S1 App - "The OS on this device is no longer supported"

There’s not much you can “do” about it. Once the OS stops being supported by the maker of the OS, Sonos is likely to ‘retire” it as well. You could get/borrow another newer device in case of setup needs, but just using the controller as a player, you should be fine for a while. It’s just not going to get security updates (from either the OS maker, or Sonos) in the meantime.

But it’s an OS that Sonos’ own support article says is supported! The phone is quite happy running Android 7 - it’s just the app that says Android 7 is no longer supported, even though it is supported.

That’s why I would like to “do” something about it!

Your information is stale. Android 8 is now the minimum.

When I first joined this forum a few months ago, I was surprised at how many annoyed and frustrated existing customers Sonos seems to have. But now I’m starting to understand why.

My phone is less than 4 years old and it works absolutely fine. Every app that I have installed on it still works, except the Sonos app, because Sonos have decided that they will cripple it by updating it to remove some of its functions.

The crazy thing about this is that they are annoying users that they don’t need to annoy. My system is just a few months old, controlled via two Android 10 tablets that I bought for the purpose. The only reason that I noticed this is that I wanted to answer a question from another forum member (with an older system) and the easiest way to do that was to use an S1 test system that I’ve had set up for just a few months. I failed because the app won’t let me add a new radio station via my 3 ½ year old phone.

Why does it worry and annoy me? Because it makes me think that in 3 years time, Sonos is going to make me throw away my two purpose-bought Android 10 tablets because Sonos will then cripple the app on those too.

Perhaps you can see my point?

As we never tire of pointing out, most customers -- of which there are millions -- don’t post about how happy they are. Those who come here are a tiny fraction of the user base.

It’s like a hospital: the fact that the bulk of its occupants are sick doesn’t provide an accurate picture of society at large.

Well yes, I understand what forums are like, because I’m on lots of them, but the tone does seem a little different here.

Perhaps you can’t see my point, but it is that we really have got to get away from a situation where we are forced (by app developers) to throw our phones/tablets away every three years.

If there is too much apathy among end-users about the incredible waste of resources that this involves then perhaps legislation will be the only way.

But then again, perhaps companies like Sony, Lenovo, Samsung, etc. have too much political power and that will be used to protect their profits...

It’s tempting to throw brickbats at Sonos, but let’s step back and consider the bigger picture.

These mobile devices have operating systems which are no longer supported. Sonos has in the past been criticised for lax security on its network-intensive products. It’s therefore unsurprising that they remove the more secure bits of the controller -- setup, etc -- from such unsupported platforms, rather than risk an unpatched hole opening up beneath them.

IMO the users’ ire would be better directed at the entities which have left the devices and operating systems unsupported in the first place. In whose commercial interests is such ‘forced obsolescence’? Not Sonos’ certainly. Could it perhaps be the mobile manufacturers who stand to benefit?

Or we can step back even further, and consider the even bigger picture.

And that is that each mobile phone and tablet that we buy uses a lot of critical resources, and recycling of these devices is not well organised.

Now… I don’t mind if a company such as Sonos warns me that an older mobile phone or tablet may not have the resources to handle an app quite as quickly, and it may be less secure - but I can be warned about those things and can make a choice.

What I really object to is that Sonos has made an active decision to cripple the app on my 3 ½ year old phone. I no longer have any choice about using that device, even if I accept performance and security limitations. If I bought it for the purpose of controlling Sonos devices, I have no choice but to stop using it.

That is what I am objecting to.

Would you be willing to pay an annual maintenance fee? This would be more palatable for developers than a buy once, free support forever business model. Also, think of the poor developer who is stuck maintaining Windows XP product -- at no cost to the customer. If this developer must change companies, (possibly due to running out of cash) there is relatively low demand for XP developers and a career is on the line.

I agree that the overall situation wastes a lot of resources.

Another detail is that fancy products require a huge scale. Developing a product can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Unless the product will sell hundreds of millions, cost to the consumer would be out of reach.

And I have an Amazon Fire device bought a mere 21 months ago mainly for Sonos use, which Amazon in their wisdom have seen fit not to advance beyond Fire OS 5.6.8.0, based on the ancient Android 5.1.1. I know who to blame there, and it’s not Sonos.

By the way “cripple” is rather hyperbolic, if you’re speaking of S1 on Android 5/6/7 (and Fire OS 5/6 for that matter). The controller app would be just as useful for everyday music play. It’s the configuration options which have been removed. Another, more up to date, device could be used for those occasional tasks -- even if it was temporarily borrowed.