Welcome, and good luck Tom. 
 

I’m sure you’ll get a let of responses to your post: let me be first. Can you please re-introduce the “what’s coming in the next few releases” alerts, please? 

Welcome ​@Tom Conrad and good luck.

For me the most frustrating thing about the current period is the lack of clear and transparent communications. It seems that even things that are “set in stone” get drip fed, the latest example being the split of the player software and knowing exactly what speakers are defined as “old”. We know now but why did a user have to ask? 

Speaking personally, the lack of transparency is the thing that has destroyed my trust in Sonos but its a new day and the future is unwritten.

Good to see a decision made.  Looking forward to what comes next!

Hey ​@Gaham,

Appreciate the feedback. We're always looking for ways to improve how we communicate with our users. We might not always get it right, but we’re definitely watching and learning.

FWIW, once that update is live, there will be a support article that lists exactly which players will have a distinct software version.

​@Tom Conrad TBH I think that you are between a rock and a hard place with the communications. You seem to have ended up in the middle ground by releasing enough detail to create doubt but not enough to give certainty, and this, from my experience as a product manager, is definitely the worst of both worlds. 

FWIW, and not wanting to teach my grandmother to suck eggs, I found that the most manageable approaches were very detailed and early or very detailed and late. The problem with option 1, as I’m sure you know, is it means you have to get it right on release day but you do make the users feel engaged. Option 2 works well for interim releases but only really works for larger updates if the user has an option to delay, even if it is only for a short while, a feature that your updater seems not to support as well as it might.

As a user I do not like option 2, for all the reasons that have been raised since May last year, but the product manager in me understand why it is effective. I just think you missed a trick with the user option to delay the update.

Every time I made the wrong choice I wished for a DeLorean and I’m sure you team know that feeling only too well. 

Delaying updates is frustrating for Sonos users since any controller logged into the system can pull an update from the App Store unless individually disabled and o ce pulled it then it wants to update the firmware. It can be changed  but many users don't understand that.

The "no going back" nature of Sonos updates is also an aggravation. Yes you can dig out a saved version of the old app (on Android at least) and sideload it but that is risky and beyond many folks comfort level. Firmware there is no going back.

​@Tom Conrad 

I feel as if Sonos is at a Blockbuster moment in it’s life cycle.  Much too confident in their customer base without realizing a good percentage are ‘have to’s’ (legacy speaker owners financially unwilling to unwind) rather than ‘want to’s’ (legacy speakers owners willing to upgrade or add to existing systems).   I’d wager your headphones sales would be a good litmus test for this. I know I decided on a Bose headphone over Sonos because of the App-aggedon.

Speaking of, I find the App much too laggy for my taste. Every time the “what’s playing” album cover doesn’t update or I have to wait for the speakers to actually increase/decrease volume, I think of the Ace App Update. One last bit, The UI isn’t clean, Its usable but it’s not a modern day UI. The floating search bar? The world uses the Magnifying Glass now.

Good luck ​@Tom Conrad you have a great opportunity to right this ship.

I've lurked here more to watch the trends, honestly to see if I want to invest more in a solid system.

Some things I've noticed if you step back out of the trees and look at the forest.

IOS seems to be problematic.

My system runs on an ORBI mesh and has been rock solid but there seems to be lots of Wi-Fi issues with... less than mainstream networks. Realizing you are using a lot of functionality there if you can calm the integration down lots of issues would go away.

The app thing was something beaten to death and seems to be smoothing out but something that would be useful for me out in the sticks here. I really only stream off of Pandora, which has multiple "stations" residing on my devices for when there is no Internet connection. To be able to use that as a music source in the advent of total loss if connection to the outside world happens would be helpful. Whether it would be integration through the Sonos app or a single BT connection to a Sonos device , playing from the Pandora app, that propagates throughout the Sonos devices on my wifi 

Anyway, good luck and I am looking forward to see what y'all bring forward.

Some models support Bluetooth Grouping.

My advice to ​@Tom Conrad would be that if you post your email address and invite people to contact you then it’s polite to have somebody read and reply to those emails.

Have you checked the Sonos contacts page? His email is right there. 

Yes that was my point, that I sent an email to it 12 days ago and like every other channel it appears to be a one way blackhole.

Most “CEO@” type emails aren’t the actual CEO email and are answered by underlings (if they are answered at all).  They are basically where 10s of thousands of rantings are sent to die, and if a CEO were to actually take the time to read and answer every one, there wouldn’t be enough hours in a year to even make a dent. 

I didn’t for a second imagine that he would read them personally… But I did imagine that they would be read by somebody and as it’s basically the only email address Sonos publish there aren’t a lot of other options.

You have a much better chance of getting an answer here, or (strangely enough) over at reddit.  I’ve been on the other side of CEO@ type emails, and it can be tough to weed out the occasional wheat kernel from the overwhelming (not to mention disturbing to the point of reassessing one’s opinion on the human race) level of chaff.

And frankly, if the CEO was personally reading those emails, and not having a report compiled, if I were a board member, I’d  be looking for a new CEO. I suspect the volume, especially over the last year, would be much to high for any one person, much less the CEO, to respond to each and every one. 

Which isn’t to say a courteous email explaining the issue is a bad thing, but getting a response wouldn’t be my expectation, just hopefully putting an issue on their radar for investigation. 

This is reasonable expectation.  

Hi ​@tomh72 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

I am sorry to hear that you have not heard back from us. I checked your case and you should have received a reply, but something seems to have gone wrong there.

I am following up internally - you should hear from someone soon.

I hope this helps.

Congrats Tom, we are all rooting for you and Sonos’ success.  We love the products.  “it just works” is a big reason we all became Sonos customers and advocates, so I think that prioritization will serve you well for both keeping customers and gaining new ones.  While it sounds simple, getting the system to work every time across diverse networks, speeds, and physical environments is very challenging.  Thank you for this focus! 

A question I have asked myself recently is whether or not I expand my Sonos system. I'm pretty deeply committed at this point and I have areas I would like to add. What stops me at this point is the big question about whether Sonos is going to survive. I truly hope the answer is yes. I don't want to end up with useless hardware if the opposite happens.

I would be more likely to expand my Sonos system if I knew knew that Sonos would be open sourced in the event of a company shutdown. I get that it's not exactly that simple, but some reassurance that my hardware investments won't become bricks would be helpful.  I guess it would be like placing the technology, security, and product details into something like an escrow account just in case.

I realize that Sonos probably doesn't want to even suggest that it might go out of business, but is there any chance that Sonos would be able to craft something to reassure us that if it does go out of business that we still have some options to continue using the hardware?

It’s hard to believe any company could provide such ‘assurance’. 

However, if such a thing were to happen, there’d just be no further changes to your existing Sonos system. They wouldn’t stop working, any more than any other device stops when the company fails. Just like Oldsmobile vehicles continue to be drivable, after GM shuttered that company. 

Keeping the latest App of each line (S1 and S2 so far) available on the App Stores would be all that is really needed by users.

Depending on how Sonos went out of business they might retain no rights to any of their code or intellectual property so releasing it or open-sourcing it (a bit more complicated and with possible ongoing obligations) might not be an option.

If someone saw a way to make it work, buying the rights and moving to either an open source or paid distribution would be possible. Amazon and Google would be my likely suspects, Apple a distant third but maybe.

“Dear Superdry - please could you provide me with some assurances that my T-shirt will still fit me if your business goes under?”

I can’t image a scenario where  Sonos isn’t bought by one of the tech giants when/if that time comes.  As you mentioned, there is too much IP and assets in general that Sonos hold for it to just disappear.

While I appreciate the sentiment that my system would continue to work "as is," I believe that perspective dangerously oversimplifies the nature of the Sonos ecosystem. A Sonos speaker is not a static piece of hardware. It's a network-dependent, software-driven device that relies on a complex cloud infrastructure to function.

I understand that the idea of a company placing its IP in escrow or pre-committing to open-sourcing its code is incredibly unusual and probably without precedent. However, that's precisely why it would be such a powerful and bold statement. It would signal to your most dedicated customers that our significant hardware investment is protected, and that Sonos is so confident in its business model that it can make an extraordinary commitment to its user base.

The analogies to a T-shirt or an Oldsmobile completely miss this crucial point. My primary concern isn't about getting new features or updates—it's about the very real possibility that the system's core functionality would cease to work if Sonos went out of business.

Without a functioning Sonos cloud, the system simply breaks.

Here's what would happen:

 * You couldn't add speakers. The process of setting up a new Sonos speaker or adding one to an existing system is entirely dependent on communication with Sonos's servers. If a single speaker in my home were to fail, I wouldn't be able to replace it or re-add it. My multi-room system would be permanently frozen and unable to expand.

 * Streaming services would stop working. The seamless integration with services like Spotify and Apple Music is managed and facilitated through Sonos's platform. Without the cloud infrastructure to maintain these connections, a system would eventually lose its ability to authenticate with these services, making it impossible to stream music. The speakers would be rendered useless for their main purpose.

 * Security becomes a liability. While my main concern isn't about a lack of new features, it's impossible to ignore the critical role of security patches. An "as is" system is one that is not being maintained. As new cyber threats emerge, an unpatched system becomes progressively more vulnerable, potentially opening up a security hole in my home network.

My original suggestion wasn't a demand, but a way to start a conversation about a legitimate concern. The long-term viability of a smart-home ecosystem is a huge consideration for customers who are making a significant investment in your hardware. Reassuring us that our hardware won't become obsolete in the event of a company shutdown would be a powerful differentiator and a testament to Sonos's commitment to its customers.