community who define the Sonos customer base as those who only do streaming services versus local files for music have been clear, saying that support and product development for local collections are irrelevant, tell me a lot.  That their profits are from a userbase that only does streaming (90% of the community) are probably right.  Why should Sonos develop any code changes for only 10% of their community?  People who suggest changes don’t even get knowledge of receipt of the suggestion and for sure, as far as I can tell, there has only been one change in 3 years that I wanted, Four others remain totally unaddressed, unreceived, and not rejected.  That’s not a company I choose to do business with.    Certainly, if a speaker or system fails, I would call for support.  My issue is with product development and customer communications/

N
Badge +2

As for 106rallye, I am glad you get the service you expect.  My expectations are different and are not even being considered.  I wish you many years with Sonos.

J

Since this thread has so much history, I’ll simply say that my first and only purchase was three Sonos Ones.  Seeing this and all the topics not responded to is ending any future purchases, you lost selling 5 current speakers from me alone by Spring 2021.  Guess I will converse with you all again after Sonos goes belly up and is bought out.  Or maybe not!

People on this forum have been predicting the demise of Sonos for at least as long as I have been a forum member.

The most common reason given is that Sonos has not implemented some pet feature that the poster thinks is essential.

Eventually, I suppose, somebody may be right, but don't hold your breath  

F
Userlevel 1

I think “unavoidable” and “applauded” are 2 great words when used in the correct context. 
I have seen no data that reflects “unavoidable” challenges.

Only challenges that would have to be addressed if they were part of your goals to accomplish your project. 
Applauds for completing their project which was to get into the streaming market. To increase profits.

So, let’s look at it clearly. They wanted to get into the streaming profits and sell new items.
As a owner of 2  first generation  iPads I will tell you one way to guaranty no sales to to insure the older item can not get updates or “survive” in the ever increasing world of technology. 

Sonos executed the playbook.
They flaw with this playbook is if you have over a dozen s1 items and 1 dies and you have to replace it, the square peg does not fit in your round hole. Then why does the old customer return? They don’t. They go buy apple or google. The s1 users are now locked into a painful transition that well happen because things break. I have a lot of Sonos, but I don’t know anybody who has the money to go replace dozens of Sonos items at one time. And who would after Sonos just proven that they would push you into this position. 
Sonos didn’t do a bad thing by trying to progress, they did a bad thing by the feeling that they gave there previous customers and those previous customers are your returning customers if they continue to feel the warm and fuzzy. 
Just an observation. 

J

Well, glad we have revisited this one again.

T

I have two Play 3 and one Play 1that I purchased less than 5 years ago. I am furious that none of them work any longer. The new app keeps dropping the speakers from my system.  I will NEVER (and yes I’m yelling) buy another Sonos product again, nor will I recommend to my friends.  The post above from Sonos stated that the older products will continue to work. Liars or just poor planning? Either way, no more Sonos for me!

J

These speakers work perfectly.  They are even fully  supported,  not legacy. A local issue that you could resolve fairly easily if you tried rather than rant on here.

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