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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amun

@DK_Madsen

“Imagine buying 2 speakers ~4 years ago, paying over $1000 for them, only to be told they are obsolete now.”

Yup, that is me as well! Feel like a right chump!

Now I have calmed down a bit, I know what my plan is. I am not going to buy any more speakers until the May announcement. Then I am going to watch these threads and wait and see how it all plays out.. Time will tell.

….and it wouldn’t be useful either to do so if they work only when being daily comfirmed by a Sonos server plus regularly updated.

They don’t - you can lock your system off completely from the internet and it will just carry on local streaming…. However, a lot of people like streaming via Spotify etc, so may prefer just to lock off the update process instead.

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john at poulton

Enthusiast I

Just to say (briefly) the line in, when set to Autoplay, will always work without the Sonos App and without WiFi for that matter. Some folk take them from Home to Work and run them off their mobile with the usual 3.5mm cable. Just so you know that option remains open to you. Not that I think you will ever need to go to such lengths, personally speaking.

I’m intrigued by your comment about not having to go to such lengths? Insider info or just a gut feeling? Thanks for the tip about Autoplay, is that something I will need to set from the app? Or will it work just by plugging in?

Just a short while ago I mentioned in a post that I occasionally deliver presentations to small groups of people and take one of my Play 5s to the venue where I connect it to my iPad using line-in from where I can play the appropriate music. The line-in facility on the Play 5s can be used to hook them up to any device with a headphone socket, TVs , MP3 players, Tablets etc. I’m assuming that this function will still work but would welcome clarification. This is what I meant when I said they won’t become totally obsolete as there will be a use to which they can be put - they’re not going to be totally useless.

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TreeskiMRG

Lyricist I

I think I stopped reading around page 20, jumped here. Basically in same boat - lots of investment, expect "legacy" and new to work together. Be this in party mode or in the surround system I have using a Playbar and sub coupled with a now "legacy" connect:Amp powering my built in rear speakers. The ability to combine these products was part of the appeal, the beauty - it made it all simple.

There is ALWAYS a technical solution. People's fear of change and financials get in the way of executing and implementing. Don't leave all your long time loyal customers - the ones who've made your company successful for over a decade - out in the cold.

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PeteD

Enthusiast I

Cant help but think that Sonos has just created its own “Kodak” moment and we all know how it turned out for them.

Below is a copy of the email that I sent in reply to CEO Patrick Spence.

Thank you for your communication re the future of the products that I have purchased from you.

Unfortunately, your email does little to inspire confidence in the longevity of my current system of sonos products. Having invested over £1000 in your products over the past 4 to 5 years, my expectation was for your products to be fully supported for a period in excess of 10 years, and it now transpires this will not be the case.

You say “we are not forcing them into obsolescence” whilst this is patently what you are doing, and the more cynical amongst us might say that this is a ploy to drive sales of your new products. You further say you wil provide updates for “as long as possible”, a statement so blatantly indeterminate as to be meaningless.

I can only hope that those looking to purchase your new products take into consideration your current actions on your “legacy” products, re-consider their decision and opt for your competitors.

Your offer of 30% discount on replacement products in no way compensates for this loss of facility, nor does it inspire me to have confidence that any of your new products will have the life expectancy i would expect.

I can only say that your actions on this subject have been a PR disaster and a gift to your competitors. I further hope that your investors are currently reviewing the management and leadership of Sonos in the light of your decisions and actions.

I will NOT continue to be a customer of Sonos, and am considering raising a complaint via the UK trading standards authorities and/or action via the civil courts.

Amusingly the ancient scottish ballad of Sir Patrick Spence who led the scottish fleet to destruction in the 15th century, after ignoring all warnings, may prove a salutary lesson to you, or perhaps you view ill considered actions to be an inherited family trait.

O forty miles of Aberdeen,
'Tis fifty fathoms deep;
And there lies good Sir Patrick Spens,
With the Scots lords at his feet.

Clogs to clogs in 3 generations as we say in Lancashire!

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patbla

Enthusiast II

In addition to my many legacy components (2 Connect, 1 Connect Amp, 2 Play 5, 1 CR200), I purchased a pair of Play 1 from Costco in the last month because I thought my Play 3s were overkill in my 5.1 system (playbar and sub) and I could re-purpose the 3s in my guest rooms (thereby introducing more of my friends and family to Sonos). Given this new policy I see the writing on the wall for the Play 1s and Play 3s so no point in spending more money.

I will now, for the first time, try to take advantage of one of the benefits of a Costco membership, the no questions asked return process as I have disposed of the packaging.

If asked why the return, rest assured that I will be explicit that it is solely as a result of this new policy.

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PhilRobbo

Lyricist III

So clearly I want a whole home system, not two separate systems. If I keep my system in legacy mode then how can I add other products. Answer....it doesn’t look as though I can and therefore Sonos have forced me to either:

1. Never buy another Sonos product because I will not be able to add it to my legacy system.

2. Pay 70% of the price of my legacy items to Sonos for the speakers I have already bought and then I have the option to buy more if I want .... in the hope Sonos make nothing else legacy.

3. Run two systems, in which case I don’t see why I would not take the opportunity to invest in a new brand and use them as the basis for a new ecosystem and phase out the Sonos stuff.

Option 2 is a non-starter, I’m not stupid enough to trust Sonos again, so options 1 & 2 remain. Either way Sonos have cut me off as a repeat customer.

Surely Sonos can’t be that daft? Can they?

Have I got this right? Or am I mistaken?

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hedrict

Lyricist II

My letter (very repetitive to what others have said)

Mr. Spence,
I, along with many other customers were very early adopters of your products. It took me many years to build my current system (10 items) and I never minded paying the premium price because I felt the quality justified the price. I have also been a brand ambassador since the beginning talking these things up to friends and family and even giving them as gifts.

I found out about these changes from a sales associate at Best Buy as I was putting 2 of the new Moves into my buggy that I was adding to my collection. he told me I might want to rethink that and explained the changes. I immediately put them back on the shelf after confirming what he told me via a google search.

I feel like I’ve been completely screwed over. Even after your apology letter, it’s clear you don’t care about the customers who helped to build your brand and my trust for your company is gone. I frankly don’t care whether you support the legacy products or not as I plan to sell off my speakers on Craigslist in protest.

As others have said, years from now, this will be a business case study in how management missteps can quickly destroy a great brand and possibly a company. I hope you are proud.

Sent from my iPad

So after sending this, I shockingly received this reply from Patrick. I believe they have heard us. I will try to calm down and take a couple of weeks to see what happens.

From: Patrick Spence <patrick.spence@sonos.com>

To:xxxxxx

Jan 24 at 11:50 PM

Mr. Hedrick,

Thanks for being an early adopter. My apologies for the mistake here, and I am not proud. I'm sorry that didn't come across in my email.

I understand & respect your decision. Thank you for having been a customer & sorry for letting you down.

Sincerely,

Patrick

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amun

Where did you buy a gen 1 Play:5 two years after Sonos discontinued sales?

I bought a new Play 5 Gen1 in Swaffham about six months ago…. As far as I’m aware, they still have another for sale….

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larsj

Enthusiast II

Just a short while ago I mentioned in a post that I occasionally deliver presentations to small groups of people and take one of my Play 5s to the venue where I connect it to my iPad using line-in from where I can play the appropriate music. The line-in facility on the Play 5s can be used to hook them up to any device with a headphone socket, TVs , MP3 players, Tablets etc. I’m assuming that this function will still work but would welcome clarification. This is what I meant when I said they won’t become totally obsolete as there will be a use to which they can be put - they’re not going to be totally useless.

When I moved house last year, I had a two week wait for broadband to be installed. I couldn’t even set up the Sonos without a working Internet connection. Setup in the early years was an entirely off-line process. They’ve moved a lot of local functionality into the cloud and now they’re reluctant to support it.

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The marmite man

Trending Lyricist I

In the UK 30% isn’t actually 30%. As far as I understand we have to purchase from Sonos.com which is nearly always much dearer than buying from other respected retailers. If we have 30% please let us purchase from cheaper sellers and get the FULL 30% off.

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