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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chickentender

Totally agree.

So you can keep obsolete and new products in an out of date state.

The surrogates in this thread are trying really hard wash this fact over.

I’d say rather the “surrogates” in this thread (or fanboy, or shill, or other veiled pejorative one prefers) are just trying to bring facts and real-world application of those facts back into the light whenever possible, because they so often get buried among the rants and inaccuracies repeated again and again. There’s plenty of justified anger on the issue at hand and I’ve seen the same “surrogates” express just as much as any over time, though in a more measured and “what do we do now?” manner, trying to help those that wander to this thread in anger find a way to move on. If without Sonos, that’s fine - no one would fault anyone at this point for making that choice, so long as it’s a decision made with facts, not conjecture of hell-and-damnation.
I’m just as disappointed as anyone else personally, but keeping things in perspective is helpful.

Surrogate is not a veiled pejorative. It accurately describes the posters who are answering concerns instead of Sonos themselves. These are Sonos community but they are absent in providing any new information that we as customers want and deserve.

Well, alright then… that wasn’t the vibe I got. Happy to be corrected.
Sonos reps have showed up on and on throughout this thread and others. Ryan and others have stepped in quite a number of times. Much of what they’ve said is just being reiterated by others as time goes on for those that have come to this thread (now 130+ pages long) later and not read (who can blame them?) the previous posts. Also, a fair amount has been left unsaid - there are certainly questions remaining but they’re not forthcoming, and yeah, that’s frustrating, but it doesn’t mean that the forum-regulars passing on clarifications ad nauseum as the conversations inevitably repeat in any way means they’re trying “really hard to wash over [this] fact”. They’re trying to help.

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chickentender

Hopefully @Ryan S can clarify if both legacy and new devices will work together for streaming in group mode or are we waiting on further clarification on this? Or as I saw in a reply from Sonos on Twitter, it won’t be possible post May update?

It’s been clarified many times. Current modern devices now sold will work together just as they do now if the system is left in a legacy firmware state, now and in May. This includes adding newly purchased modern devices to a legacy network environment. Whether the same is true for devices yet to be released is unknown.

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G

Goodbye Sonos

Enthusiast II

Totally agree.

So you can keep obsolete and new products in an out of date state.

The surrogates in this thread are trying really hard wash this fact over.

I’d say rather the “surrogates” in this thread (or fanboy, or shill, or other veiled pejorative one prefers) are just trying to bring facts and real-world application of those facts back into the light whenever possible, because they so often get buried among the rants and inaccuracies repeated again and again. There’s plenty of justified anger on the issue at hand and I’ve seen the same “surrogates” express just as much as any over time, though in a more measured and “what do we do now?” manner, trying to help those that wander to this thread in anger find a way to move on. If without Sonos, that’s fine - no one would fault anyone at this point for making that choice, so long as it’s a decision made with facts, not conjecture of hell-and-damnation.
I’m just as disappointed as anyone else personally, but keeping things in perspective is helpful.

Surrogate is not a veiled pejorative. It accurately describes the posters who are answering concerns instead of Sonos themselves. These are Sonos community but they are absent in providing any new information that we as customers want and deserve.

Well, alright then… that wasn’t the vibe I got. Happy to be corrected.
Sonos reps have showed up on and on throughout this thread and others. Ryan and others have stepped in quite a number of times. Much of what they’ve said is just being reiterated by others as time goes on for those that have come to this thread (now 130+ pages long) later and not read (who can blame them?) the previous posts. Also, a fair amount has been left unsaid - there are certainly questions remaining but they’re not forthcoming, and yeah, that’s frustrating, but it doesn’t mean that the forum-regulars passing on clarifications ad nauseum as the conversations inevitably repeat in any way means they’re trying “really hard to wash over [this] fact~~”. They’re trying to help.~~

He’s right though isn’t he when he say’s that Sonos are offering us the wonderful opportunity to

“.. keep obsolete and new products in an out of date state”

It’s a pretty awful state of affairs to be left in as a customer and its not something I nor perhaps others will forget in a hurry.

And before you tell me I could split my system - yes I know that I could, but then I would lose the ability to group old and new together - and that grouping function together with the promise that I could keep adding to my system over the years building on and linking to what I already own was what sold Sonos to me. Neither of these things are true anymore if you have one or more legacy devices.

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Smilja

You would either have a legacy system with legacy devices and modern devices, or a modern system and a legacy system. If it’s all one legacy system, than yes, they’ll group together, but if it’s two separate systems, than they’re two, separate systems.

https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/end-of-software-support-clarifications-6835969/index5.html#post16394743

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»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)

chickentender

Well, alright then… that wasn’t the vibe I got. Happy to be corrected.
Sonos reps have showed up on and on throughout this thread and others. Ryan and others have stepped in quite a number of times. Much of what they’ve said is just being reiterated by others as time goes on for those that have come to this thread (now 130+ pages long) later and not read (who can blame them?) the previous posts. Also, a fair amount has been left unsaid - there are certainly questions remaining but they’re not forthcoming, and yeah, that’s frustrating, but it doesn’t mean that the forum-regulars passing on clarifications ad nauseum as the conversations inevitably repeat in any way means they’re trying “really hard to wash over [this] fact”. They’re trying to help.

He’s right though isn’t he when he say’s that Sonos are offering us the wonderful opportunity to

“.. keep obsolete and new products in an out of date state”

It’s a pretty awful state of affairs to be left in as a customer and its not something I nor perhaps others will forget in a hurry.

And before you tell me I could split my system - yes I know that I could, but then I would lose the ability to group old and new together - and that grouping function together with the promise that I could keep adding to my system over the years building on and linking to what I already own was what sold Sonos to me. Neither of these things are true anymore if you have one or more legacy devices.

Yes. It sucks. I was angry for the first few days. I’ve let it go. My approach is modular now. I may add additional Sonos in the future, I may not. We’ve all had our eyes opened to anything IoT related. Too bad Sonos, at such cost, is the provider of this lesson to me and many others but it was bound to happen.
I’ve replaced my Connect with different device that can stream whatever I like for the time being. My Sonos environment will be left legacy. That’s the plan for now. If I need to stream from services that may become deprecated in the future, I’ll use the new streaming box I have, or AirPlay to my Sonos One for as long as that’s viable; luckily what’s least likely by far to change in a legacy environment is the simple zone pairing functionality and passing audio from network/local shares as well as Line-In feeds. I’m endeavoring to have to replace ONLY the streamer (whichever I may have) in the future and keeping it separate from Sonos. For my part, I’m actually happier with this new arrangement for quite a number of reasons. Onward.

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G

Goodbye Sonos

Enthusiast II

Hopefully @Ryan S can clarify if both legacy and new devices will work together for streaming in group mode or are we waiting on further clarification on this? Or as I saw in a reply from Sonos on Twitter, it won’t be possible post May update?

It’s been clarified many times. Current modern devices now sold will work together just as they do now if the system is left in a legacy firmware state, now and in May. This includes adding newly purchased modern devices to a legacy network environment. Whether the same is true for devices yet to be released is unknown.

I think we need to be clear though that when you say “ legacy firmware state” this means both current and legacy devices will GET NO UPDATES from MAY onward.

In other words you would have to effectively keep your obsolete and new products in an out of date state firmware state FOR EVER AND EVER - is this realistic when Ryan has said streaming services will be LOST\Degraded over time if you choose this solution earlier in this thread.

And yes I know there may be some bug fixes for legacy firmware at some stage, but what guarantees are there that these fixes will happen or for how long… weeks? months? years? who knows???? remember Ryan has said streaming services will be LOST\Degraded

None of this makes me feel inclined to “invest” further in Sonos products

Translate

G

Goodbye Sonos

Enthusiast II

Well, alright then… that wasn’t the vibe I got. Happy to be corrected.
Sonos reps have showed up on and on throughout this thread and others. Ryan and others have stepped in quite a number of times. Much of what they’ve said is just being reiterated by others as time goes on for those that have come to this thread (now 130+ pages long) later and not read (who can blame them?) the previous posts. Also, a fair amount has been left unsaid - there are certainly questions remaining but they’re not forthcoming, and yeah, that’s frustrating, but it doesn’t mean that the forum-regulars passing on clarifications ad nauseum as the conversations inevitably repeat in any way means they’re trying “really hard to wash over [this] fact”. They’re trying to help.

He’s right though isn’t he when he say’s that Sonos are offering us the wonderful opportunity to

“.. keep obsolete and new products in an out of date state”

It’s a pretty awful state of affairs to be left in as a customer and its not something I nor perhaps others will forget in a hurry.

And before you tell me I could split my system - yes I know that I could, but then I would lose the ability to group old and new together - and that grouping function together with the promise that I could keep adding to my system over the years building on and linking to what I already own was what sold Sonos to me. Neither of these things are true anymore if you have one or more legacy devices.

Yes. It sucks. I was angry for the first few days. I’ve let it go. My approach is modular now. I may add additional Sonos in the future, I may not. We’ve all had our eyes opened to anything IoT related. Too bad Sonos, at such cost, is the provider of this lesson to me and many others but it was bound to happen.
I’ve replaced my Connect with different device that can stream whatever I like for the time being. My Sonos environment will be left legacy. That’s the plan for now. If I need to stream from services that may become deprecated in the future, I’ll use the new streaming box I have, or AirPlay to my Sonos One for as long as that’s viable; luckily what’s least likely by far to change in a legacy environment is the simple zone pairing functionality and passing audio from network/local shares as well as Line-In feeds. I’m endeavoring to have to replace ONLY the streamer (whichever I may have) in the future and keeping it separate from Sonos. For my part, I’m actually happier with this new arrangement for quite a number of reasons. Onward.

I’m not angry about it anymore either, but its totally changed my outlook on Sonos (I would never have so much as looked elsewhere)

I will go into a raspberry pi solution for the future - simple hardware and open source software that runs on multiple platforms - not 100% future proof but much better and also the hardware costs are just so cheap even using a decent DAC from Hifi Berry is cheap.

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J

jjohncm

Lyricist III

Patrick Spence becomes CEO of Sonos in 2017 then:

(a) Spence kills off the CR100 controller in 2018 by sending an update that bricks it (and includes a link to Sonos to purchase a new one). Spence decided this was easier than breaking into customers’ homes and stealing their CRT100 remotes; but, it achieved the same goal. .

(b) Spence requires all owners to register their Sonos devices and share certain data with Sonos. If users don’t register (and agree to transfer some data to Sonos), then products won’t receive updates. Spence apparently thinks it OK to demand items of value (i.e., info) from customers notwithstanding they had already paid for the product;

(c) Spence introduces the “recycling” program at the end of 2019 because he apparently hates the environment as much he hates Sonos’ customer base.

(d) Spence decides to sue google because its OK for Pence to steal from customers but its not OK for Google to steal customers from Spence.

(e) Spence introduces the “legacy/modern” product distinction. Sonos customer base complains. Spence says, “sorry…. but not sorry”.

(f) Sonos goes public under Spence at 15/share. It is currently trading at less than $14.

Everything we loved about Sonos occurred before Spence. Everything we now hate about Sonos happened because of Spence. Fire Spence!!! We want a new CEO!!!! We want a new CEO!!!

Last point on Spence. He has way too many photos of himself in short-sleeved shirts. Trying waaaay to hard to look like you fit in a tech company Spence.

You helped destroy blackberry when you were there. And you’re off to a great start at Sonos.

NEW CEO NOW!

New CEO now!

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chickentender

Hopefully @Ryan S can clarify if both legacy and new devices will work together for streaming in group mode or are we waiting on further clarification on this? Or as I saw in a reply from Sonos on Twitter, it won’t be possible post May update?

It’s been clarified many times. Current modern devices now sold will work together just as they do now if the system is left in a legacy firmware state, now and in May. This includes adding newly purchased modern devices to a legacy network environment. Whether the same is true for devices yet to be released is unknown.

I think we need to be clear though that when you say “ legacy firmware state” this means both current and legacy devices will GET NO UPDATES from MAY onward.

In other words you would have to effectively keep your obsolete and new products in an out of date state firmware state FOR EVER AND EVER - is this realistic when Ryan has said streaming services will be LOST\Degraded over time if you choose this solution earlier in this thread.

And yes I know there may be some bug fixes for legacy firmware at some stage, but what guarantees are there that these fixes will happen or for how long… weeks? months? years? who knows???? remember Ryan has said streaming services will be LOST\Degraded

None of this makes me feel inclined to “invest” further in Sonos products

Yes, you’re right. I’m just not inclined to repeat it all over and over. But those are important distinctions. When I said “legacy firmware state” that is indeed what I meant. Bug fixes will be less necessary because the firmware/controller version will remain relatively unchanged, e.g. if nothing new is introduced in that platform version, there’s nothing new to fix.
Regardless, yes, investing further in ANY ecosystem entirely is something I’m now less inclined to do, Sonos or otherwise, audio-related or not. That’s the lesson here. That’s also not to say I can’t make Sonos work for me for the foreseeable future, but (as with any turn-key solution) having everything within one protected garden is something I’ve never subscribed to (Apple comes to mind) and Sonos has been the only exception. They’re no longer an exception. That’s fine.

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Airgetlam

New devices, i.e. those that do not exist now won’t be able to be added to legacy systems. The ‘legacy’ software wouldn’t be able to ‘recognize’ the new device.

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Bruce

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