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Our Sonos set up:
We have nine Sonos units around the house. All are "S1" and all are currently working on ver 10.3
They are controlled by eight android tablets, all running the Sonos App V10.3. 
Most tablets are have a "final update available" of Android 6 (none more recent), an odd one or two are still Android 5.
ie we cannot update the android versions without replacing the tablets (which is a total waste).

Issue
Every time Sonos is opened on one the tablets the user gets a "red button" with the suggestion to "update".
If someone presses "update" on an android 6 tablet controller will it
a) Update to the most recent version COMPATIBLE with android 6
b) Update to Sonos version 11 on the Sonos units, try AND FAIL to update the android tablets, leaving the tablets with less than full control

If a) Great
If b) Can I disable the "update" option, because the tablet controllers are used by all the household (and a red button can be very tempting to a teenager or his friend)

Finally, if we 
c) get another (S1 only, with older firmware) device to complete our home system
   What will happen when we try to add the S1 unit to the system ?
d) get another tablet/phone with Android 7 or more
   What will happen when we install the Sonos app on the new Android control device?

Can anyone help on this ?  Should I post it somewhere else ? 


Hi.  Essentially, all updates will take the Sonos system and all controllers to the latest version of the Sonos firmware (currently 11.1). An 11.1 controller on an Android 6 device will have limited functionality, but may still be fine for day-to-day playing of music, but not system admin tasks.

In principle you only need one fully supported controller to handle the admin tasks.

I suggest you wait and see the details of the S1 setup.  If your Android 6 controllers will still allow some control you may then want to update everything to the latest firmware and buy one fully supported device.  But wait and see.

 


Thanks for answering. So it is important not to update as I will loose some control (we don’t currently have any Android 7).

Is there anyway way I can hide the option to update, it appears a a large “red dot” that can be very tempting to your average teenager.(or average teenager friends).

Thanks


You can turn of auto updates in the Sonos app and be sure not to update the app itself on any phone connected to your Sonos LAN.  However you can’t stop others in your household doing so.

 

If I were in your position I would buy a cheap Amazon Fire tablet. The fire 7 is £49 and often goes for £29 in sales.  You could still use your other tablets for general Sonos use and have the Fire tablet for “admin” functions.  That way you have the latest Sonos version and security updates etc.  This would alleviate the fear of the update being done accidentally?  


I don’t think there is any way to get rid of or hide  the update thing - at least, i don’t know any way.

I don’t think it is clear yet whether you will be able to transition to the S1 environment when it comes in, if you are not on the latest Sonos software at that point.  Even if you can, you will not benefit from future bug fixes and security updates.

Personally, I would say you SHOULD update your system provided your controllers will retain a reasonable amount of functionality for music play under S1 (which we don’t know yet).  An Amazon Fire or other budget tablet costs next to nothing - a small price to pay for a simpler and better life, IMO.  

I am not trying to tell you what to do, just expressing an opinion.  Your call, obviously.

Edit: beaten to it by @bockersjv !

 


I suspect anything Android 5 or 6 is not going to work at all with S2. We can only hope they will work with S1 (limited functionality).


Hi All,

Thanks for you advise. 

I want the tablets to continue as they are (will compete functionality) rather than having to have a separate unit for “admin type” tasks. So will leave 10.3 on the controllers for the moment.

Next issue (sorry there is always a next issue).  I have just got two new laptops (windows 10).  If I install the current sonos on these laptops will this incurr the loss of functionallity on the tablet controllers (andrioid 6, running sonos app 10.3, controlling S1 units), or, will the tablets still function as they do at the moment.

Thanks

 


You’re not going to be able to get copies of the 10.3 controllers to install on the new machines.