Retired Sonos Staff

End of Software Updates for Legacy Products

Related content:Software

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Please note that we’ve created a new thread with some clarifications to questions that have come up several times in this thread. Please see here to continue the discussion if you still have any questions. The information contained in this thread is outdated and may no longer be accurate.

We have some important news regarding our oldest Sonos devices shared on the Sonos Blog today. The text of that blog post is being included here for your convenience:

Starting in May 2020, some of our oldest products will no longer receive software updates or new features. We want to explain why and your options.

When we first set out almost 20 years ago to invent the technology to easily listen to any song in any room, most of the ways we listen to music today did not exist. In fact, the first Sonos products were introduced before the first iPhone was announced and when Myspace still ruled social media.

In order to invent multi-room music and smart speakers, we combined the worlds of high-fidelity audio and computing. Every Sonos product has a microprocessor, flash memory, and other hardware components typically found in computers and smartphones.

Since launching our first products, technology has advanced at an exponential rate; from streaming services and voice assistants to wireless networking and Bluetooth capabilities. Through all of this transformation, we have continued delivering new features via software updates. We’re extremely proud of the fact that we build products that last a long time, and that listeners continue to enjoy them. In fact, 92% of the products we’ve ever shipped are still in use today. That is unheard of in the world of consumer electronics. However, we’ve now come to a point where some of the oldest products have been stretched to their technical limits in terms of memory and processing power.

This coming May, these legacy products—our original Zone Players, Connect, and Connect:Amp (launched in 2006; includes versions sold until 2015), first-generation Play:5 (launched 2009), CR200 (launched 2009), and Bridge (launched 2007)—will no longer receive software updates or new features.

Today the Sonos experience relies on an interconnected ecosystem, giving you access to more than 100 streaming services, voice assistants, and control options like Apple AirPlay 2. Without new software updates, access to services and overall functionality of your sound system will eventually be disrupted, particularly as partners evolve their technology.

To help you through this transition, we’re providing two options:

Option 1: Continue using these legacy products, recognizing that your system will no longer receive software updates and new features.

Option 2: Trade up to a new Sonos product with a 30% credit for each legacy product you replace.

If you’re not sure if your products are affected, you can check in the System tab in your sonos.com-account

If you choose to participate in the trade up program, your legacy products will be put in Recycle Mode, a state that deletes personally identifiable information and prepares these products for e-recycling. Recycle Mode also protects unsuspecting people from buying legacy products that are approaching the end of their useful life and won’t provide the Sonos experience customers expect today. Recycle Mode will only apply to the legacy products listed above.

We ask that you take your legacy products to a nearby certified e-recycling facility. This is the most environmentally friendly way to recycle. That said, if there isn’t a facility in your area, we are happy to pay for you to ship your products back to Sonos for responsible recycling.

Ideally all our products would last forever, but for now we’re limited by the existing technology. Our responsibility here is threefold: build products that last a long time; continually look for ways to make our products more environmentally friendly through materials, packaging, and our supply chain and take responsibility for helping you through the transition once products near the end of their useful life.

We’ve always believed in freedom of choice, whether that means choosing a certain streaming service or way to control your listening experience. We hope the choices provided here—continuing to use these products without new software updates or trading up to our modern products—enable you to make the choice that’s right for you.

We are honored to have a place in your home and want to make sure that we help continue to bring the best experience we can, even when products reach the end of their useful life.

More information.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

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I

IanHRidley

Contributor I

Currently, I believe that having a powered off legacy device wouldn’t prevent an update, assuming everything powered on is modern. But I’ll bring your concerns to the team.

Ryan, please do elevate this concern; and I don’t think I am alone in using a multi zone system with not every zone powered on all of the time, to save electricity consumption on zones not in daily use. In my multi zone system for instance, the bedroom play 1 pair is always on. Now if that were to get an update - and an irreversible one! - simply because the Connect Amp zone is not powered on at the time the update is released, the Connect Amp will be immediately rendered useless.

Or perhaps, I will be ok, because my bedroom 1 pair is now anchored to Sonos net via a wired to network legacy Bridge unit that is always on. Which will make sure that the powered off Connect Amp/Connect don’t end up unwittingly bricked.

I suggest that this issue needs to well managed in the interest of many that may otherwise fall into this trap.

This will be nightmare for me as I have power management on all units and do only activate them when in use!

J

JDredblu

Lyricist I

As someone who has owned Sonos for many years and seen how it has matured and grown , I find this approach to legacy very disappointing. I do understand that memory inserted some years ago will be of limited size and may be filling up.

HOWEVER, we live in a world where just recycling a perfectly serviceable product is not acceptable.

Is it not possible to have the memory replaced by suitable people? I have read your sustainability report , but it strikes me that this is just green wash, you have an opportunity to really be sustainable and it strikes me you are missing it….

N

Nigelthepelican

Contributor I

What a bunch of twats..... I have a £500 play 5 That is 5 years old that is linked to 12 play 1s and a beam and a £600 sub.... how long before they trash the rest of my system too?

Even apple give more notice and provide longer support of hardware than this.... and they are bandits.... as a sonos lifer I'm checking out..…

Sonos are basically encouraging you to expand and invest in building a system and then tearing out the foundations which underpinned it's construction..... causing it all to fall down.

M

Mike111

Lyricist I

The functionality of my Sonos 5 Gen1 has sysematically been taken away from me. I can no longer play my iphone music library through it which is essentially why I bought it. Now Sonos are saying that further functionality will be withdrawn.

I cannot think of any other product purchase to which this happens unless it develops a fault. You wouldn’t buy a car, a vacuum cleaner, a mobile phone etc etc only to find the producers take away its functionality after a relatively short period of time.

My Sonos cost me a lot of money and I cannot afford to upgrade. If I could I would not buy another Sonos as they would probably do this again. How do we know they wouldn’t?

Disgraceful Sonos! Has your country not got Trading Standards?

S

Strengfellows

Avid Contributor I

Hi everybody,

I think this is not only very bad news, it is even worse and very customer unfriendly !!

Sonos should at the same time come out with an offer with, offers you like

30% discount on a new device when you hand in your old device !

That is how you keep your OLD customers satisfied and how Sonos should act

in order to save the environment !!

And not give them these odd Choise to slowly die if you do not buy new.

I have 2 systems with ca. 30 devices in Total

I might as well change brand !! I am very pissed off !!

MINUS 100 Points SONOS !!!

chickentender

I was more at ease with all of this earlier today, but I’ve stewed on it more and more throughout…
This is just largely unprecedented in many ways.

30% rebate to upgrade to current gen units, effectively sledgehammering the existing device into landfill, unusable to anyone as the device promised at the onset. GARBAGE
Leave everything as-is and be excluded from all product updates and improvements that were promised as part of the ecosystem at the onset. GARBAGE
Silo your modern devices away from your legacy devices so that they cannot interact with one another within the ecosystem that was promised at the onset. GARBAGE

Time to take out the garbage. (note: in this case “garbage” roughly translates to “hundreds or thousands of dollars”)

S

Sparkyboots

Enthusiast I

What a bunch of twats..... I have a £500 play 5 That is 5 years old that is linked to 12 play 1s and a beam and a £600 sub.... how long before they trash the rest of my system too?

Even apple give more notice and provide longer support of hardware than this.... and they are bandits.... as a sonos lifer I'm checking out..…

Sonos are basically encouraging you to expand and invest in building a system and then tearing out the foundations which underpinned it's construction..... causing it all to call down.

# boycottsonos take it to twitter they can't edit posts there

K

Kumar

This will be nightmare for me as I have power management on all units and do only activate them when in use!

As of now it appears that you will have to leave one legacy unit powered on all the time to prevent the rest of such from being bricked via an update that slips past unwittingly.

S

stevewestern

Avid Contributor I

Like so many here, I bought into the Sonos system in the very early days and have sold the company to several friends.

Like so many here, I have several items that will become bricks in a few months.

Like so many here, unless they change what they are doing I will no longer be a Sonos customer, nor will I recommend them to anyone.

I do not understand the thinking behind offering a miserable 30% on trading up - a (much) larger percentage might have made a difference.

Sadly, like so many here I will be looking into alternatives over the next few months.

K

keats

Contributor I

£2500 effectively written off in one email! I first started buying Sonos components early 2000 and have never had a bad word to say about them until a recent purchase of the new AMP which was a complete failure along with their initial attempt at support. Thankfully the product was replaced and my faith restored along with it, just a shame it was so short lived.

Even more so that I’ve been a big promoter of Sonos products amongst friends and colleagues claiming that their support was second to none. I now find myself sat at work with a bunch of p!$$ed of colleagues and not so many friends after that little bombshell!

I completely understand the need for improvements / continued development, and working in a technology role I know that at some point products need to be deemed legacy and phased out, however there’s a right and wrong way to do, unfortunately Sonos, you’ve chosen the wrong way on this occasion.

After seeing so many enraged customer responses maybe you’ll consider putting more effort into developing the App, surely individual zone players could run in a ‘legacy mode’. I’m sure customers wouldn’t have an issue with running half their systems components within a mode that offers reduced features.

And for customers who have purchased these legacy products within the last few years, a free replacement should be offered. For the rest of us, 30% off RRP is an insult.

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