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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Smilja

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.

Not sure about that. It has been stated, that we will be able to add newly purchased devices to a legacy system. I presume that during the set up the legacy firmware build will be downloaded and installed onto the new device shifting it artificially into legacy mode.

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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)

Airgetlam

I would expect current ‘modern’ equipment would be able to be added to ‘legacy’ systems, but not future items, because their definitions would not exist in the software. If Sonos was to add the ‘new’ devices to the ‘legacy’ software, there would be no reason to do all this.

Guess we will see in May, or thereafter, though.

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Bruce

W

wkbglobal

Contributor I

Why not just leave the ‘legacy’ devices exactly as they are now, which is what Sonos has suggested? After the May change, they’ll continue to work in exactly the same way as they do today, including having “whole house connectivity”. No need to deal with the line in, unless you’re already using it. If your system works today, it will continue to do so. You just won’t get new features, if you have a legacy device. Or am I misunderstanding your post?

If you have a mix of legacy devices and newer devices, the newer devices cannot be updated or you will lose the whole house connectivity.

I think that is the choice we have to make, you either remain on “Legacy” or you upgrade and run with the “new/current”.

Running with 2 systems “Legacy” and “new/current” systems does not make sense and does not bode well for the future. What would happen, say in 5 years as an example, when the next products are identified to become “Legacy” like possibly the Playbar and Play 1 (just using as an example), what happens then?

Will we have 3 software operating systems?

“Legacy 1” software system for the products expiring this year, “Legacy 2” software system for those expiring in 5 years and “new/current”. It’s going to be a mess.

We have all been taken for a ride and I expect a lot of people have recently bought non-legacy Sonos products and are blissfully unaware of what awaits them in a few years.

If you have older products, are not rich and haven’t money to throw away, the best way to go is stay legacy and re-think what you actually need. Check out Kumar’s other thread being a good starting point as a source for thinking - “The Sonos Brexit and pragmatic ways past it”.

My first step will be to go back to wired equipment for the surround sound, whilst remaining on legacy for the other Sonos products I have. Why would anyone put any more money into Sonos equipment after this?

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D

DK_Madsen

Enthusiast II

We don’t know that yet. At the worst, you may end up with two Sonos systems, one with legacy devices, one with modern devices. We’ll need to wait for further information from Sonos as to whether they’ll be able to communicate with each other, but neither would lose the ability to connect with the other devices within its own network.

And here is the problem in a nutshell.

Sonos has been super vague about this, to the point where it’s anyone’s guess what is going to happen.

I can only see one reason that they have been so vague, and that is that it IS going to be the worst case scenario for costumers and they don’t want to tell people flat out that it IS this solution, because they know the costumers will be furious.

Everything i have read, points to a solution where you can be on legacy with all products, and when for example spotify changes anything, you will loose spotify on ALL your products OR you can split them up, and have 2 different networks and 2 different apps and NO posibility to do multi room across modern and legacy products...Even for services that is still working seperately on modern and legacy products.

Oh yeah and then there is the option to brick your hardware and pay sonos for new equipment and throw the old one away even though it is working perfectly fine.

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DK_Madsen

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?

If they would i can guarantee you Sonos would not be so super vague about this.

Often it is not what is said that gives you the most information, but what is NOT said, that does.

Companies will always highlight the good things and not tell you about the bad.

If, in the end legacy and modern devices will be able to do multi room across the legacy and modern devices for example for MP3 streaming and streaming from streaming services that still work on legacy, it’s because they changed their mind, there is NO doubt that right now they dont intend you to keep modern and legacy products in any kind of network, where they will be able to talk to eachother.

They even said this…..That they could not, as every speaker needs to be on the same firmware level to be able to operate together. This is the reason you need to keep modern products on legacy firmware if you want them to work together.

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DK_Madsen

Enthusiast II

Not sure about that. It has been stated, that we will be able to add newly purchased devices to a legacy system. I presume that during the set up the legacy firmware build will be downloaded and installed onto the new device shifting it artificially into legacy mode.

That would mean that devices developed and released after May would also have to have 2 different firmwares.

One for legacy support and one for modern support…

If sonos can not be bothered to keep the firmware for legacy products up to date, why would you expect them to have to “double“ their programming effort to make an obsolete firmware for the legacy mode.

I even think Ryan, earlier in this thread said that new devices that will be introduced after may will not be legacy mode supported.

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DK_Madsen

Enthusiast II

I think that is the choice we have to make, you either remain on “Legacy” or you upgrade and run with the “new/current”.

Running with 2 systems “Legacy” and “new/current” systems does not make sense and does not bode well for the future. What would happen, say in 5 years as an example, when the next products are identified to become “Legacy” like possibly the Playbar and Play 1 (just using as an example), what happens then?

Will we have 3 software operating systems?

“Legacy 1” software system for the products expiring this year, “Legacy 2” software system for those expiring in 5 years and “new/current”. It’s going to be a mess.

We have all been taken for a ride and I expect a lot of people have recently bought non-legacy Sonos products and are blissfully unaware of what awaits them in a few years.

If you have older products, are not rich and haven’t money to throw away, the best way to go is stay legacy and re-think what you actually need. Check out Kumar’s other thread being a good starting point as a source for thinking - “The Sonos Brexit and pragmatic ways past it”.

My first step will be to go back to wired equipment for the surround sound, whilst remaining on legacy for the other Sonos products I have. Why would anyone put any more money into Sonos equipment after this?

Yeah and if i then have Play 5 on “legacy 1” and the rest on modern...What will i be able to do in, say 2 years when my play 1’s are being “legacied”.

Will i be able to revert the Play 1’s to “legacy 1” to be able to group them with the play 5 or is firmware downgrading to “legacy 1” at all possible if i have gone beyond that level.

In that case i risk having a play 5 that is in “legacy 1”, some Play 1’s that are “legacy 2” and the rest is modern. and they will have to be in 3 different networks, with 3 different apps and unable to do multiroom across them.

The best bet is for everyone that has legacy products to go legacy only in May.

If, say 50%+ of sonos costumers decide to stay at the platform, when the firmware train moves forward, it will send a strong signal to sonos, that forgetting and neglecting those left behind is a dangerous endeavour.

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Ken_Griffiths

Yeah and if i then have Play 5 on “legacy 1” and the rest on modern...What will i be able to do in, say 2 years when my play 1’s are being “legacied”.

Will i be able to revert the Play 1’s to “legacy 1” to be able to group them with the play 5 or is firmware downgrading to “legacy 1” at all possible if i have gone beyond that level.

In that case i risk having a play 5 that is in “legacy 1”, some Play 1’s that are “legacy 2” and the rest is modern. and they will have to be in 3 different networks, with 3 different apps and unable to do multiroom across them.

The best bet is for everyone that has legacy products to go legacy only in May.

If, say 50%+ of sonos costumers decide to stay at the platform, when the firmware train moves forward, it will send a strong signal to sonos, that forgetting and neglecting those left behind is a dangerous endeavour.

I disagree with this viewpoint entirely as it’s an attempt to ‘cling onto the past’ and not move forward with technology. This would be like hanging onto VHS Video recorders instead of streaming digital movies or watching black & white TV rather than colour 4K uhd TV ...and in both such examples, I would much prefer the latter. Who wants to standstill these days? … if Sonos did standstill, their devices would soon become outdated and rival companies would quickly overtake and grasp the helm.

So in my view, it’s the correct decision to set aside the ‘now aged’ devices and put them into care, whilst the younger 'spritely' products take over and lead us all onto the next generation of innovate products.

Standstill and rest here if you want to, but let the rest of us get on with a far more exciting road ahead.

I’m looking forward to improved WiFi, faster audio processing, HD audio, 7.1 surround systems, Dolby Atmos Music and Movie audio (audio objects in a 3D space), improved grouping and streaming, better smart-home control and integration with lighting and other devices, web-based and new hardware controllers, innovative designs for indoor, outdoor speakers and headphones… and that’s just a few of the things that ‘might’ just be on the Sonos Roadmap ahead, perhaps?

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chickentender

Yeah and if i then have Play 5 on “legacy 1” and the rest on modern...What will i be able to do in, say 2 years when my play 1’s are being “legacied”.

Will i be able to revert the Play 1’s to “legacy 1” to be able to group them with the play 5 or is firmware downgrading to “legacy 1” at all possible if i have gone beyond that level.

In that case i risk having a play 5 that is in “legacy 1”, some Play 1’s that are “legacy 2” and the rest is modern. and they will have to be in 3 different networks, with 3 different apps and unable to do multiroom across them.

The best bet is for everyone that has legacy products to go legacy only in May.

If, say 50%+ of sonos costumers decide to stay at the platform, when the firmware train moves forward, it will send a strong signal to sonos, that forgetting and neglecting those left behind is a dangerous endeavour.

I disagree with this viewpoint entirely as it’s an attempt to ‘cling onto the past’ and not move forward with technology. This would be like hanging onto VHS Video recorders instead of streaming digital movies or watching black & white TV rather than colour 4K uhd TV ...and in both such examples, I would much prefer the latter. Who wants to standstill these days? … if Sonos did standstill, their devices would soon become outdated and rival companies would quickly overtake and grasp the helm.

So in my view, it’s the correct decision to set aside the ‘now aged’ devices and put them into care, whilst the younger 'spritely' products take over and lead us all onto the next generation of innovate products.

Standstill and rest here if you want to, but let the rest of us get on with a far more exciting road ahead.

I’m looking forward to improved WiFi, faster audio processing, HD audio, 7.1 surround systems, Dolby Atmos Music and Movie audio (audio objects in a 3D space), improved grouping and streaming, better smart-home control and integration with lighting and other devices, web-based and new hardware controllers, innovative designs for indoor, outdoor speakers and headphones… and that’s just a few of the things that ‘might’ just be on the Sonos Roadmap ahead, perhaps?

Staying legacy give me funds to explore other useful non-Sonos options… it has already.

The thing is, all of this (the above improvements) is possible now outside of the Sonos ecosystem, and leaving a Sonos system in “standstill” doesn’t preclude moving forward in other ways, more modular ways, less walled-garden ways. Taking your eggs out of the single basket isn’t a bad thing. It’s also not a bad thing to leave them in if you like, with eyes open…. But that’s a long list of Christmas audio-wishes you’ve collected in a short paragraph there, none of them guaranteed.

It’s entirely possible I might jettison my older legacy pieces at some point and rejoin the flock down the road if there is compelling reason to do so, and hopefully some substantial portion of that reason will be made known in May…

Personally I’m not standing still, I’m just leaving my Sonos standing still, not with any animosity or to send a ‘message’ to Sonos - they can do whatever they like... They got my attention once years ago, maybe they’ll do it again. For now, I know the speakers have an expiration date in certain respects and I also know there’s a whole audio world out there I’ve largely been ignoring for the better part of decade, and it’s been doing some cool stuff while I wasn’t looking. :)

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andyd1302