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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J

jjohncm

Lyricist III

I declined this, but thought the forum needed to know that Sonos will give discounts to 50% if you push a bit. ……

From: Nathan S
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 8:50 AM
Subject: Re: PLEASE STOP MY RECYCLING

Hello John-

Thank you for contacting Sonos!

Patrick Spence asked me to reach out to you on his behalf.

Our apologies for the confusion regarding the end of software updates for legacy items that is scheduled to commence in May.

While we are unable to reverse recycling, we would like to compensate you for this inconvenience.

If you could please provide the email address associated with these Trade Up products, I will submit a retroactive credit request to our finance team for this order so there is a 50% total discount rather than 30%. You should see this credit in 10-15 business days.

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience, and thank you for being a loyal Sonos customer.

Best,

Nathan S

Moderator note: Edited out private information.

Moderator clarification: All discounts are managed on a case by case basis.

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A

attacama40

Headliner I

I declined this, but thought the forum needed to know that Sonos will give discounts to 50% if you push a bit. ……

From: Nathan S
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 8:50 AM
Subject: Re: PLEASE STOP MY RECYCLING

Hello John-

Thank you for contacting Sonos!

Patrick Spence asked me to reach out to you on his behalf.

Our apologies for the confusion regarding the end of software updates for legacy items that is scheduled to commence in May.

While we are unable to reverse recycling, we would like to compensate you for this inconvenience.

If you could please provide the email address associated with these Trade Up products, I will submit a retroactive credit request to our finance team for this order so there is a 50% total discount rather than 30%. You should see this credit in 10-15 business days.

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience, and thank you for being a loyal Sonos customer.

Best,

Nathan S

Not to set my price too low … but I have to say at 50%, I would do the upgrade.

There is something neat and mentally acceptable about “50%”.

Would I still have the same past affection for Sonos? I don’t know but I could stomach 50% and a clear statement of future product life cycle with a far horizon.

Can’t believe I’m saying that but is true … I think

Moderator note: Edited out private information.

Moderator clarification: All discounts are managed on a case by case basis.

Translate

A

attacama40

Headliner I

I declined this, but thought the forum needed to know that Sonos will give discounts to 50% if you push a bit. ……

From: Nathan S
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 8:50 AM
Subject: Re: PLEASE STOP MY RECYCLING

Hello John-

Thank you for contacting Sonos!

Patrick Spence asked me to reach out to you on his behalf.

Our apologies for the confusion regarding the end of software updates for legacy items that is scheduled to commence in May.

While we are unable to reverse recycling, we would like to compensate you for this inconvenience.

If you could please provide the email address associated with these Trade Up products, I will submit a retroactive credit request to our finance team for this order so there is a 50% total discount rather than 30%. You should see this credit in 10-15 business days.

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience, and thank you for being a loyal Sonos customer.

Best,

Nathan S

Not to set my price too low … but I have to say at 50%, I would do the upgrade.

There is something neat and mentally acceptable about “50%”.

Would I still have the same past affection for Sonos? I don’t know but I could stomach 50% and a clear statement of future product life cycle with a far horizon.

Can’t believe I’m saying that but is true … I think

Or I should say upgrades … from memory think I got 6 of them. Suddenly sounds a little appealing.

Moderator note: Edited out private information.

Moderator clarification: All discounts are managed on a case by case basis.

Translate

A

attacama40

Headliner I

I declined this, but thought the forum needed to know that Sonos will give discounts to 50% if you push a bit. ……

From: Nathan S
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 8:50 AM
Subject: Re: PLEASE STOP MY RECYCLING

Hello John-

Thank you for contacting Sonos!

Patrick Spence asked me to reach out to you on his behalf.

Our apologies for the confusion regarding the end of software updates for legacy items that is scheduled to commence in May.

While we are unable to reverse recycling, we would like to compensate you for this inconvenience.

If you could please provide the email address associated with these Trade Up products, I will submit a retroactive credit request to our finance team for this order so there is a 50% total discount rather than 30%. You should see this credit in 10-15 business days.

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience, and thank you for being a loyal Sonos customer.

Best,

Nathan S

Not to set my price too low … but I have to say at 50%, I would do the upgrade.

There is something neat and mentally acceptable about “50%”.

Would I still have the same past affection for Sonos? I don’t know but I could stomach 50% and a clear statement of future product life cycle with a far horizon.

Can’t believe I’m saying that but is true … I think

Or I should say upgrades … from memory think I got 6 of them. Suddenly sounds a little appealing.

should say ‘less’ appealing.

Moderator note: Edited out private information.

Moderator clarification: All discounts are managed on a case by case basis.

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M

MIBUK

Enthusiast II

Sonos Reports Record First Quarter Fiscal 2020 Financial Results

https://investors.sonos.com/news-and-events/investor-news/latest-news/2020/Sonos-Reports-Record-First-Quarter-Fiscal-2020-Financial-Results/default.aspx

They’ve improved their results greatly. However that was pre-announcement of the legacy approach. Let’s see the results in the next two quarters to see what effect it has had. Of course, it depends on what solution Sonos proposes, but I still think it’s mad to announce the legacy mode without having a plan in place to answer questions now, to minimise any negativity.

The cynical view is that they believed they could simply make an announcement, take some criticism and then continue growing. Well, if that was the case, then they’re now clear how much unhappiness there is. Mainly because Sonos haven’t answered the questions correctly. Saying, we’ll have something by May and will update you all in the next few weeks/months, is amateurish at best.The mind boggles how highly educated people can make these elementary mistakes. But, Pandora’s box has been opened and they’ll need to do something amazing to close it. I suspect many will run their system to the point, it has no value anymore/support of basic services and meanwhile, will find alternatives to prepare for the switch over.

In my view it’s either a media server streaming to wireless speakers. So, the only updates needed will be to the hardware/software to the media server OR buy much cheaper true wireless in the knowledge that one day, they will be replaced. If Sonos leave this space that they created, I can imagine a new kid on the block who will takeover in the future.

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Act in haste, repent at leisure.

melvimbe

They’ve improved their results greatly. However that was pre-announcement of the legacy approach. Let’s see the results in the next two quarters to see what effect it has had. Of course, it depends on what solution Sonos proposes, but I still think it’s mad to announce the legacy mode without having a plan in place to answer questions now, to minimise any negativity.

I agree that the announcement was not done as well it should have been, and a more complete plan would have gone over well. Although I think investor reports show that Sonos was aware of this eventuality, there been nothing to show that a May legacy changeover has been planned for a long time. I wonder if they were originally planning to do legacy at a later date, but move the date up based on recent events. Those recent events could be the acquisition of Snips (voice control), the lawsuit against Google, or just concerns about rising competition. Maybe not, and maybe we will never know, but I do wonder.

The cynical view is that they believed they could simply make an announcement, take some criticism and then continue growing. Well, if that was the case, then they’re now clear how much unhappiness there is.

How much unhappiness is there? It obviously exists, but do we really know what the real impact is and how it’s going to effect future sales? I know there are at least thousands that upset and it’s clearly something, but what percentage of current and new customers are effected or will change their buying habits? Don’t know.

Mainly because Sonos haven’t answered the questions correctly. Saying, we’ll have something by May and will update you all in the next few weeks/months, is amateurish at best.The mind boggles how highly educated people can make these elementary mistakes. But, Pandora’s box has been opened and they’ll need to do something amazing to close it. I suspect many will run their system to the point, it has no value anymore/support of basic services and meanwhile, will find alternatives to prepare for the switch over.

I agree that Sonos needs to have something amazing planned. I am not sure that’s going to happen this year though, and not sure it will win over customers that are turning away. I say that I’m not sure it’s this year, because although I can imagine Sonos would want to hold off on bad news as long as possible, they would not want to do it during Christmas shopping season either. So it may be that an amazing change isn’t coming till this time 2021. Or there could be nothing that we notice or find amazing.

In my view it’s either a media server streaming to wireless speakers. So, the only updates needed will be to the hardware/software to the media server OR buy much cheaper true wireless in the knowledge that one day, they will be replaced. If Sonos leave this space that they created, I can imagine a new kid on the block who will takeover in the future.

These are both sound strategies. I think people will find positive and negatives with alternatives and will find the strategy that makes the most sense for them. I am not sure that a central media server is going to provide multroom audio well (not sure about that). As far as cheaper true wireless options, it’s worth nothing that this is currently offered by big tech Google and Amazon, which use their sheer size to be able to sell products for cheap. While I think it’s a good solution for a lot of people, it does come with it’s own set of issues.

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Danny

User694694

Enthusiast II

Why is there only one version of the Connect Amp on the graph, but some of mine are Legacy and some aren’t? I see two versions of the Connect, with the latter having more storage and RAM. Am I missing something? Or is it that Sonos will support some of my Connect Amps because they are still within the 5 year window and some aren’t despite the same internals?

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Ryan SAuthor

Retired Sonos Staff

Why is there only one version of the Connect Amp on the graph, but some of mine are Legacy and some aren’t? I see two versions of the Connect, with the latter having more storage and RAM. Am I missing something? Or is it that Sonos will support some of my Connect Amps because they are still within the 5 year window and some aren’t despite the same internals?

That chart is user generated and though it’s pretty accurate, it is missing a few things, such as it doesn’t list the older version of the Connect:Amp which was called the ZP120 at launch. That first version had only 32 MB of memory and was replaced by the newer version in 2015.

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User694694

Enthusiast II

Why is there only one version of the Connect Amp on the graph, but some of mine are Legacy and some aren’t? I see two versions of the Connect, with the latter having more storage and RAM. Am I missing something? Or is it that Sonos will support some of my Connect Amps because they are still within the 5 year window and some aren’t despite the same internals?

That chart is user generated and though it’s pretty accurate, it is missing a few things, such as it doesn’t list the older version of the Connect:Amp which was called the ZP120 at launch. That first version had only 32 MB of memory and was replaced by the newer version in 2015.

Ah, I do remember the ZP120. Its form factor was a little larger than the Connect Amp. All my Connect Amps are the smaller form factor. So, are you saying that the initial Connect Amps (presumably the ones that are becoming legacy) are not listed on the graph and that the 2015 Connect Amps are the ones listed (that have 64 MB storage and RAM)?

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jgatie

Ah, I do remember the ZP120. Its form factor was a little larger than the Connect Amp. All my Connect Amps are the smaller form factor. So, are you saying that the initial Connect Amps (presumably the ones that are becoming legacy) are not listed on the graph and that the 2015 Connect Amps are the ones listed (that have 64 MB storage and RAM)?

That was the ZP100. Larger, less powerful amplifier, and had an analog line out. The ZP120 was its successor, which was later rebranded as the Connect.

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Sonos Reports Record First Quarter Fiscal 2020 Financial Results

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