Retired Sonos Staff

End of Software Support - Clarifications

Dec 8, 2022 11:29 AM UTC
4256 replies
270510 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

P

ppiixx

Lyricist III

Do we know if Sonos are delivering new firmware for the current ‘modern’ devices in may or new devices?

Are people upgrading to devices that are about to be phased out?

Translate

A

attacama40

Headliner I

Let’s try to keep the language clean everyone. I removed a couple posts above that had an inappropriate word in an image.

Good morning Ryan, I for one am encouraged by your message yesterday despite some frustrated days and reading and considering alternatives.

However (and not to add to any already repeated anger) I would repeat my several times posted request (and I think I speak for many folks) that we need a ROADMAP by the end of this week to reassure previously loyal high paying customers.

We had the original email that lit the fire

We saw your best intentions to inform - they were appreciated

We saw your top man’s email to reassure

…..All Good BUT….

Now we need a solid WHAT IS IT and WHAT IT WILL NOT BE message by the end of this week.

That’s a good 7 day period since your CEO’s reassurance message and will put 90% of the fire out.

And I don’t mean a ‘WHAT IT IS CHRISTMAS LIST’ but a reassurance or STATEMENT OF INTENTION as to what precisely Sonos aims to do and by when.

For those of us not intent on burying Sonos and who want to carry on buying and enjoying, this will likely be enough to keep us listening and rational. In love with Sonos? That’s going to take a lot more wine, chocolates and roses … but you get the point.

Please drop this on your management teams desk this morning and defy them to say it’s not a reasonable way forward.

Translate

A

andy_120

Enthusiast II

Yep I agree aswell, taking up too much time keeping up with this thread.

Translate

M

mmca22gr

Enthusiast II

I can definitely confirm that this issue is in fact being taken seriously by Sonos and they are working to come up with solutions. I myself have been very critical on this thread, but now after correspondence sent and a follow up conversation today I fully back Sonos following some truly excellent customer service and attention to my particular issue. I would not have expected such a positive reaction from any company but Sonos delivered today!

Well done Sonos and thank you for listening.

A true specialist company that does care about its community!

Really?

I emailed on 23rd to ask to return 5.1 beam system and had no response.

Today I had to call them and they said they would email return labels - nothing so far.

In November they told me could upgrade some products and get 30% off.

I did this with a Play 5 and got the 30% credit. I bought the 5.1 beam setup and now with the fact that Sonos will no longer be a whole house audio company I wish to return the goods. Sonos *knew* in November what the plan was and mis-sold these items. I get my money back but an down a Play 5 - it went to the local recycle centre

They need to solve that problem or else I will go to the small claims court over this.

As a follow up to my situation.

I am returning my 5.1 beam system that was mis-sold in November. The situation left me with no Play:5 as it has left the building already.

I will not longer support a whole house audio system that ‘splits’ into two houses and I informed SONOS that the contimue to market the products falsely on their website.

SONOS have offered to ship me a Play: 5 Gen 1 when I return my system. So, apart from all the hassle of boxing up the 5.1 beam system and getting UPS to pick it up etc I am back to the same system I had in November (once the Play:5 (gen 1) arrives.

Being a SONOS users for 10 years I must have had a premonition as for some reason I kept the boxes for the 5.1 beam setup (I already have 2 other beams setups) - maybe I knew I would return them.

Now I start the search for alternatives.

Translate

D

Dariuswd

Lyricist I

Are you kidding? Thousands of euro spent with your products and now I'm officially a rubbish sonos owner.

Thank you everyone

Translate

C

Chris_183

Enthusiast II

Yamaha MusicCast Legacy Products

I put all my SONOS equipment on eBay the day after the announcement and have been looking into an alternative whole house music product. Yesterday I came across someone saying the old equipment can’t play Amazon Music, but the new equipment can. I have Spotify, so I could care less, but I called Yamaha and talked to there tech support. Here’s my paraphrasing of our conversation:

Me: “I have some old MusicCast products and I’m thinking of switching from Spotify to Amazon Music, but my equipment doesn’t support it. What should I do?”

Yamaha: “You will need equipment manufactured after 2018 to support Amazon Music. Here’s a link that shows which products support the different streaming services.”

Me: “So what happens to my old equipment if I get a new product to stream Amazon Music?”

Yamaha: “Nothing, they will continue to operate as before.”

Me: “So how do I listen to Amazon Music in a room with equipment that doesn’t support it?”

Yamaha: “Start Amazon Music in the room that does have equipment that supports it, then group it to the other room.”

Me: “That’s it?”

Yamaha: “Yes”.

SONOS - did you really screw up your equipment design or is this legacy equipment won’t work with non-legacy equipment just a cheap attempt to milk your existing customers out of more money?

Translate

S

SteveG63

Enthusiast I

I was going to buy a Play 1 for my office (I have 9 zones at home). Because of this $hit$how I bought a pair of JBL Charge 4s for the same price. They play in a Stereo pair and sound great in my little 14x14 room and I can take them on the beach in the summer.

I advocated for Sonos for 10+ years. I’m responsible for 40-50 zones that friends and family have purchased.

Now I’m done!

Translate

Sonos user since 2008. (3) Connects, (2) Connect Amps, (2) Play 1, (2) Play 3s, (1) Play 5, (1) Arc, (1) Sub, (1) Symfonisk

D

DK_Madsen

Enthusiast II

Let’s try to keep the language clean everyone. I removed a couple posts above that had an inappropriate word in an image.

Good morning Ryan, I for one am encouraged by your message yesterday despite some frustrated days and reading and considering alternatives.

However (and not to add to any already repeated anger) I would repeat my several times posted request (and I think I speak for many folks) that we need a ROADMAP by the end of this week to reassure previously loyal high paying customers.

We had the original email that lit the fire

We saw your best intentions to inform - they were appreciated

We saw your top man’s email to reassure

…..All Good BUT….

Now we need a solid WHAT IS IT and WHAT IT WILL NOT BE message by the end of this week.

That’s a good 7 day period since your CEO’s reassurance message and will put 90% of the fire out.

And I don’t mean a ‘WHAT IT IS CHRISTMAS LIST’ but a reassurance or STATEMENT OF INTENTION as to what precisely Sonos aims to do and by when.

For those of us not intent on burying Sonos and who want to carry on buying and enjoying, this will likely be enough to keep us listening and rational. In love with Sonos? That’s going to take a lot more wine, chocolates and roses … but you get the point.

Please drop this on your management teams desk this morning and defy them to say it’s not a reasonable way forward.

I dont want Sonos to die as such…

But on the other hand, i will stop feeding them, and if a lot of other users do this also, this might mean that i, and the others end up starving sonos to death, but i will not accept any responsibility, much like i would not accept responsibility for the starvation and death of a wild animal that tries to bite my hand, when i try to feed it or show extreme disgratitude when i feed it.

Translate

8

8joycem

Lyricist III

Yamaha MusicCast Legacy Products

I put all my SONOS equipment on eBay the day after the announcement and have been looking into an alternative whole house music product. Yesterday I came across someone saying the old equipment can’t play Amazon Music, but the new equipment can. I have Spotify, so I could care less, but I called Yamaha and talked to there tech support. Here’s my paraphrasing of our conversation:

Me: “I have some old MusicCast products and I’m thinking of switching from Spotify to Amazon Music, but my equipment doesn’t support it. What should I do?”

Yamaha: “You will need equipment manufactured after 2018 to support Amazon Music. Here’s a link that shows which products support the different streaming services.”

Me: “So what happens to my old equipment if I get a new product to stream Amazon Music?”

Yamaha: “Nothing, they will continue to operate as before.”

Me: “So how do I listen to Amazon Music in a room with equipment that doesn’t support it?”

Yamaha: “Start Amazon Music in the room that does have equipment that supports it, then group it to the other room.”

Me: “That’s it?”

Yamaha: “Yes”.

SONOS - did you really screw up your equipment design or is this legacy equipment won’t work with non-legacy equipment just a cheap attempt to milk your existing customers out of more money?

Am doing exactly the same. Just found the Sonos boxes in the garage for my Play:1’s and they’re going on Ebay. It’s pretty obvious they’re next on the block, looking at the specs. I had no idea about this when I started building my sonos system.

And am also looking at the Yahama Music Cast. I know it’s maybe a bit hasty, but the lack of further clarifications coming out of Sonos is making me very nervous. Don’t want to be left with a pile of bricks, this time next year and I won’t support a company that seems to be heading down a planned obsolescence route.

Translate

jgatie

Careful what you wish for with MusicCast. Like Bose, Yamaha has a nasty habit of dropping their entire lineup of multi-room speaker systems when they don’t work out and/or can’t support new features. Unlike Bose, who have only done it once (after 3 refreshes in 4 years), Yamaha has dropped their entire lineup at least 3 times.

Translate

Show more replies

Sign up

Login to the community