Answered

complaint about the End of Software Updates

  • 22 January 2020
  • 62 replies
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62 replies

B
Userlevel 1

OMG, just adding my voice. You really blew it. Now I am stuck with a useless ZP90 even after you said you are no longer doing this. Sonos owes me an explanation and compensation.

jgatie

My comments about Bluesound were an afterthought.  Did you want to comment about the main point of this thread? Like how I’ve spent several thousands of dollars, and now Sonos doesn’t want to support the product despite there being very little innovation in the past 10 years?

 

10 years?  The iPhone app, the Android app, TV connected devices, surround sound, Trueplay, Voice control, direct play from other apps, Airplay 2; all developed in the last 10 years.  Being a touch hyperbolic, no? 

And yes, the abandoning of legacy units sucks, as do the solutions.  But that is the reality with modern smart devices.  Anybody with an inkling of knowledge in hardware and software knew this day was coming.  Nothing anyone can do about it except stay at legacy, split their system, or upgrade.  Not really that much to talk about.  Complain? Sure.  But I personally don’t rage at nameless faceless corporations, nor do I hold their support staff to task for things out of their control.  Therefore, I tend not to whinge on support forums.  Rather than that, I vote with my wallet. 

Besides, you already stated that you were never buying another Sonos product.  The subject seems pretty closed. Which is why I concentrated on your stated alternative.  

jgatie

The problem is no one trusts Sonos PR spinning their own announcement about ditching support for their original and best customers.

 

Shouldn’t one wait until they actually break their word before going off half cocked? 

B
Userlevel 3

The problem is no one trusts Sonos PR spinning their own announcement about ditching support for their original and best customers.

 

Shouldn’t one wait until they actually break their word before going off half cocked? 

They already did! 

In reality, they should sell the speakers with a subscription. For example, buy a speaker for $500 with a 3 year software subscription, and then you have to pay monthly or buy a new one to keep your subs going (the updates). This would have been much more honest than saying the speakers "are old" and can't support playing music, which is a lie - they can keep them going basically for as long as they want to. 

But then, that would require guts to actually say it - and a lot more competence to implement it. Would I pay, most likely yes - since the expectations would be CLEAR. 

Believe me, I never comment online, I find it absurd most of the time - but Sonos botched this. They built a customer base with certain expectations, and they are choosing a dishonest way to change (blame technology, instead of admitting they need more cash).

 

C

I am terribly disappointed that I cannot  use my speakers any longer due to the software up date . So unfair that I am pushed into getting new ones or do without music. If I need to buy new ones , sorry to say it won’t be Sonos. 

When the upgrade was offered why not tell it won’t work with my current system . I would not have loaded it .

N
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Why not just continue with the S1 version of the app?   Your speakers will still work. No-one is forcing you to buy anything new, nor to stop using what you’ve already bought. The app is just a controller for the speakers. 

jgatie

What would you buy instead of Bluesound?

 

Every smart speaker with embedded software is going to suffer the same fate eventually.  

G
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

The Connect:Amps which are moving to legacy in May came out in 2010, and the newer version of them from 2015 is still considered a modern unit. These older devices just don’t have the needed hardware to keep up with the demands of the software coming later this year.


This is the key part of Ryan’s answer for me. A legacy ZP100, ZP120 or Connect:Amp could have its hardware upgraded. 
 

That’s an option Sonos needs to look at. If they started to offer it now, they’d increase the chances of having the bulk of the uptake done and returned by May. 
 

If it means that upgraded kit won’t have mics and so won’t be Alexa/whatever compliant, I bet a huge proportion of customers would not be remotely concerned. 

F
Userlevel 4
Badge +1

i agree

why not design an adapter or “bridge” so that the old will interface with the new and continue as a whole system

id buy it ….i say again …. id buy it !!!!

ps

I don't give hoot about all the future advance updates ,

Don't want them at the expense of my working system

N
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

They don’t have a plan for legacy devices. I have an email from them saying they are working to see if they can find a way to allow my Amp (less than 4 years Old) continue to work with my other Sonos devices. If not I will have to run two separate systems or upgrade my two Amps.

Customer Service. NOT!

 

 

N
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

Not what your support told me. 
I was informed by them that the two Amps would probably have to be in sepgroups if they cannot find a way for them to remain in the existing system. 

N
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

A CEO who has a novel way of trying to increase sales by making equipment obsolete after less than 4 years and offers a pathetic discount to get you to upgrade. Not my favourite company at the moment. 

Ryan S
Userlevel 7
Badge +26

Thanks for sharing your feedback, everyone. We’re listening and answering what questions we can in the main thread. Let’s try to keep the discussion for this topic in one place.

We’re committed to supporting players for 5 years after we stop selling them and have a track record of supporting them for far longer than that. The Connect:Amps which are moving to legacy in May came out in 2010, and the newer version of them from 2015 is still considered a modern unit. These older devices just don’t have the needed hardware to keep up with the demands of the software coming later this year.

 

As to the Play:1 and Sub you mentioned, the Sub is still sold today and the Play:1 was only just recently no longer sold. These devices do have the needed hardware specs for what’s currently planned and don’t have any listed legacy flag for them right now.

 

It’s also worth noting that if you have legacy devices, they’ll keep on working as they currently do, just without updates. Eventually some features that are reliant on connected services will stop working and they won’tbe able to get new features.

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
N
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

Just posting what Sonos are telling me!

S

I do hope Sonos get the message. They are alienating a lot of loyal customers. I have spent about £1,200 on Sonos equipment over the last few years. I am not happy that it will shortly be junk. This old version of Sonos equipment was was still being sold by John Lewis staff until 9 months ago with Sonos badged staff. Do the customers they sold to realise they were being conned?

 

Unless Sonos come up with a better offer or continue to support my investment in them I will not be buying from them again and I will not be recommending them. I feel guilty for promoting Sonos to my friends and embarressed that they have also purchased on my recommendation. Sonos is going to loose alot of business by word of mouth. 

  

N
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

Not helped in the slightest but thanks for the effort. 

Ryan S
Userlevel 7
Badge +26

I appreciate the sentiment KinPin. What I’m saying is that you should expect that Play:1 to get software updates for at least five years after when we last sold it, which is our commitment for supporting players.

Also, that legacy devices, even after they’ve stopped getting software updates, will continue to work as mentioned:
 

...they’ll keep on working as they currently do, just without updates. Eventually some features that are reliant on connected services will stop working and they won’t be able to get new features.

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.
J

 This old version of Sonos equipment was was still being sold by John Lewis staff until 9 months ago with Sonos badged staff. Do the customers they sold to realise they were being conned?

  

I can only assume you think that all Connects and Connect:Amps are legacy, which is completely wrong.  John Lewis isn’t going to have been sitting on Sonos stock for 4 years.  Are you seriously suggesting that, and what is your evidence?

Sonos should sue you for falsely suggesting that they were conning people.

E

Completely agree Cuhulin. No question the original announcement was boggled, but improvements in technologies improve life, but leave antiquated products in the scrap pile. Dolby Atmos wasn’t even a dream when the earliest Sonos products were released, how could they possible incorporate updates to these older products? Meanwhile, Apple  intentionally slow/destroy earlier products with “upgrades” and we give them a pass. 

J

Er wireless home theater, play from device (until Apple sabotaged it for iOS only), Trueplay, Voice control (Alexa and Google), removing need for wired device, portable speaker with new Trueplay, Spotify Connect, Airplay 2, hugely expanded streaming services, BLE for setup…

And all the features that came as software updates were free upgrades. 

 

J
Userlevel 4
Badge +3

Very informative.

“This is a chance now to come up with a system that doesn’t cause massive planetary damage in exchange for disposable stuff,” Proctor said. (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3a8dpn/sonos-makes-it-clear-you-no-longer-own-the-things-you-buy)
N

My comments about Bluesound were an afterthought.  Did you want to comment about the main point of this thread? Like how I’ve spent several thousands of dollars, and now Sonos doesn’t want to support the product despite there being very little innovation in the past 10 years?

 

10 years?  The iPhone app, the Android app, TV connected devices, surround sound, Trueplay, Voice control, direct play from other apps, Airplay 2; all developed in the last 10 years.  Being a touch hyperbolic, no? 

And yes, the abandoning of legacy units sucks, as do the solutions.  But that is the reality with modern smart devices.  Anybody with an inkling of knowledge in hardware and software knew this day was coming.  Nothing anyone can do about it except stay at legacy, split their system, or upgrade.  Not really that much to talk about.  Complain? Sure.  But I personally don’t rage at nameless faceless corporations, nor do I hold their support staff to task for things out of their control.  Therefore, I tend not to whinge on support forums.  Rather than that, I vote with my wallet. 

Besides, you already stated that you were never buying another Sonos product.  The subject seems pretty closed. Which is why I concentrated on your stated alternative.  

The fact that it took the CEO of Sonos all of 2 days to issue an apology email to me tells me this isn’t a faceless company, and that my complaints are being heard.  But of course you left that out.  Sonos employee or mole maybe?

jgatie

The fact that it took the CEO of Sonos all of 2 days to issue an apology email to me tells me this isn’t a faceless company, and that my complaints are being heard.  But of course you left that out.  Sonos employee or mole maybe?

 

Nope, not an employee at all.  That nonsense was debunked in the main thread on this subject.  In short, employees are marked as such. 

And so what if the CEO issued an apology, you don’t trust Sonos, and you are “not buying one more piece of Sonos equipment.  Ever.”  Right?  

O
Userlevel 2
Badge +1

Sonos and  Denon settled out of court and HEOS continues to be sold.

Besides Bluesound, Sonos is also suing Google and has publicly stated that they will sue Amazon after Google. 

The lawsuits aren't surprising since Google and Amazon are reportedly out selling Sonos big time. 

There are a lot of reasons to not buy Bluesound but being sued by Sonos wouldn't factor too high for me, ymmv. (But TBH I would never buy Bluesound)

 

What would you but instead of Bluesound?

 

The other poster is correct in that Bluesound owners will suffer similar fate as Sonos when it comes to obsolescence.

 I'm going to go with something different similar to what is being described in the Pragmatic Brexit advanced discussion based around a server and cheaper smart front ends without vendor lock in that will still allow me to use my Sonos devices I already own.

 

 

melvimbe

The Brand is dead. Worst strategic mistake made by a growth tech. Every new purchase will now be BOSE. I can integrate through alexa. Just sadly am not able to pair brands. 

 

 

Bose is actually on it’s second line of smart speakers.  They decided not to bother trying to integrate their legacy and modern products together, so they just ended the first line...no new functionality, and started a new one.    

 

 

 

The CEO needs to do considerably more and i can only assume he and the board are just STUPID to not think this will affect loyalty and SALES.

 

 

Of course the CEO knew this would not go over well.  It was even mentioned in the investors report. 

 

 

Anyone thinking of buying a new Sonos will be thinking ‘wait my product is redundant in 5 years and not future proof’

 

 

It is a minumum of 5 years after the device has stopped production. There is some future proofing, as the legacy have gotten many features that were not available originally.  And honestly, anyone buying a smart speaker, really any device that is software base, should consider the fact that it will not last forever.

 

One can only hope that the cash hungry board, through their lack of care for loyal customers will be hit hard where it hurts in their dividends and share price. Because this is the only way these types will learn.

 

 

I don’t think that will do customers any good.

 

Sonos Board have you not heard of ‘competition, consulting customers, consumer choice’ ? wake up and smell the smart speaker market!

 

Danny
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