Retired Sonos Staff

End of Software Support - Clarifications

Dec 8, 2022 11:29 AM UTC
4256 replies
270658 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

G

Gillydior

Enthusiast I

Guess “Sonos” wish to go out of business!

If I’d have known that the company would pull this stunt at the start I’d have never bought one, and most certainly not the five that followed. alas the original concept of a speaker system that you add to as time goes on was good, but as they’ve practically changed the logo to “it’s a system you have to add to as time goes on, because we’ll brick them every so often” I won’t buy another.

Well done sONOS, from an ex-loyal customer!

Translate

Airgetlam

Legacy products, using the S1 software, continue to operate exactly as they always have. There has been no reduction in functionality.

If you’re experiencing an issue, I’d encourage you to open a new thread in the ‘Ask a Question’ area of the forum, and provide details of your situation, so that you can get help in resolving your issue.

Translate

Bruce

T

thadaht

Lyricist II

Legacy products, using the S1 software, continue to operate exactly as they always have. There has been no reduction in functionality.

If you’re experiencing an issue, I’d encourage you to open a new thread in the ‘Ask a Question’ area of the forum, and provide details of your situation, so that you can get help in resolving your issue.

Sorry but this is absolutely false. Legacy products will **not** to continue to operate for much longer. If updates are not continued for the S1 controller then it will cease to work on new computers / phones / tablets due to OS version incompatibility, and not being able to run the S1 controller will render my system useless.

Sonos must commit to at least minimal updates to the S1 controller. There should be no requirement that I stop updating one of my computers for the sole reason of not bricking my Sonos system.

Translate

K

Kumar

If updates are not continued for the S1 controller then it will cease to work on new computers / phones / tablets due to OS version incompatibility, and not being able to run the S1 controller will render my system useless.

Sonos must commit to at least minimal updates to the S1 controller. There should be no requirement that I stop updating one of my computers for the sole reason of not bricking my Sonos system.

Does it really work like that - I know that the Sonos controller will not work with older OS but does the reverse, in general, apply? Do older apps not continue to work on the latest OS on phones or computers?

That said, Sonos has committed to minimal updates to the extent needed to keep the S1 controller at present functionality.

Translate

106rallye

This is new. The usual complaint is that the Sonos app will not work on older OS's….

Translate

T

tradeamac

Lyricist I

Apples program is that you send them the device at their cost and they ensure it’s recycled.
Sonos’ program is that they render the old device useless, declare the recycling to be the users’ responsibility and [green]wash their hands of the problem.

They’re not directly comparable policies, are they?

Sonos offers the same policy. You can ship your units to them at their cost and they will recycle them. It's not mandatory, but you can choose to do it.

Fair enough, I didn’t realise that. Ok, objection to that aspect of the scheme resolved.

There are other than sonos with these offers., this man ******* offers than trade-in, recycling apples.

*Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the community guidelines.*

Translate

N

NeilC

Avid Contributor III

Well this has made me rethink the entire concept.

This will happen again when the newer ones are not up to the job in a few years.

If I spend a load of money trading in my old Sonos, that is just kicking the can down the road.

Clearly I’m not going to add more Sonos to my house now.

Patrick, the CEO says: “I hope that you’ll forgive our misstep, and let us earn back your trust.” - OK, give me a 70% discount on replacing my Play 5’s and you will have earned my trust back. But you’re not that sorry are you? Only 30% sorry….

Translate

W

wollers

Lyricist II

I am a long time Sonos user and have spent thousands of dollars on your products. I am no longer going to spend a single penny on your products any more.

I don’t even own these ”obsolete” products. I’m just worried now you’re going to do the same thing to the speakers I bought only 4 years ago. I can’t trust any speaker you sell today will become obsolete in a couple of years. I want my system to continue to receive updates and work with older speakers.

What a shame. I felt so much loyalty to Sonos

I totally agree - Brand suicide

Translate

W

wollers

Lyricist II

Well this has made me rethink the entire concept.

This will happen again when the newer ones are not up to the job in a few years.

If I spend a load of money trading in my old Sonos, that is just kicking the can down the road.

Clearly I’m not going to add more Sonos to my house now.

Patrick, the CEO says: “I hope that you’ll forgive our misstep, and let us earn back your trust.” - OK, give me a 70% discount on replacing my Play 5’s and you will have earned my trust back. But you’re not that sorry are you? Only 30% sorry….

Agree - you cant trust Sonos with such moves

Translate

W

wollers

Lyricist II

Rethink your market strategy Sonos or loose all your customers

Translate

Show more replies

Sign up

Login to the community