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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Ryan SAuthor

Retired Sonos Staff

What I don’t understand is that the Sonos connect they say that they stopped selling in 2015 was sold to me by Best Buy in November of 2017. I have a hard time thinking that Best Buy has a two year supply of Sonos gear in stock.

I bought my Connect in May 2016 and got a modern one - there seems to be an awful lot of “luck of the draw” when it comes to 3rd party (but official) suppliers - if I’d chosen someone else, I may have gotten a legacy one. I think it makes this whole thing even worse - that random chance on an unknown variable may, or may not, outdate your purchase.

Most of these cases that I’ve talked with someone directly over, the device purchased is the 2015 model, not an older one. So to start with, @Robb Lutton, can you check again on your account page here: https://www.sonos.com/myaccount/system/households/devices/ to make sure that what you have is listed as either a Modern device or a Legacy device? There was a bug that’s been fixed that was causing a few modern devices to be flagged as legacy.

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Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

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matthew.bacon

Lyricist III

Why is the share price climbing again? Don’t the investors realise that loyal SONOS owners have zero intention of buying their products ever again!?

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MikeOinToronto

Lyricist III

Why is the share price climbing again? Don’t the investors realise that loyal SONOS owners have zero intention of buying their products ever again!?

I would never assume share prices are related to customer satisfaction. The stock market to me is gambling. You are hoping share prices will go up, either short or long term and you can cash out at more than you bought in. Maybe some investors are hoping for a major company to buy sonos. Also others short the stock and can make money if the shares go down. Some likely have a strategy to make money on the volatility itself. At any rate, customer satisfaction is only one small piece and likely matters more to long term investors than others.

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Nick M

Lyricist II

2x play:5

2x Connect zp90

1x sub

1x play:1 all purchased brand new.

Long time Sonos user, just wanted to have my say... I bought my first play:5 about 7 years ago. First ever post and I'm so sad it had to be in this obituary of a thread.

Honestly fellow music lovers, my confidence with Sonos as a company and a product has been shattered never to recover. Just another jumped up tech company trying to be Apple. Why do I need a voice controlled sonos when I can just ask Alexa app on my phone to play whatever I want on Sonos? I want a speaker which sounds great and plays music, not a personal assistant.

The hardware system right now can stream with the same quality as a cd without any problems, and guess what Sonos Inc.??? THAT'S ALL I'LL EVER WANT OR NEED IT TO DO. So don't give me all this talk about not enough processing power. For what?Holographic music videos?

A £50 Sonos 'bridge' type device made specifically for this supposed problem could keep our 'legacy' units running fine for years. Nope. This is not about an update issue. This is about a company who recently listed on the stock market desperately trying to turn a profit with delusions of being up there with Google and Amazon.

The scheme to brick your old (?) unit for a 30% discount on a shiny new one is a step too far and I only hope these greedy moguls see sense and at least make the 'legacy' firmware open source - let us recycle our units for years to come.

This company talks about sustainability but it's clearly all corporate waffle.

This is from the Sonos website.…

"We plan on being in business a long time, which means we must be responsible, forward-thinking citizens. We’re committed to ethical and sustainable practices and strive to positively affect our community."

Hmmmm....

Thanks for reading

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Robb Lutton

Contributor I

What I don’t understand is that the Sonos connect they say that they stopped selling in 2015 was sold to me by Best Buy in November of 2017. I have a hard time thinking that Best Buy has a two year supply of Sonos gear in stock.

I bought my Connect in May 2016 and got a modern one - there seems to be an awful lot of “luck of the draw” when it comes to 3rd party (but official) suppliers - if I’d chosen someone else, I may have gotten a legacy one. I think it makes this whole thing even worse - that random chance on an unknown variable may, or may not, outdate your purchase.

Most of these cases that I’ve talked with someone directly over, the device purchased is the 2015 model, not an older one. So to start with, @Robb Lutton, can you check again on your account page here: https://www.sonos.com/myaccount/system/households/devices/ to make sure that what you have is listed as either a Modern device or a Legacy device? There was a bug that’s been fixed that was causing a few modern devices to be flagged as legacy.

Ryan,

Following your note, I checked back and you are correct. I mistook a large purchase at Best Buy of a new receiver and tv with an earlier purchase of sonos gear. I took the registration date to be the date it was purchased. I apologize for my misstatement.

Thanks for taking the time to research this.

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RickInHouston1

Trending Lyricist I

WooHoo!!!

You have 15 legacy products that do not receive software updates and new features as of May 2020.

Winning!

Bought a nuc. Bought one Allo DigiOne Signature Player. Roon trial and will buy one year, probably. Will see if sound quality approves, high resolution support, ...

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I think I was the first person to buy a Sonos. At least I feel like it.

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annascott

Enthusiast I

WooHoo!!!

You have 15 legacy products that do not receive software updates and new features as of May 2020.

Winning!

Bought a nuc. Bought one Allo DigiOne Signature Player. Roon trial and will buy one year, probably. Will see if sound quality approves, high resolution support, ...

I saw those Raspberry Pi devices, just not sure how the mesh wifi system would work with multiple speakers??

I purchased my first 2 products in November 2014. Play 5 and Connect. Have built on the system to 8 devices since then. But i just feel let down as i would never have thought for a second these speakers would not work with the rest of them in the same group, in just 5 1/2 years time.

Sonos you need to have a sliding scale of benefit to retain loyal customers. Eg those who buy 3-6 months before a new product is updated, then they should have a larger buy back discount (70%or so) than someone who already enjoyed 5 years before the product was discontinued.

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pkjones

Lyricist II

Just came on to freak out and vent really, I’ve spent upwards of $6k on Sonos gear and now need to spend $4k (7 devices, including the 30% trade in) to continue getting supported gear past May. Not good enough and will certainly more inclined to buy quality hi-fi gear made to last a lifetime than Sonos moving forward.

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attacama40

Headliner I

Just came on to freak out and vent really, I’ve spent upwards of $6k on Sonos gear and now need to spend $4k (7 devices, including the 30% trade in) to continue getting supported gear past May. Not good enough and will certainly more inclined to buy quality hi-fi gear made to last a lifetime than Sonos moving forward.

This is actually an important point.

Whilst I have loved and worked my Sonos system to death, if it will not grow with me them the distance, then as pkjones says, why not commit to quality end point equipment that can also do what Sonos has done well for so long?

It’s a point I find myself at.

Much as I want clear statements from Sonos and much as I am willing to give a fair bit of slack and not just major on being hacked off, there really are now high end alternatives.

Is a place I never looked …. but now I’ve looked!

Pandoras box? Maybe …..

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robbieduncan

Lyricist III

So I asked Yamaha how long they would support MusicCast products for (particularly the small amp). This was their reply:

“The answer at the present time is that we currently have no plans to withdraw support for this or other MusicCast models and therefore cannot commit to a timeline.”

So for those thinking of jumping ship: you could end up in the same situation and Yamaha may or may not support devices for as long as Sonos once discontinued.

Better the devil you know?

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