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 The information contained in this thread is outdated and may no longer be accurate.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

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Show previous replies

S

Sparkyboots

Enthusiast I

Long may this dive continue

M

morgan4x4

Enthusiast II

Long may this dive continue

Sonos to $5 a share. Revenue falls significantly after it deserts most loyal customers.

A

amun

And this is educational, I’ll have to be sure to understand next time how much of the “smarts” sits with the speaker and is subject to these kind of end of life decisions.

Yes, it is very educational and makes the case for split systems with cheap smart front ends that are throwaway, and “dumb” stereo set ups that have service lives of decades that can keep accepting a smarter front end every 3-4 years.

Couldn’t agree more….

N

nametaken_thisonetoo

Lyricist I

Very, very, very, very disappointed to get the “end of software updates” email regarding my Sonos Living Room Connect. This product was hugely over priced for what it is in the first place, given that there is no actual speaker or amp components involved. To suggest Sonos could not maintain existing functionality on legacy products while continuing to improve newer products is complete and utter rubbish, and anyone with even the most basic understanding of how these things work can understand that.

What an absolute disgrace on behalf of Sonos as a corporation. I work in the industry and will no longer be recommending my customers, friends, family, reddit communities, etc., use Sonos equipment. I will in fact go out of my way to post warnings about having anything to do with the products.

Pathetic in every possible way, just as the supposed “recycling” program is.

C

Charles Avalos

Contributor I

Over the past decade we have spent thousands on Sonos products. I am deeply troubled by your decision to leave us hanging high and dry. I actually thought Sonos was a company that you can trust but obviously not. Why doesn’t Sonos provide the option for existing customers to send in their speakers to be rebuilt with a newer processor board? I don’t like the fact that Sonos made my CR100 obsolete then sent a software update to stop it from working properly. I’m waiting for the software update that will disable all of my ZP90’s, ZP100 and ZP120’s. How do you block Sonos software updates? Also, the 30% that Sonos is offering doesn’t cut it. The new zone players are more expensive (more than 30%) so we’ll have to spend thousands again. This is not right!

B

bonervz

Enthusiast II

Surge of Connects, Play5 gen1, and Connect Amps have hit EBAY.

Amazing. It has started. 410 new listings today for Sonos products mostly Play 5’s.
How wonderful.

Sonos from leader to loser in 2020.

J

Jilted Sonos Owner

Lyricist I

Sonos....

No problem not supporting old kit but to stop new kit from being updated because you have one old bridge is plain daft! Just make the old bits 'excempt' from future features.

Here in lies the problem with any software driven "apple" ethic product.

Imagine buying a car from Ford then be told you must buy Ford fuel, Ford Tyres, Ford washer fluid.
Not just only their products but only the new stuff!
To top it off, if you only need new washer fluid, you would be forced to buy the fuel and tyres as well.
If you didn't it won't be supported or work properly.

MASSIVE FAIL.

M

mattkirkey

Lyricist I

I’m pissed. This is an insult to the customers who have supported Sonos over the years.
Here’s an email I’ve sent to the CEO, Chief Product Officer and COO. Feel free to re-use or send your own.

patrick.spence@sonos.com
nick.millington@sonos.com
david.perri@sonos.com

Dear Patrick, Nicholas, and David,

I've just received an email informing me that my Play5 Gen1 will no longer receive updates past May and as a result of your implementation, the rest of my more modern Sonos speakers will suffer the same fate because your development teams have been unable (or unwilling) to segregate the legacy speakers on the network.

To lessen the blow, you've offered a paltry 30% trade-in discount, yet last week you increased prices across your entire speaker line.

To say that I am apoplectic is an understatement.

I have been a supporter of Sonos for years, recommending them to my friends and family, resulting in many of them purchasing Sonos products.

In one fell swoop, you've made an ass out of me, given several of them also purchased the Play 5 Gen 1 since it allowed for inputs, and you've screwed over several thousand dollars worth of purchases since my more modern speakers will essentially be deprecated.

I work in technology. The claim that the devices cannot support the software anymore is a sham. You've made a calculated, cold, business decision to avoid developing a workaround that would allow loyal customers such as myself to continue to use "legacy" products into the future because it's easier and cheaper to lose some customers over this.

If you do not reverse this decision, treat your loyal, long term customers with the respect and appreciation they deserve, your cold, calculated business decision will result in your reputation being trashed and your sales will be directly affected. Sonos, once revered in the speaker community, will be regarded as a pariah. Your once-loyal customers will shout from the rooftops to warn everyone to never purchase your expensive speakers since the value that used to exist has officially evaporated if they need to be replaced every 5 years. I'd rather deploy a bunch of Google speakers around my house given the cost is so low, the sound is okay and if they pull the same stunt I won't be out of pocket hundreds.

I sincerely hope you reconsider this regrettable decision and work hard to restore the faith that loyal customers have believed in and shown you these many years.

Sincerely,

Matthew Kirkey

K

K2K

Lyricist II

Sonos – i’m a loyalist, but hear me out.

I’ve been notified that $7,000 of products I purchased at premium-built audio prices will be “degraded” (bricked) in May 2020, as well as potentially any total system that includes any of these components. Sonos PR explains my purchases were really high-depreciation PC commodities in the world of streaming, not premium-built audio after all.

If Sonos is actually competing in the quick obsolescence consumer computer component market of smart speakers, why does ifs hardware pricing increase despite more and better competitive alternatives than a few years ago?

As for longevity, Windows 2007 spanned longer than the Sonos OS, and Microsoft doesn’t even control the hardware. When Apple discontinues latest OS support for its iPhones, Apple phones don’t get bricked on the network, and neither does the phone brick the network itself.

I read that Sonos is suing the major voice integration vendors for patent violations. Tough decision, and I applaud Sonos for protecting their IP if it’s being abused. Is forcing an “hardware upgrade” decision (= buy more hardware) to keep customer’s audio systems running a strategy to maintain hardware revenue as Sonos battles it out with the partners they need to survive?

If it isn’t premium-built audio components, or PC-like commoditization with innovation, what is this huge benefit that I’m receiving? The Sonos App UI? Sell me that this refresh has benefit other than “pay if you don’t want your system to stop working or else...” seek alternatives.

I’m not surprised old hardware goes obsolete, I just don’t know how long it will last with Sonos or what’s ahead. If Sonos is truly in the disposable tech world , what am i getting other than forced obsolescence for short term revenue? Will i have to throw away investments of hardware more frequently just to keep the audio network working? Are there maintenance and subscription fees ahead? Should I expect more “pay to play” revenue schemes that make me feel even more like a hostage in the future?

Should we expect compatibility, predictability, and quality - or commodity cost in exchange for more frequent wholesale replacements replacements in the future?

O

oldsonosuser

Lyricist I

Not sure who thought thru the policy of not allowing the older speakers not to work with any new upgrades but it is going to be a Fatal flaw in marketing. This forces me to go purchase 10 new speakers, which I will not due, just to purchase ONE new speaker. So I will NOT purchase new sonos speakers since I cannot use my other 10 speakers/devices.

Sorry sonos, but this is a sales FAILURE.

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