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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Seattlenerd

Enthusiast I

The only thing truly new in today’s CEO email/letter is that “legacy” products will continue to get bug fixes and security updates.

The rest is still fuzzy hand waving or was already clarified in this forum. But there’s also the reality that yes, Sonos is listening at the top level, even if they aren’t directly or fully addressing many of the issues raised by the notice of two days ago.

It’s a start. Small, but a start.

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amun

I’ve not seen anything in the statements that allays my fear that my sonos kit, on which I have spent thousands will not be bricked in the very near future. I’m not looking for new features, just that it continues to operate as it did when I purchased it.

Neither Ryan’s original statement or the CEOs statement say that your kit will be bricked. It will become less flexible, and certain bits might stop working in time to come, but no-one from Sonos has said that it would actually be bricked - not unless you choose to brick them by picking the upgrade option….

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KingPin

Enthusiast II

My guess is that they will license the use of Sonos’ software to other companies who then can build speakers based on Sonos, and to do that they need new, more powerful specs so that the licensees are not limited in what they can do. Thus the need for this whole fork thing. If this is what is happening, the acquisition of the voice-recognition company makes more sense.

if this is true, I think they should offer people with legacy products to freeze the system at the current functionality. A split system would suck. I have so far used only two upgrades since 2007: I have added Spotify and I use the iPhone app. I think I won’t need any more.

Just speculating, mind you.

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John V

Enthusiast I

I’m hearing that dealers are catching the heat from customers. How long until dealers start selling other systems that are supported by a company that stand by its products

everyday that passes by is only going to make this worse without providing a real solution. This is not going away. Sonos has crapped on too many loyal customers with a considerable investment over years of saving and growing their systems.

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rldigby

Lyricist III

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.

You should be able to send them back and get a full refund, I’d have thought...

If they won't refund it, file a dispute with your credit card company.

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TommieG

Lyricist III

CEO Patrick Spence email just makes me feel jerked around again. I’ve spent my career in IT and I totally understand end-of-life / end-of-support announcements. This is all about cost-costing and chasing the customers who want the next shiny thing. Not what I expected from Sonos. What an enormous amount of angst, energy, second-guessing, why-did-I bother-to-learn-Sonos,etc.

My feeling is keep my investment going but with the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF BUYING ANYTHING NEW FROM SONOS in the future.

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nlak

Lyricist I

Like a lot of people on here I have a lot of gear. 4 play bars, 6 play 1s, sub, boost, play one, 2 play 5 gen 2, 1 play 5 gen 1. The latest back and worth, on support, is bothersome for several reasons. 1) it was either thought through poorly or the backlash from the exposure is too hot. 2) the message pushed me to “recycle” my play 5 gen 1 and I don’t want to do that. I paid for it and it should work. 3) the optics around this just suck. Your being told you really don’t own the device. Your investment is at the whim of Sonos. 4) reaching a human to get help has been impossible. Basically Sonos is treating its customers like trash, to be recycled.

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kassey22000

Enthusiast II

Just sent this to: 'Patrick.Spence@sonos.com', 'nick.millington@sonos.com' 'allen.mask@sonos.com'

Find the rest of the executive team here: use their name in the same format as above for email.

https://investors.sonos.com/corporate-governance/default.aspx

The board here: https://investors.sonos.com/corporate-governance/default.aspx

It’s not pristine, but I don’t have any more time to waste on this company or it’s products.

Dear Mr. Spence

For 10 years I’ve been accumulating Sonos Audio equipment while expanding wireless audio throughout my home. I did this because Sonos advertised and marketed their Whole Home Audio System as a way to hear music/audio throughout the home without running speaker wires. The high-end products were marketed and sold in high-end Stereo/Audio stores as well as the HiFi/audio departments of better electronics stores. The sales staff were trained by Sonos to push the quality of the sound, the beauty of the speakers, and the flexibility of the whole home audio solution. This BS about older Sonos products being outmoded/throw away computer products is just that... BS! It’s a pivot to get all of us to shift our view of Sonos as just another piece of electronics that is outdated by updates and eventually abandoned even after a very short 4-5 years after purchase. This is AUDIO gear! It’s sold and marketed as AUDIO gear; it’s not sold in as a computer, a phone, or a throw-away-junked chunk of electronics. It’s marketed as a way to distribute SOUND (sonos) throughout home and/or office/business.

Splitting the system is a NON-STARTER; therefore your letter today does NOT help in any way! I was planning on expanding my system with a Move, so you can believe that’s not going to happen now. That and you’re alienating your reseller community while destroying your brand by insulting your best product/brand advocates you could ever have – your loyal REPEAT customers!

I think the other huge blindside for your management team is just how many savvy tech industry folks invested heavily in the Sonos solution only to be jabbed in the eye with this horrible PR disaster. Your blunder has clearly woken the sleeping giant on this one!

I won’t even get into the environmental disaster the stupid “trade-up” plan produces… that is just too sickening to even discuss given the current state of our planet.

XXXXX, once evangelist/loyal-repeat customer.

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rldigby

Lyricist III

Why dont they come up with a program to UPGRADE our existing hardware with new processing and memory to stay current at a fractionary cost of new (including the tradeup 30%)???? I’d send one in at a time to go thru that or send in and exchange for a tested upgraded hardware unit!

This is the answer. I would pay a reasonable amount to upgrade my equipment.

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chickentender

Very simply… these two statements from the update email are not congruous.

... come May, when we end new software updates for our legacy products, they will continue to work just as they do today ...

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.

Patrick Spence

CEO, Sonos

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