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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mitochris

Lyricist I

I am very disappointed at the decision to stop supporting older devices. I have 2 sonos one and a connect, so will be affected. I have to consider whether to upgrade the connect, with the uncertainty that in a couple of years they will make the ones obsolete too. So replacing my Sonos system every few years? This is not viable. I would maybe accept paying for software updates every once in a while, as it costs to maintain a secure system, e is nothing wrong with the hardware, and forcing users to replace it is unacceptable. I really enjoy my Sonos, but this will 100% make me change to someone else. Please reconsider. You will loose more customers in the long run. Who will buy a system knowing it will be obsolete in a few years? And how can you still sell the connect on your website?

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Razorhog

Enthusiast II

Before this really blew up I emailed the Sonos CEO, Patrick Spence, with a very short note letting him know that the community is mad and I feel disappointed. I’m sure at this point his email inbox is inundated and he can’t respond to everyone. He did respond to me and here is his response:

Thanks for being a customer & for taking the time to send me your feedback. I'm reading it all & looking at what we should do.

Sincerely,

Patrick

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Clarkbeeches

Lyricist I

What a brilliant way to lose customers and so much for being “green”! That’s the end of us ever buying Sonos products again and the system is throughout our house. Poor show.

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DK_Madsen

Enthusiast II

And how can you still sell the connect on your website?

They upgraded the connect a few years ago, but did not change the name.

So the one they sell is the new model that is not discontinued, but the kicker is, that since they did not change it’s name from old to new, you never know what you get if you buy from some retailer.

Maybe they have some old stock they bought cheaply but never sold out, so when you go to buy one tomorrow, you might get the old one, and you would not be able to tell.

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Guy_19

Enthusiast II

Beware - as someone noted, units can be deactivated to give the trade-in discount against new items, but continue to work for a few days potentially allowing the unscrupulous to sell them on.

I really hope that someone will find a way to revive all of those bricked Play 5’s so they can atleast be used as stand alone network players.

Sonos probably just erases the flash, so if there was a way to reflash them, they could probably be revived.

In any case this could be the start of a “LineageOS” for Sonos movement.

I think the serial number is just blocked on the server, when you agree to do the trade-in, so that it will never work on your, or anyone else’s, system. The physical device is not affected, so it Sonos chose to reverse the block, they just have to toggle the server setting. I am sure someone will correct me if I am deluded.

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7 rooms: One SL Stereo Pair, One SL x 2, Move, Play:5 Gen2 & Port into Arcam AVR with AE floorstanders, Port into Denon microsystem.

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username1234

Lyricist I

Got this Email from support(not sure what the plan is) :

“We are investigating the issue and we will pass your information on to our engineering teams to investigate further. We will let you know when we have made progress with correcting this issue. As we move forward, we will provide ways to separate your legacy and modern products so that the modern products can still receive updates, and legacy products can still be used.”

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pwt

Virtuoso

I think the serial number is just blocked on the server, when you agree to do the trade-in, so that it will never work on your, or anyone else’s, system. The physical device is not affected, so it Sonos chose to reverse the block, they just have to toggle the server setting. I am sure someone will correct me if I am deluded.

I’ve seen no authoritative description of the ‘bricking’ mechanism, only speculation, but I strongly doubt it’s a server side block.

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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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davidblack

Enthusiast I

I asked support if I return my new Move for a refund (it is still in the return / change your mind period) whether they would reactivate the zp100 I traded in against it

response was a very firm no...

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UKUser

Enthusiast I

What Hi-Fi twists the knife:

https://www.whathifi.com/best-buys/the-best-sonos-alternatives-budget-and-premium-multi-room-options

“it's not the only ecosystem out there and some existing owners might be considering other options following the new that Sonos will end support for older devices. After all, there's no shortage of alternatives - and the advent of smart speakers and voice control has produced more options when it comes to sending and controlling music wirelessly around your home.”

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DK_Madsen

Enthusiast II

I think the serial number is just blocked on the server, when you agree to do the trade-in, so that it will never work on your, or anyone else’s, system. The physical device is not affected, so it Sonos chose to reverse the block, they just have to toggle the server setting. I am sure someone will correct me if I am deluded.

If that is the case, really hope for Sonos, that the serial number is burned into some OTP part of the chip and not just programmed into flash at the factory.

Oh and i hope that the mechanism to read the serial from the OTP (If it is OTP) is heavily encrypted.

If not, it would be trivial for a software developer to either reprogram the Serial to another number that is not barred OR make the serial check routine return whatever serial he/she wanted.

I bet that there are a lot of unused serials out there from devices that has gone bad and has been discarded, its just a matter of finding an available one.

OR change the “Check if serial is ok and i can work” routine to point to some rogue server in Russia that will always say “Yes, you are good to go” no matter what serial it sends

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