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Frank_YYZ
Contributor I
September 8, 2016
Question

SONOS V6.4 update kills all iPod 4th generation controllers

  • September 8, 2016
  • 56 replies
  • 6451 views
I've been a SONOS user for any years and have 10 zones, including a subwoofer and L/R pairs. Like others, I was a bit underwhelmed by the new functionality included in update 6.4. It certainly wasn't worth the price I've been forced to pay.

I have three 4th generation iPods that I bought as dedicated SONOS controllers. They are running ios 6.1.6, which is the latest version available. I'm pretty peeved that these controllers no longer work as SONOS controllers once I updated my system to 6.4.

SONOS should design their updates so that they don't shaft their existing users. I can understand that code will inevitably grow beyond the capability of older devices. But, I would be perfectly happy to have controller features frozen for older devices. I'd be content if I wasn't able to access all of the management functions from an older controller. But to have several perfectly good devices suddenly become totally unusable is an outrage.

There are two versions of the SONOS App available in the App Store. The current one requires ios 7, but even the older one doesn't work anymore.

I trust that SONOS will fix this and restore the lost functionality.

I notice that there are few 3rd party paid controller Apps available. SonoPhone is the only one I found that will work with ios 6.1. Are there any others? Do any users out there have any experience with this App? Will it even work with with SONOS 6.4?
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      56 replies

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      pako
      Lyricist II
      September 24, 2016
      Sorry, but your expectations of how long Vendor A needs to support Vendor B's products is really unrealistic. We are talking about a 6 year old device which has not been supported by the manufacturer itself for 4 years. 4 years!

      Ok Means just because I'm 60 years old old age I should die .!!! Interesting.

      Its ok Thanks for taking the time and replying. Have a great weekend
        jdag
        Prodigy III
        September 24, 2016
        Sorry, but your expectations of how long Vendor A needs to support Vendor B's products is really unrealistic. We are talking about a 6 year old device which has not been supported by the manufacturer itself for 4 years. 4 years!

        Ok Means just because I'm 60 years old old age I should die .!!! Interesting.

        Its ok Thanks for taking the time and replying. Have a great weekend

        Come on...you are really stretching on that one.

        Anyhow, you can certainly have your opinion that devices should be supported longer. I will maintain mine that Sonos does a very admirable job in maintaining support longer than most other companies and that the iPod 4th gen support is Apple's issue, not Sonos' issue.

        Have a nice weekend.
        Paulw123
        Paulw123
        Virtuoso
        September 26, 2016
        I am using sonophone app on my 4th gen ipod and it works great, no setup at all, it was seamless, almost too good.....
        Should be good on iphone3 as well.
        https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sonophone/id815251931?mt=8
        Captain Hank
        Lyricist I
        October 11, 2016
        After experiencing the same shock and horror after the update, I installed the SonoPhone app on my iPod and restored the functionality of my Sonos system. Here's a link to the tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvp4QinakL0
        Frank_YYZAuthor
        Contributor I
        October 11, 2016
        I also installed SonoPhone onto my iPods and it works pretty well. If you have a lot of zones within a group, there can be an appreciable lag when changing the volume before all the players settle down, but this may be entirely due to the less than perfect SONOSNET communications in my house. With only a few players within a group, the volume change response is virtually instantaneous.

        It also takes longer to start up than the native SONOS App after the device goes to sleep.

        But it sure beats having several devices suddenly become useless. It's a pretty good solution to a problem that shouldn't have happened.
          eksommer
          Lyricist I
          October 15, 2016
          I, too, have an old iPod Touch 4th generation that I gave to my husband to use as a Sonos controller. About a month ago we got the message noting that we cannot update the controller unless we update the OS, which we all know, of course, we can't do because of Apple.

          I agree Sonos should make an app to run on older devices.

          And shame on ALL companies and their continued lack of regard for consumers' pocketbooks and for the environment. Those of us who can put old electronic devices to good use should be rewarded not punished.
          jgatie
          jgatie
          October 15, 2016
          I, too, have an old iPod Touch 4th generation that I gave to my husband to use as a Sonos controller. About a month ago we got the message noting that we cannot update the controller unless we update the OS, which we all know, of course, we can't do because of Apple.

          I agree Sonos should make an app to run on older devices.

          And shame on ALL companies and their continued lack of regard for consumers' pocketbooks and for the environment. Those of us who can put old electronic devices to good use should be rewarded not punished.

          Once again, Sonos CANNOT write an app to run on older devices. Apple does not allow it. They either write one for older devices with no new functions like lock screen controls or Trueplay, or they abandon old devices in favor of the new functionality. It's not like Sonos has a choice in this, Apple wants you to buy new devices, so they force companies to abandon old devices by only making new functions available in the latest API.
          ratty
          ratty
          October 15, 2016
          I agree Sonos should make an app to run on older devices.
          They have to decide how to allocate finite R&D dollars. Continuing to throw money at a platform which is no longer supported by its manufacturer and can't support newer Sonos controller features (e.g. Trueplay) makes little commercial sense. A third party app called SonoPhone might keep you going. Alternatively a cheap SIM-less Android phone would do the job.

          And shame on ALL companies and their continued lack of regard for consumers' pocketbooks and for the environment. Those of us who can put old electronic devices to good use should be rewarded not punished.

          I'm afraid that's neoliberal capitalism for you. It's going to take more to change the system.
          Sonosssss
          October 15, 2016
          Apple does give options to support older hardware.

          Sonos could make previous versions of the app available for older ios versions through the legacy download option. Users get prompted to download the last version that is supported for their device in the app store. The app will have no new features, but similar to CR200 or CR100 they could still use it to control music. Sonos needs to enable this for it to be available. Apple rolled this feature out in Sept 2013.

          Sonos could also release a second version of the app for older devices, call it classic version or whatever.

          I'm not critical of their decision not to do this, but there are options available, it isn't all Apple's fault.
            Paulw123
            Paulw123
            Virtuoso
            October 17, 2016
            Well at least this forum is usefull for spreading the word about alternative software that will keep old iOS controllers working.
            Maybe a sticky at the top somewhere.
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