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Ryan S
Ryan S
Retired Sonos Staff
Jan 22, 2020 3:20 PM UTC

End of Software Support - Clarifications

  • Dec 8, 2022 11:29 AM UTC
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End of Software Support - Clarifications

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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    4256 replies

    Show previous replies
    meligas
    Lyricist II
    Jan 24, 2020 7:22 AM UTC

    I have KEF speakers, Technic speakers etc bought over 20 years ago that are still working fine.  I buy speakers for the quality of the sound they produce and I have been happy with the SONOS product.  I don’t buy speakers to talk to them and I never will.  I have always disliked the SONOS attitude that they know better than their customer.  It’s about the sound stupid as President Bush might not have said.

    Translate
    Old School Mitchies
    Contributor I
    Jan 24, 2020 7:25 AM UTC

    I wonder if CEO Patrick Spence will become ‘legacy’ after this fiasco?! 

    Translate
      shawks2
      Lyricist I
      Jan 24, 2020 7:27 AM UTC

      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

      So this is the excuse for writing off Almost my entire Sonos system off - 4 play 5’s & 1 amp over £2000 worth of equipment! To add insult to injury you offer a derisory 30% discount meaning I’ll need to invest over £1700 to stand still! Why would anyone invest in a company who do this to their customers. After Over 10 years a Sonos customer I’m out there are loads of streaming options out there at lower cost and if Sonos have made their products disposable items I’m going to change to a company who sell at a price that represents that fact. 

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      Cchris
      Enthusiast II
      Jan 24, 2020 7:27 AM UTC

      Deprecating a product that's almost 20 years old is one thing.

      Deprecating the connect amp that's not even 5 years old is just a blatant smash and grab on the existing client base to boost sales figures of the new model.

      Translate
      DK_Madsen
      Enthusiast II
      Jan 24, 2020 7:28 AM UTC

      You should all have a look at this:

      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sonos-apologizes-backlash-over-updates-225706700.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvLnVrLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMPsKJfr-WxlKHwffWQI4YmttYmYOhpT8lQDOTUpn9NqE8c041xbLAtPZbv2rjuVfK8cPLyi3namCa92t_LRQMSHlp-058nd8pGg_89sgN8Dj2UQbvmSWWOPDhupqzoZOS8vl2pbQWqwC3lJcffBQwLl3Mn8oG_rjd3GnsMbJWiH

       

      There is so much wool and faff in this article

      First they say

      “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. ”

       

      But then

      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

       

      If they want to split my system into two where “The modern products work together” and “The legacy products work together”, then the first statement that my legacy products will work like today is false or misleading.

       

      From what i can gather they will just split the legacy systems up, probably with a new app, and i will be unable to stream MP3’s across “modern” and “Legacy” products like i can today.

      Translate
        George Gardiner
        Contributor II
        Jan 24, 2020 7:29 AM UTC

        Dear Mr Spence

        Can you please expand on your response to the backlash.  Are you guaranteeing that my old and new SONOS products will continue to work together?  All I want is to use my SONOS system exactly like I did before you changed everything in 2017.  That means:

        • no restrictive login,
        • no monitoring and profiling of my music and radio stations,
        • respect my privacy, and
        • I don’t want or need Alexa.

        For the participants on this forum, can I suggest that you go and read SONOS’s privacy policy and then ask why does SONOS need to know what music I am playing, where I am playing it (room and city) and why do you need to share that with everyone?

        In 2017 SONOS changed its terms of use, which were forced on us, to allow it to introduce the account login; which as we can all see now is a way of controlling our units. 

        The argument that legacy devices do not have enough computing power is not true - it worked perfectly fine prior to 2017 and that’s all I want.  If you strip out all the new “features” added since 2017 then it should work just fine.

        By all means fork your user experience into a system with basic features that just works as it did brilliantly prior to 2017 (simple streaming) or the new disposable world with lots of gimmicks.

        Translate
          user9876554
          Lyricist I
          Jan 24, 2020 7:29 AM UTC

          I own:

          2 connect:AMPS (2016), play:3 (2015), play:1 (2016), play:5 (2017), 2 Beams (2019).

           

          Within 5 years of purchase, the purpose and structure of my networked home sound system is now at risk, possibly already compromised, needing replacement of 2 connect:amps at a cost after discount of about £900. The cause is the producer of the products: SONOS itself.

           

          I understand you are a business that seeks to make a profit and you have adopted a business strategy. Please understand that I am a consumer and I seek to not permit sunk cost into products I will not be able to effectively consume over a reasonable period.

           

          I cannot in good conscience or within the context of a sound risk management framework, purchase any further SONOS products. 

           

           

          Translate
            Worcester
            Lyricist II
            Jan 24, 2020 7:34 AM UTC

            From latest 10k...” We may choose to discontinue support for older versions of our products, resulting in customer dissatisfaction that could negatively affect our business and operating results.
            We have historically maintained, and we believe our customers may expect, extensive backward compatibility for our older products and the software that supports them, allowing older products to continue to benefit from new software updates. We expect that in the near term, this backward compatibility will no longer be practical or cost-effective, and we may decrease or discontinue service for our older products. If we no longer provide extensive backward capability for our products, we may damage our relationship with our existing customers, as well as our reputation, brand loyalty and ability to attract new customers.
            For these reasons, any decision to decrease or discontinue backward capability may decrease sales and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.”

            Well they got that right,

            I would argue this statement was misleading the market because I refuse to believe they haven’t been planning this since before November when this was published. If I had bought shares at any time since they started the trade up programme I would consider myself well and truly conned.

            Translate
              D4ve
              Lyricist I
              Jan 24, 2020 7:35 AM UTC

              I raised a query with Sonos support when I received the email about this and was initially told that the solution was essentially to buy a second house for my legacy products (!!!) so I’m glad that there are at least signs that someone has realised this announcement was a PR disaster of epic proportions.

              I cannot see any reason, other than laziness, that old and new products can’t coexist and while I’m prepared to accept that the old ones might not pick up new features I certainly didn’t expect to be held to ransom to either (a) upgrade and pay Sonos more money or (b) kill of all my new products as well which is essentially what the initial statement said.

              Whether I ever buy a new Sonos product again will depend entirely on how they handle this shambles.

               

               

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              paulcourier
              Lyricist I
              Jan 24, 2020 7:36 AM UTC

              Well said it worked perfectly well back then the sound is no different to what it was so Sonos just leave it alone and let the folks who loved your products enjoy them we putyou where you are today 

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