End of Software Updates for Legacy Products

Yes, it does need more work; I updated my comment after reading that webpage properly. However it’s potentially one of a number of alternative options that might be a more sustainable and affordable way of moving forward. When you consider that Sonos has never, really, been “wireless” - there’s always been a need for power cables - and, given powerline technology has come a long way since Sonos hit the market, this is quite like to be a kick in the bum to people who’ve been dithering about going down a different route (i.e. cheap, easily upgradeable processing hardware, open-source software, open protocols, powerline+wi-fi, replaceable audio devices).

My disenchantment with Sonos came a couple of years ago when it cost me £125 to replace (through their ‘exchange’ scheme) one of my Play 3s whose power supply had failed. 

Read with interest (and disgust).  Registered just to post.

Short message as I not only refuse to give Sonos anymore of my money, but also my time.

For me it’s simple. Sorry Sonos, I’m Out!!

So you think i should be spending my money to upgrade my 3 play 5 Gen 1 and my bridge!! and you will give me 30% off, What a rip off, I wish i had known all those years ago that you would be making half of my system useless! Hang on a minute i will just see if i can find over a £1000!! Absolute disgrace to say the least. When they no longer work i will be going elsewhere.

I’m fuming and I only have a Play 5 that is affected. I feel sorry and extremely angry for the other people who have multiple bits of expensive equipment that Sonos just want us to re-cycle and shell out more hard earned cash on replacements. 

I agree that the brand is damaged now, I certainly won’t be adding any more of there products in future and I will make sure any friends know how the company works if they ask me about the sonos brand.

I say give us reasonable refunds on our soon to be useless bits of kit then we can decide if we upgrade to new or not. They can poke their 30% discount.

This announcement is shocking and disgraceful. Like many people here, I have invested a small fortune in Sonos products over the past few years and recommended Sonos to many, many people. I feel depressed and let down by Sonos and I deeply regret having made recommendations which now reflect badly on me.

First the withdrawal of SonosNet access for wi-fi which resulted in me being forced to buy several network extenders and now the glib expectation that I will just give Sonos more cash to buy their new kit just because they decide not to meaningfully support the products they were marketing until very recently.

Before I would even consider “upgrading” at substantial cost to achieve the same level of functionality as I currently enjoy, I require a long term comittment from Sonos to Android, Spotify and other streaming services. What comittment will Sonos provide?

Can anyone please recommend a good replacement for Sonos kit - my speakers are all in-wall or in-ceiling but it would be good to drive them with products in which I could have long term confidence.

Thank you.

WOW, I am also one of the early adopters of Sonos with 16 products that I have just been told will be dying over the latter half of the year. That's a lot of cash to replace as these are almost all in ceiling speaker types with hidden amps apart from a handful of Sonos 1’s. Feeling the need to research something else but this system is fully integrated in my house so ripping everything out and starting again will cost more than just replacing the Sonos kit ….Ouch!

Not feeling the love right now Sonos…..this problem needs serious thought on your part.

I don’t believe a word from Sonos about these products not being upgradable. The ZP80, 100, 120, & connect are not sophisticated units and have very little in terms of internal software. Yes I believe the CR100 and CR200 are no longer compatible with latest technology but thats why you have the phone app.  Sonos systems are purely controlled by the app which simply controls the speakers, amps, connects.  There is no reason to brick any products other than the CR100 and CR200 in my opinion.

If Sonos do not reverse this decision ASAP I will be selling all of my Sonos equipment because it wont be long before none of the products will be supported as SONOS will have gone out of business. 

Do the right thing and think of your loyal customers…..not just your new shareholders!!!

It’ll be interesting to watch the Sonos share price in the days ahead as people realise we’ve been had into paying for a very expensive rental service with a very short lifecycle.

I will not support this frankly outrageous environmentally damaging approach of “just chuck it away and buy a new one”, so invest the money I’ve spent over the years with you well, as you’ll be getting no more. I’m a property developer and I’ve been filling my client’s London houses full of Sonos kit for well over a decade now, but that stops today too. 

Seriously, the team of executives who came up with this as a solution to the problem should be clearing their desks right now.

If my current products were inadvertently updated after May, I would have no legacy controller lying around, not being accustomed to keeping or using such animals. And then there would be no way to access the legacy products left with me. As soon as the update gets applied, starting with controllers.

That is my definition of bricked.

Now I know that in May Sonos says they will offer more clarity around this subject that will set this concern at rest to an extent at least. That may involve doing clunky things like running separate networks. At this time, I have no idea about that; I think I am going to have make sure in some way that my current products remain on the same version that the legacy products will be on before the May 2020 event occurs. Because with 3 of my 6 zones running on legacy products, I don't want to faff around with separate networks or something as clunky. 

This. Is. Not. Good.
And it makes me sad and disappointed.

When I first saw Sonos products in the shops back in 2003 or so I was quite impressed. Unfortunately I could not afford those as a student but it didn't let me go. A few years later (2010) I decided to invest and equipped my living space with a few of those nice, still expensive but seemingly very durable and future oriented components. The first years I was really happy with it and from time to time a new part was added.

Since around 2017/18* my enthusiasm goes down. At first slightly: the app (Android) was ok, even it never fitted the look and feel of the high-end-Sonos-hardware completely. (I'm still missing a simple but functional way to edit and sort playlists for example.) Then some major updates rolled in. But none of them made the system more reliant (for example in both flats I lived since then the sound sometimes stops in some rooms, not depending on the device or set up distance) or better to use. Sometimes the usability even went down: For example the alarm function (which was an advertised key feature I the past) was suddenly hidden deeply inside the menu of the app. And it took Sonos almost half a year to correct this.

And now this. Announced end of updates for three of my seven components. Three more (Play: 3) are almost as “old“ so I'm expecting the same within the next (two? three?) years. Remaining would be a Sonos Play:1 - from my point the last “big shot“ of the company. But I give it one more year from then on, than it'll probably be the same.

When I look at the trade up option 30% seems fair in the first look. But on the second glance for me it doesn't work out. I would allover invest more than 2/3 of the cost of a new system within the next years. And with every component I lock more to this “new path into addiction“. At that point I'm at latest really checking out other options. Because meanwhile other companies launched comparable systems. And they have a few years to convince me - as long as it'll take until I  really will miss something…

So from my point Sonos lost a fan. And probably a few of those who I convinced over the last years - which were quite a few friends and colleagues.

This makes me sad and disappointed.

And a bit angry. Because there would be so much more thinkable options to satisfy the customers and make a really durable product line.

@Kumar: you originally stated: “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.”

This is incorrect.

80% of my kit is about to be rendered legacy and no longer supported and will quite possibly be broken by you at some point soon.

Over the years I have invested about £3000 in the kit and don’t have the money to replace it (£2000 at least I imagine) just to get back to the same level of functionality I already have. Even if I did it wouldn’t be SONOS after the recent announcements.

Have you not realised the huge groundswell of public opinion regarding sustainability and the indecent behaviour of companies who run their businesses by obsoleted products in order to generate revenue.

Shame on you, your board of directors, and your shareholders.

I’m now off to place similar posts on the Apple store, Appstore, and various Android stores.

Sonos owners, who happen to know which way to hold a screwdriver, should be offered an option to buy an upgraded motherboard at a nominal fee.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Sonos+Play+5+Motherboard+Replacement/87677

It is very likely that the used market for Sonos will also take a hit with this move of Sonos; one property of Sonos was how it held value on eBay etc. Now, customers there will be wary of buying Sonos products bought new a few years ago, no longer knowing with any certainty what the remaining supported life of the product is.

The Connect/Connect Amp story is a case in point. People that in 2019 bought a used Connect Amp made in 2015, at a time when the exact same looking and named model was being sold by Sonos, are going to find that they have lost support in one year of purchase, and will not receive support, as Sonos says, for five years after they stop selling the product. Because Sonos has overnight made two products of the Connect Amp where support is concerned - those made before 2015 and those made after. Ditto for Connect.

It is very clear that Sonos does not understand its customer base and also doesn’t value them.  As a long time Sonos supporter I could not be more disappointed in the news that they recent shared.  This is purely a revenue play and they have lost their focus on the customer.  This is the type of mistake that destroys companies.  Maybe the Sonos Board of Directors and Leadership Team should spend sometime reading this community and maybe they will realize the mistake they are about to make.  There are ways to support both existing and new functionality, they are just being lazy and shortsighted.  I have many Sonos products that are now called “Legacy” and therefore will no longer get upgrades, which is fine, but to make them inoperable because of poor software development is ridiculous.  This is like Toyota selling me a car and then telling me at year 5 I can no longer drive a car that should last for 20 years.  Not to mention that they didn’t disclose it during the original sale.  I unfortunately have lost all respect for such a poor decision and can no longer support an organization that truly does not care for its most important asset, its customers.  You will soon realize that without a customer it doesn’t matter how good and innovative your products are….

How so? If all my legacy units are powered off, Sonos will apply the update to all the non legacy products that are on at the time the update is requested. But if even one legacy product is seen in the system by virtue of it being powered on, no updates will be applied even if requested. Inadvertently or otherwise.

That is what I meant. What am I missing?

   Just bought a Connect 2 weeks ago (5th one). The Connect I bought 2 years ago is new enough to continue getting updates. The one from 2 weeks ago is not. Nice. 4 Connects and a Play 5 that may or may not be usable by the end of the year. 

   Clueless? Disconnected? Desperate? What is the word for the folks making the decision's here? Feeling the pressure from all the copycat products? Just want more money? You may continue on just fine since the average consumer is pretty ill informed and has a short memory. The 1100+ post above me seem to point to a pretty large and loyal customer base. Like most of the 1100+ post above me, I'm out. 

   Maybe it's time I got back to work on that Raspberry Pi/ Volumio project. About $100 each and I have control over what software and updates it runs.

It seems to me that if the streaming services are really the concern, then they could build a device that is firmware upgradeable that can interface with the streaming service instead of sunsetting millions of perfectly fine speakers and devices.  There are many options that could be considered that would be much better for the existing community, but it doesn’t seem like Sonos Leadership really care about us….

Just seen this reported on BBC News here in the UK (11:49 if you want to catch up on iPlayer).

Only a brief segment so no mention of exactly what the news means for owners, just that the devices will no longer be supported or receive updates and an implication that customers need to upgrade

No thanks Tobias, I pay enough monthly subscriptions, I just want to be able to use equipment I paid a premium for at no extra cost. Some people may only have 1 or 2 products, I'm sure they will be happy with your suggestion!

This is appalling, these were expensive products for me promising an enhanced experience.

I was prepared to live with the slightly glitchy software but now knowing that you intend reduce the functionality and maybe even ‘brick’ my system means I will no longer purchase or recommend your products in the future.

The cheek of suggesting I can upgrade at 30% off! You must be joking.

Very annoyed.

Congratulations Sonos, you've made national news, now let's all watch your share price drop.........

First, it’s just speculation as to how update policies will be applied. Second, what players get ‘bricked’, under any update scenario?

Please reconsider this misstep. I have spent thousands of dollars and my newer products shouldn’t be neutered because I want to keep using the older ones. Like others, I will exit using Sonos if nothing changes. 

Patrick Spence is the CEO of Sonos. He joined Sonos in 2012.

He is now a legacy product and should be unsupported.

Click the like button below if you think he should be removed as CEO