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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H

highpks

Lyricist III

I got that letter too and I don’t see anything different. He still emphasized: “split your system”, in bold, which likely means they cannot be grouped. That is a core experience in my book.

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J

John V

Enthusiast I

Sonos loyal customers this was bound to happen with Patrick Spence CEO at the wheel.
he learned how to best tank a company from his 14+ years at RIM. Remember the Blackberry. If you don’t ask Patrick he was the VP sales & marketing. Sonos sound gear is now the new Blackberry. Too bad.
Seriously Patrick how the hell did you think was going to seen by YOUR Loyal base who WERE your best sales team. Some free business advise. Fix this issue ASAP before the Sonos brand gets totally shattered by social media. Time is not on your side.

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A

attacama40

Headliner I

just got this email:

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 just 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.

Ok understanding that turned to anger returns to listening.

Fair enough….I take this at face value. It’s took time but it is a response & appears a clear response.

I have personally posted at least 6 times asking for a senior management brief. I got one. This helps a good deal.

Are we out the woods? No. Does it take pressure out of the system? For me …. for now...yes.

We all spoke. It appears there is listening.

Now we need delivery! For me this buys my relationship with Sonos that precious commodity ...time!

As I’ve said a few times … I’m best part of £20k UK in to this relationship and until 48+ hours back, I’d not regretted any of that. Many happy nights, moments and days with Sonos.

As of now I’m postponing my investments BUT I’m listening and will be watching.

Good move Sonos …. I moved, now it’s YOUR move.

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M

MrSwadge

Enthusiast I

Put to one side the near hysteria there has been up to now and take Patrick Spence’s announcement at face value.

it raise two questions and it seems that Sonos doesn’t have the definitive answer to either - yet.

will I be able to group legacy and modern units to play a single stream on them. It looks like the answer to this right now is “no” but it may be that it is “not that we have worked out yet - but we are working on it”.
will I be able to play my Spotify account on my modern system and my legacy system at the same time? Right now I can’t play it on two things at the same time (eg my phone in the car, and my Sonos system at home. One stream will terminate). But within a single Sonos system I can use my Spotify account to play multiple streams at the same time. Now, if Sonos can work out a way to fool Spotify into seeing a legacy and modern system in the same house as a single system, so that I can play X and the kids can play Y, great. If not, things will get a bit tiresome. I don’t want (for example) to have to get an Apple Music account to play on the legacy kit and keep Spotify for the modern. Again, it’s not clear whether the answer to this is definitively negative or whether they are working on it.

This episode has been an object lesson in showing how bad news must always be accompanied by clarity, certainty, and a sweetener.

I maybe wrong, but for Spotify to play on two devices independently at the same time you would need a Spotify subscription to that end: https://www.spotify.com/uk/family

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N

NWC

Lyricist I

I purchased 4 Sonos devices four days ago, basing my decision on the good reputation of the brand. Then came the announcement that at some point in the not very distant future the equipment will cease to function as promised. What a mistake I have made. Obviously, this will be my only Sonos purchase.

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C

Cisume

Enthusiast II

Robert Scoble has lost his mind over this announcement. It’s always good for a company like SONOS to lose an influencer like Scoble.

https://twitter.com/Scobleizer/status/1219799408973213697

you can lose them … but you can buy them back as well … hope they have a spine

because money talks often

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G

G0csteve

Contributor I

I have a TON of money invested in SONOS. Until yesterday my equipment was not “legacy”, it is only a few years old. Certainly was not expecting it to become obsolete. That is a short lifespan for stereo equipment. Was planning on adding more equipment for some additional rooms. No reason to do that now knowing that it is just throwing good money after bad. I will invest in a different centralized system like I had before. Speakers should not become “legacy” after 2-3 years.

The 30% trade in is a joke...

I LOVED SONOS, recommended it to everyone -- This sucks!

So very well put! This is the whole point….. we have invested thousands of dollars and I’m still using the Dynaco amp and 20yr old speakers I have in my livingroom. I get this has processing in it, but I didnt ask for all the Alexa features….dont want it, dont use it. But the real deal is, I can no longer trust Sonos with my investment…. without saying so, they’ve let us know there will be a day when all this “legacy” equipment is bricked (CEO used the term in his email)

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Ryan SAuthor

Retired Sonos Staff

Thank you, SONOS, for acknowledging our dismay and disappointment. While your email still says little, it is a start, at least. We hope you can exceed our expectations, as you once did, but I now watch with a wary optimism.

Copy of email received:

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 just 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.

Sincerely,
Patrick

Patrick Spence
CEO, Sonos

We need clarity, if a provider changes their API is this deemed a bug fix or a new feature. The letter doesn’t tell us anything new. Sonos without a major content provider such as Spotify is significantly less valuable. Is that a bug fix because it’s Spotify which carries more weight than say local radio? Only time will tell.

@MrSwadge = Yeah… I read that too quickly with far too much optimism, and missed the lack of anything tangible being offered. I quickly edited my post, still not a satisfactory response.

@MrSwadge and @Taco5layer, this chunk speaks to that:

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.

These devices are already strained hardware wise, but if something core to the experience changes, we’ll do what we can for as long as possible.

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Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

W

Whitenoise

Enthusiast I

Wow, that CEO message is a new high water mark for cynical, condescending corporate statements. LMFTFY.. “We heard you. We did not get this right from the start. My apologies for that and I wanted to personally assure you that we are changing nothing but commit to using apologetic language as a framing device to placate you.”

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J

jwinther

Lyricist III

Over 1300 negative responses to the original announcement but it is ok, the CEO’s letter which really says nothing new gets 17 likes…..

Maybe people find it positive that there finally is a letter from the CEO?

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“This is a chance now to come up with a system that doesn’t cause massive planetary damage in exchange for disposable stuff,” Proctor said. (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3a8dpn/sonos-makes-it-clear-you-no-longer-own-the-things-you-buy)

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