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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
    WiseDroid
    Trending Lyricist I
    Jan 24, 2020 8:41 AM UTC

    Sonos is still selling the connect on its UK website… says nothing about how it is already obsolete…

     

    nice one...!

     

    sums them up re

    It is only units made before 2015 which are end of life  - I thought my Connect/Connect Amp were going to be legacy but actually thankfully they are both showing as modern. Worth double checking that as the news isn’t clear about this.

     

    For how long though that is the question

    Translate
    SonosManu
    Enthusiast II
    Jan 24, 2020 8:45 AM UTC

    Sonos is still selling the connect on its UK website… says nothing about how it is already obsolete…

     

    nice one...!

     

    sums them up re

    It is only units made before 2015 - I thought my Connect/Connect Amp were going to be legacy but actually thankfully they are both showing as modern. Worth double checking that as the news isn’t clear about this.

     

    For how long though that is the question

    There are two version of the connect according to a graph in a previous post on this thread.

    Translate
    Neil McRae
    Trending Lyricist I
    Jan 24, 2020 8:45 AM UTC

    Today is SONOS-U-TURN-DAY! It's a massive day for technology; one that will have many tech companies thinking very differently, lets us never forget this day! @Sonos didn't think about their customers and that starts to make you wonder about the culture at the organisation and the #leadership

     

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      andy_120
      Enthusiast II
      Jan 24, 2020 8:51 AM UTC

      hi Patrick Spence - thanks on behalf of your huge number of Sonos fans for backing down and ensuring that legacy products will still work for many more years!

      Your email blast earlier this week was ill considered and I am personally glad you have ‘seen the light’!

      Note to your management team. The real cost of selling premium products is that they come with premium expectations.

       

      Are you reading the same thing as nothing has changed at this t

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        stephen_19
        Contributor I
        Jan 24, 2020 8:52 AM UTC

        This announcement from SONOS has left me very angry indeed. They have forgotten in their technical bubble that not everyone wants the latest Gizmo. I do not want to shout at my speakers to change the track, I do not want to stream 40 different channels, I want to play my music , held on a terrastation at home in an iTune folder where and when I want to. I have 9 speakers plus a play bar around the house, only 4 of them are ‘modern’ although most of the others were bought less than 5 years ago. And of those 4 when will they become technically tired?? The separate controller has gone: that was really useful, the bridges have had to be replaced, that was the start of the unacceptable behaviour. If SONOS cannot produce software that I can download to make my system run on a stable but more limited basis where all the components are interoperable then let them let someone sell such software. I would invest in that company because they will have a 15+ year market.

        This is large tech businesses forcing their Customers to accept what they know best.

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          Chris0288
          Lyricist II
          Jan 24, 2020 8:53 AM UTC

          Everybody should sign the petition here:

          http://chng.it/jrkJMZDnpg
           

          Sonos won’t care, but it will help stretch the bad news cycle out longer if it gets big and they do care about that. 

          done

          Signed thanks

          Translate
            ausono
            Enthusiast I
            Jan 24, 2020 8:55 AM UTC

            What are some people reading that they think Sonos has changed anything at all?

            The letter from the CEO was clearly a calculated position determined by the company and simply attributed to him, why else did it take so long for them to release.

            It also doesn’t say anything new, at all.

            They prefaced it with an empty apology and played “word shuffle” on the message, but nothing has changed.

            Translate
              Chris0288
              Lyricist II
              Jan 24, 2020 8:56 AM UTC

              Have Sonos just stopped reading this thread I take it?  Did they ever care?

              I’m more annoyed now that I even bothered buying their products in the first place.  

              A U-Turn is needed today or I’m selling this stuff off and buying some Bluesound or Audio Pro 

               

              Can anyone recommend any other systems?  Would love B&O but obviously pricey 

              Translate
              larsj
              Enthusiast II
              Jan 24, 2020 8:58 AM UTC

              Don’t just post here guys… 

               

              ask questions on Amazon like ‘when will this be obsolescent, like Amos just made the rest of my kit?’

              leve reviews on big retailer sites warning potential purchasers to be wary

              i am doing this each time I have a few spare minutes.…

              it is helping me deal with my anger as I am furious… I don’t want to be forced into having first 2 and then what 3? 4? Zones in my all zone household wide music system…! 

              make them change this...

               

              Don’t forget the app store reviews as well.

              Translate
              FrankH654
              Lyricist II
              Jan 24, 2020 8:59 AM UTC

              Sonos, would it not be the time to do the right thing. Open-source your software and close the shop. Not much left - is there?

              1. You pissed off your most loyal customers, likely the ones which have spend quite a lot of money on you over the years and were in the process of considering to upgrade
              2. You killed off your sustainability promise by producing speakers with an incredible short life span. You say there are computers. You are wrong. People have bought them as speakers and expected an unlimited life within reason. Your innovation has been tolerated as long as it does not impair the quality of the experience. Now it does.
              3. You killed off your green credentials with the landfill mode you ingeniously call “recycling mode”. A mode which turns an excellent speaker with years to go into a piece of environmentally damaging junk.
              4. You killed of the secondary market as nobody will risk buying a Sonos which may either be bricked already or soon is to be.
              5. You destroyed the very core of your business, the word of mouth, the trust people had in Sonos product. The longevity you once promised - they bough into it because that was the only reason that justified the premium price tag.
              6. You insulted customers by offering a pitiful trade up which sounds like a ransom demand.
              7. There is no trust left (see Amazon reviews or TrustPilot or read this forum)

              No parent should see their children die, but you actually kill them. Close up, distribute the money amongst the people whom make this company what it is today. Let the shareholder pick up the bill which seem to have introduced the greed and shortsightedness.

              Will you accept your punishment?

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