Retired Sonos Staff

End of Software Support - Clarifications

Dec 8, 2022 11:29 AM UTC
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We announced yesterday that some of our oldest Sonos products will be moving into a legacy mode in May of 2020. Our commitment is to support products with regular software updates for a minimum of five years after we stop selling them, and we have a track record of supporting products far longer.

Here is some public information we’ve shared, gathered into one place to respond to some of your questions in one easy thread, so that people can find the correct information easily.

Beginning in May, software updates and new features from Sonos will only be delivered to systems with only modern products.

After May, systems that include legacy products will continue to work as before - but they will no longer receive software updates or new features.

Sonos will work to maintain the existing experience and conduct bug fixes, but our efforts will ultimately be limited by the lack of memory and processing power of these legacy products.

We don’t expect any immediate impact to your experience, but access to services and overall functionality will eventually be disrupted, particularly as partners evolve their own services and features.

Customers with both legacy and modern products have time to decide what option is best for them. You can continue to use your whole system in legacy mode - in this case, it will stop receiving updates and new features.

You will also be able to separate your legacy products from your modern products, so that the modern products can still receive updates and new features, and legacy products can still be used separately. We’ll have more information on how to do this in May when you can take that action.

Another option available to all customers with legacy products is to take advantage of the Trade Up program, which allows you to upgrade older Sonos products to modern ones with a 30% discount. Trade Up will be open to customers at any time should they decide to upgrade.

We recognize this is new for Sonos owners, just as it is for Sonos. We are committed to help you by making options available to you to support the best decision for your home.

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate with asking.

Update 2/22: A message from our CEO

We heard you. We did not get this right from the start. My apologies for that and I wanted to personally assure you of the path forward:

First, rest assured that come May, when we end new software updates for our legacy products, they will continue to work as they do today. We are not bricking them, we are not forcing them into obsolescence, and we are not taking anything away. Many of you have invested heavily in your Sonos systems, and we intend to honor that investment for as long as possible. While legacy Sonos products won’t get new software features, we pledge to keep them updated with bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible. If we run into something core to the experience that can’t be addressed, we’ll work to offer an alternative solution and let you know about any changes you’ll see in your experience.

Secondly, we heard you on the issue of legacy products and modern products not being able to coexist in your home. We are working on a way to split your system so that modern products work together and get the latest features, while legacy products work together and remain in their current state. We’re finalizing details on this plan and will share more in the coming weeks.

While we have a lot of great products and features in the pipeline, we want our customers to upgrade to our latest and greatest products when they’re excited by what the new products offer, not because they feel forced to do so. That’s the intent of the trade up program we launched for our loyal customers.

Thank you for being a Sonos customer. Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback. I hope that you’ll forgive our misstep, and let us earn back your trust. Without you, Sonos wouldn’t exist and we’ll work harder than ever to earn your loyalty every single day.

If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Patrick Spence
CEO, Sonos

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andy_120

Enthusiast II

Interesting that with all the furore ongoing there’s no hint of crisis management PR getting involved. Leaves the impression that this reaction has been factored in and doesn’t require any additional handling.

It seems clear from the SEC filing that they were expecting considerable flak about this announcement, and have factored it in to their business plan. So I think that it’s just a case of them being fully prepared to lose a few legacy customers - who are no longer buying much anyway….

it may have been factored in but I’m fairly sure not at this level, and now the media outlets are starting to show interest this is rather embarrassing for sonos

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jmw_sono

Chromatic Producer I

Owner of over 20 Sonos products.

Ill give another view of this debacle since everyone else has pretty much detailed most of it.

Over the last 5 years I have lost the following features with new updates

PC software to set Sonos Settings (One speaker is at an isolated site with no wifi, hence no android connection)

Web based info queries without adding to app

Nice wireless charging tablets to use as interfaces now told android OS not supported.

Direct Android connection to speaker not wifi (Poolhouse doesn't have good wifi but does have good SonosNet connection) now my Android tablet at location needs to find wifi, just have to walk back towards house how convenient.

Pandora sort by date??? I know its their issue but again with all the “new” updates I lose functionality

Features would love to see added in the new updates never happening

Advanced grouping (with 20 speakers a useful tool)

Trueplay tuning (Android house)

New option for media library (65K limit) yes I use Plex some but response isn't great when you have lots of albums, local folder from Sonos media library helps because I can separate by folders to make filtering easier)

Home Theatre Audio, too many to even list.

SMBv2

Multiple Amp station hardware (instead of four/eight in a whole house installation) one nice unit combined would be a winner.

With all the “new” updates I really haven't gotten any new features that I need or desire. I have lost quite a few of what made Sonos awesome!

Sonos you are chasing the new market for customers that buy one maybe two products. Competing with Amazon, Google, and Apple which have much higher volumes and can beat you at that game. Younger customers that only care about a cheap price and not quality.

All the while angering customers who invest in you as an eco system. I feel like you are the best in class for that. Still are. Problem is you are chasing a market where you wont win and killing the market where you did. Where you have name brand reputation.

In a world where people “like” a speaker the size of bagel, Bluetooth connection is deemed good enough, talking to your speaker is more important than the sound, and price is a factor you aren't on the right track.

Dont lose your multi device customers!

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Playbar(2) Sub(1) Play:5(2) Play:3(6) Play:1(5) Connect:AMP(3) Sonos:AMP(5) Move(1)

J

Jeeves

Enthusiast II

I’m already resigned to running 2 separate systems with 2 separate routers (one using 4G), but maybe I’ll have to be running a third soon!

When the CR100s got bricked I preserved mine and have the bulk of my system running on v8.4 and making sure this doesn’t update. My most recent acquisitions (incl a SYMFONISK) connect normally, updating as and when required.

Will I still have to ringfence my 8.4 system after May or will I have to further divide it into legacy and hybrid units, putting those hybrid units on yet another router regardless of whether they update from v8.4 to latest version?

So pleased I only bought discounted SYMFONISK lately but maybe IKEA are happy with more "disposable” fashion products that maybe “modern”now but won’t be for as long as their customers think.

I wanted a Move but my wife told me she’d leave me if I bought any more Sonos. Thank-you Sonos - you’ve just saved my marriage (and she loves my Bluesound Vault 2)! :laughing:

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18 zones, 29 devices and counting

R

RedRiceRidesAgain

Lyricist I

Like everyone else, I am angry at having spent over £1750 on products that seemingly won't survive more than ten years. I have guitar amps that are three times as old and work perfectly, albeit with small maintenance costs.

The time is ripe for Google to bring back the Chromecast audio. I will certainly be looking at that route in the future. With the amount I spent on sonos, I could have bought decent 'dumb' gear and used cheaper network gear to provide the 'smart' connectivity. I will never buy sonos gear again.

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PBobUK

Trending Lyricist I

Interesting that with all the furore ongoing there’s no hint of crisis management PR getting involved. Leaves the impression that this reaction has been factored in and doesn’t require any additional handling.

It seems clear from the SEC filing that they were expecting considerable flak about this announcement, and have factored it in to their business plan. So I think that it’s just a case of them being fully prepared to lose a few legacy customers - who are no longer buying much anyway….

I think you’re right. They made this disclosure knowing full well that this was coming, and my guess is that they don’t care. For all we are complaining, I expect nothing to be done. Sadly, on Wall Street, the only thing that matters is the bottom line. Customers - they can get those from other places.

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OCTO

Contributor I

SONOS - How you can instantly go from loving and respecting a brand, to being truly enraged and disillusioned by the same brand.

I have been a big fan of Sonos over the years and currently own 12 Sonos products, however to learn that I will have to pay out circa. £665 to simply upgrade my 2 x Play 5’s is an absolute joke! My Bridge and Connect devices will also be ‘out of date’ with no option to upgrade or replace. To only offer 30% against the cost of replacement products to loyal customers is quite frankly an insult, and I know others agree, and therefore feel a MINIMUM of 50% should be offered here! Even at 50% customers will be annoyed. Come on Sonos….you need to act quickly here if you are to rescue your brand!

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lawhhh

Lyricist III

Hi UKUser

I have just registered on trust pilot and posted my first review there. see the screen shot from trustpilot above, their trust rating is down to 1.3 out of 5

We need to ramp this up across more review platforms…

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Oliebol

Lyricist I

I wish Sonos would understand that the best customers are they ones they already have.

I am disappointed Sonos has decided to no longer support its earliest adopters. Sonos was not inexpensive to purchase for us, but its excellent quality justified the cost.

I understand if newer features can no longer be supported due to memory constraints.

I do hope that Sonos will ensure that these legacy products will still function, or in the very least give these “stranded” assets a future by providing instructions on how to upgrade their internals.

I simply do not wish to throw out my perfectly working systems and cannot afford to buy new systems, even with the 30% discount. The world cannot afford to just throw things out all the time just because they’re out of date.

I hope Sonos will support hardware/firmware upgrades on legacy equipment and will find a way to at least allow legacy equipment to remain functional and am willing to accept that the system may not be as feature-rich as newer generations.

I also hope that Sonos will ensure my legacy equipment can still be integrated with newer equipment. I’ve been dreaming of buying duplicate systems for true stereo, but this most recent update is shaking my confidence in incurring such an expense.

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pfm1960

Lyricist I

Like many of you, I have spent 000s of € on Sonos equipment. As a result of this abject betrayal, I will never be a customer again.

P.

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S

stratis

Lyricist I

I have been your loyal customer since 2010, when I purchased 2 x PLAY:5 (Gen1) speakers and a Connect:Amp to add my old speakers to the mix.

Over the years I have added 2 x One SL, 1 x Play:1 and 1 x Sub.

Total investment: upwards of $3000.

Everything works perfectly and I am extremely happy with my investment. Amazing products.

Now half of the above is “legacy”. Presumably the same fate awaits the “modern” components a few years down the line. Actually, since I want to continue to use my system as today, i.e. a mix of legacy and modern components, then all components will stop receiving updates.

I am afraid this betrays the loyalty of your customers and breaches the contract of trust. Frankly, this an extremely poor customer experience and quite unacceptable given Sonos is a premium brand.

I know what I will do: I will keep on running my mixed (and defacto legacy) system until it dies -- or you stop supporting it. But I will not be spending any more dollars on Sonos.

What a shame...

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