Retired Sonos Staff

End of Software Support - Clarifications

Dec 8, 2022 11:29 AM UTC
4256 replies
270459 views
Translate All

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

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

Show previous replies

N

Niaccurshi

Lyricist III

It seems telling that Ryan_S has not made a comment or clarification in many, many pages of posts.

Either we’re all being allowed to vent, or there’s nothing new to say. Or both.

I’m reading along, but there hasn’t been much in need of clarification that hasn’t already been said.

And everyone is definitely allowed to vent. As long as the community rules are followed (for example no personal attacks and keeping profanity out of your posts) we welcome the feedback. I’m also making sure to share your voice with the right people.

I think that there are many of us that need to understand whether or not our concerns for the current stance of not entertaining any method by which our legacy and modern components can mix, to stream the same content through legacy products and modern products, are being discussed, or if Sonos does not care about these concerns. There very much is a need for clarification on this as it is the difference between how we choose to go forward with our relationship with Sonos as customers.

I’m not naive enough to expect an answer, but I think we would appreciate understanding if this problem is one that is being pushed up the chain to find a solution or not. After the mess that this announcement has caused, the least I think Sonos can be is honest, with 100% clarity, with us about what is being considered.

Translate

S

spunkworks

Lyricist III

What happens when my Playbar’s surrounds become legacy? will I lose my surround sound?

Based on what we know, yes. They will not be able to be part of the same Sonos installation.

That is crazy. I just bought a Playbar two weeks to work with older Sonos speakers i had bought years ago,

Translate

B

Bryan Stevens

Avid Contributor I

That doesn't work for me, Sonos products are extremely expensive and I buy for quality and fully functional longevity. I want the current ones to operate with full features from latest software releases, not be restricted due to a ‘legacy’ product on the system. In addition, all manufacturers should be trying to be eco-friendly and not force obsolescence. It may also well be down to lazy programing, just because a new version of a product may have more memory, etc doesn’t mean it has to be used, to the detriment of existing products.

If Sonos does not come up with a workable alternative to reduced functionality if there is a legacy product on the network then I for one will move to an alternative system as soon as i can.

Translate

P

PeteD

Enthusiast I

I wonder what the plan is when support for some current “modern” units gets dropped in a year or two. Presumably we could have a three way split in our systems - current “legacy” units, current modern units on newer software but no longer supported in a few years, and new modern units which are on even newer software?

Translate

P

photosbyae

Contributor I

I bought my Connect: Amp in 2017, 2 years later it’s “Legacy”? I didn’t know I should have been super careful about the manufacture date.

What happened to the “keep adding to your system each year” way of thinking?

$455 after a 30% discount is a slap in the face to replace a perfectly functioning amp.

Now there’s conflicting information as to whether or not “legacy” products will get software updates.

This sucks.

I also purchased a Connect Amp about two years ago. Sonos was selling them online last year and now they will not be supported? This is a very bad business model. I just purchased a sub. I’m afraid it will be added to the list next year or the very near future. The same goes for my Play 1s and the first version Ones. I’ve dropped so much money on these products thinking they would last awhile. I’m going to cut my loses and begin to switch them out with Amazon Echo products. #sonosbrickthis

Translate

J

Jason Korpics

Avid Contributor I

I bought my Connect: Amp in 2017, 2 years later it’s “Legacy”? I didn’t know I should have been super careful about the manufacture date.

What happened to the “keep adding to your system each year” way of thinking?

$455 after a 30% discount is a slap in the face to replace a perfectly functioning amp.

Now there’s conflicting information as to whether or not “legacy” products will get software updates.

This sucks.

I also purchased a Connect Amp about two years ago. Sonos was selling them online last year and now they will not be supported? This is a very bad business model. I just purchased a sub. I’m afraid it will be added to the list next year or the very near future. The same goes for my Play 1s and the first version Ones. I’ve dropped so much money on these products thinking they would last awhile. I’m going to cut my loses and begin to switch them out with Amazon Echo products. #sonosbrickthis

One way they could have avoided situations like yours would have been to continue to add memory and upgrade processors each year, but they obviously just keep selling with the same specs year after year even though tech has advanced and become cheaper.

They created the mess, want the consumer to pay for it, and offer up no plans to alter the course for the future. In addition, these vital memory and processor specifications are nowhere to be found in their product descriptions, and so they expect us to continue to pay top dollar while being kept in the dark on what exactly it is that we are buying...

Translate

J

John B

I am raising a ticket with Sonos support to see if I can disable all updates to my devices and phone.

I just realised that I have never actually needed an update to my system since it was bought! I was happy with tune in, play from this device, play from network and that’s it. ( May be I’m just a complete Dino?). The Updates never fixed an issue I experienced! However, the updates have removed “play from this device” and will now mean that I have 2 legacy speaker out of 6… oh and the legacy speakers are my most recent purchases!!

So why have automatic updates enabled… security? Really, if you have the speaker product only (not the “one” series) do you really care that someone in China knows that your dark secret is that you listen to Britney? Oh and let’s face it… they only find the security issues after it has been exploited!

Why are you emailing Support? You can turn off automatic system updates in the Sonos app and controller updates in your app store.

Translate

S

Sweeny1000

Lyricist I

Apologies if this has been asked before, but does anyone know what the position is regarding on-going software updates for the play 3?

It seems it is too old to receive an Airplay 2 upgrade but not old enough to stop receiving software updates after May 2020. Is this correct or did software updates for the play 3 stop prior to this recent announcement?

Given the relatively similar hardware specification of both the play 5 gen 1 and play 3, a decision to stop software updates for the play 5 gen 1, but continue them for the play 3, looks a bit suspect if it is being justified on the grounds of hardware limitations.

Translate

P

PeteD

Enthusiast I

I am raising a ticket with Sonos support to see if I can disable all updates to my devices and phone.

I just realised that I have never actually needed an update to my system since it was bought! I was happy with tune in, play from this device, play from network and that’s it. ( May be I’m just a complete Dino?). The Updates never fixed an issue I experienced! However, the updates have removed “play from this device” and will now mean that I have 2 legacy speaker out of 6… oh and the legacy speakers are my most recent purchases!!

So why have automatic updates enabled… security? Really, if you have the speaker product only (not the “one” series) do you really care that someone in China knows that your dark secret is that you listen to Britney? Oh and let’s face it… they only find the security issues after it has been exploited!

Why are you emailing Support? You can turn off automatic system updates in the Sonos app and controller updates in your app store.

And with respect, whilst you may not have realised you needed the update there is a good chance that without it your system wouldn’t have kept on working with tune in/ play from network!

Translate

J

John B

Apologies if this has been asked before, but does anyone know what the position is regarding on-going software updates for the play 3?

It seems it is too old to receive an Airplay 2 upgrade but not old enough to stop receiving software updates after May 2020. Is this correct or did software updates for the play 3 stop prior to this recent announcement?

Given the relatively similar hardware specification of both the play 5 gen 1 and play 3, a decision to stop software updates for the play 5 gen 1, but continue them for the play 3, looks a bit suspect if it is being justified on the grounds of hardware limitations.

Sonos have committed to supporting speakers for a minimum of 5 years after they discontinue sales. So they are kerping a promise, not that anybody on tbis thread is going to believe that.

Also, the P:3 has twice the RAM of the p:5 gen 1 I believe.

Translate

Show more replies

Sign up

Login to the community