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 The information contained in this thread is outdated and may no longer be accurate.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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User811083

Trending Lyricist I

After receiving this email I am currently checking out Bluesound and am seriously impressed.

https://www.bluesound.com/all-products/

Chris Blackwell

A

attacama40

Headliner I

Trite by comparison to the entirely understandable anger being expressed but I was recently in a session that asked what brands we personally associate with. Sounds childish but folks get paid huge money to analyse that sort of stuff and it absolutely affects how we spend our hard earned.

Mine was something like:

Intercontinental Hotels
Emirates
British Airways
Polestar
Boss Black
Sonos
Tumi

Yeah a sickening list in one sense but it is pretty much true good or bad as that may be and I’ve spent a fortune with each of them except Polestar, but guess which one isn’t on the follow up list?

Again, technical arguments aside, Sonos is (or has been) an aspirational product for many of us. A ‘go to’ … it worked, it made you feel good and it was good.

Hands up anyone left feeling good today?

Hands up anyone not affected but now fearing the future?

I get the need for change but a clear road-map should be published TODAY by Sonos on impact. I.e:

If I want to stay ‘as is’ and just enjoy music, what do I do?

If I want to benefit from new whistles and bells, what do I do?

If I want to separate ‘usable old for the landfill’ products from ’shiny ok for now new ones’ how do I do that?

This would lessen the impact on those of us not inclined to actually really think about law suits or contacted the BBC or Sky. Those of us who just want to ‘feel good’ about our purchases and brands.

Ryan S did in fairness try to address some of that message earlier as best he could but with respect we (the high spending customer looking to feel good about product and brand) should expect a much clearer message.

Unless I was unclear ….

I do not feel good about Sonos.

It is a tarnished brand.

I lost thousands of pounds overnight.

I am no longer a Sonos evangelist encouraging others to buy

I am unlikely to spend more pounds …. unless I get a clear road-map similar to the above

I sincerely hope there there were a lot of mobile and conference calls and sms’s amongst Sonos senior management last night.

I also hope there is a large stressed meeting room full of Sonos ‘decision makers’ this morning considering how to repair this tsunami of bad news.

44 pages of high earning, high spending, wounded but rational Sonos owners are unlikely be wrong.

I hope someone prints this off and takes into said meeting and that someone sighs deep, and says…

….. OK LETS FIX THIS!

User811083

Trending Lyricist I

After receiving this email I am currently checking out Bluesound and am seriously impressed.

Chris Blackwell

R

rahuldeb

Avid Contributor I

Like others, I too have received the email regarding obsolete products. Effectively this has meant that 5 zones in my house will be obsolete!! This is ridiculous. I bought these in a stepwise fashion (about 1 or 2 zones a year) and now suddenly I have to buy them altogether…. THESE ARE NOT CHEAP!!

2 suggestions…. I think expecting a 8 or 9 year life in these products is simply not good enough esp for the price… I worry about my other zones too (I have 3 other “modern” zones) and will need to be upgrade din the next few years!

ALSO, 30% discount is simply not good enough esp when 4 or 5 zones need to be replaced.

Am seriously considering whether I should move to a BOSE… not aware if they have had similar issues.

A

attacama40

Headliner I

After receiving this email I am currently checking out Bluesound and am seriously impressed.

Have to confess me too … someone pasted a gif or jpeg many pages back. Had never heard of it. But now I do ….. and I got approx £3000 worth of Sonos to replace then why not?

G

gracja

Lyricist III

I think the Sonos approach to updating their products/software is wrong on all levels.

It is plain consumer blackmai - “Update your legacy products OR your whole system will stay unsupported with updates”

I have 2 Play5 Gen1, 2 x One, 1 x Sub, 2 x Play 3 - 7 speakers and if I don’t update 2 “legacy” speakers the remaining 7 current speakers will not be supported or updated.

The way I see it, if I trade up, it will cost me US$1,700 for 2 Play5 Gen 2 - The $1000 I paid for the Gen1 (soon to be “bricked” by Sonos!) and the $700 to upgrade which is nothing more than ransom money so my other US1,200 worth of speakers are supported!

Shafting the consumer must be a requirement for Sonos to have their speakers sold by Apple who are the original Masters of consumer exploitation.

Am I looking at this wrongly??

B

Bellskent

Lyricist I

Sonos - on the face of it, this is outrageous!

I was an early adopter of Sonos and have invested several thousand pounds over the years. I have also recommended it to many friends.

I’m not so concerned about the Play 5, as the Move was a significant step forward in terms of functionality/portability and I could persuade myself that the 30% trade up was just about OK. Also the replacement of the Bridge with the more powerful Boost was fine, as it gave a better range at a “reasonable” price.

However, to be told that over half of my Sonos set-up, three Connect: Amps and a Connect (ZP90), will have to be disconnected from my system if I want my newer product to continue to receive software updates is a real kick in the teeth. The offer of a 30% trade up on these products is totally unacceptable as it would leave still leave me with a bill of over £1500 to acquire the equivalent products.

Please rethink this, both in terms of the trade-up policy and in terms of how what you are now terming “legacy” components will be handled in future.

Unfortunately I’m left feeling disappointed and somewhat cheated by a company of which I was a great fan.

R

rahuldeb

Avid Contributor I

Like others, I too have received the email regarding obsolete products. Effectively this has meant that 4 zones in my house will be obsolete in 1 stroke!! This is ridiculous. I bought these in a stepwise fashion (about 1 or 2 zones a year) and now suddenly I have to buy them altogether…. THESE ARE NOT CHEAP!!

You really are penalising your early ardent supporters.. maybe you are too big and don’t need us any more!

2 suggestions…. I think expecting a 8 or 9 year life in these products is simply not good enough esp for the price… I worry about my other zones too (I have 3 other “modern” zones) and will need to be upgrade din the next few years!

ALSO, 30% discount is simply not good enough esp when 4 or 5 zones need to be replaced.

Am seriously considering whether I should move to a BOSE… not aware if they have had similar issues.

J

John McCabe

Lyricist III

Does this mean that the older devices, while not receiving updates or features, will be ‘frozen’ but will continue to work fine and do their core job of playing music?

So, a year or so from now they could be on software 10.7 but the rest of the components are on 12 for example? (a departure from the current way of working)

No. It means that ALL of the devices will be frozen; if you have a Connect or Bridge at 10.7, then all of your other components will remain at 10.7. The non-legacy components WON’T be updated.

pwt

Virtuoso

After receiving this email I am currently checking out Bluesound and am seriously impressed.

Have to confess me too … someone pasted a gif or jpeg many pages back. Had never heard of it. But now I do ….. and I got approx £3000 worth of Sonos to replace then why not?

I’m not sure why you think Bluesound (or any other ‘closed’ vendor) is not likely to play the same trick as Sonos in the future.

I’m strongly opposed to the details of this Sonos action, but I don’t think jumping to another closed vendor (especially one with a much shorter history and smaller installed base) is likely to help in the medium term.

4 x P:5 | Sub | 4 x P:1 | 3 x Connect | 2 x Boost | Connect:Amp | 2 x One | Amp | Move | Port | Era 300

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