Retired Sonos Staff

End of Software Support - Clarifications

December 8, 2022 at 11:29 AM
4256 replies
269812 views

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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Show previous replies

C

chris_h1957

Enthusiast I

eBay £1.00...bit pricey me thinks...

You can use it to get 30% off a new one lol

L

Libertine

Lyricist I

Won’t be buying another Sonos product, will be buying from a competitor…..

C

cosmo35166

Enthusiast I

What did you think was Ryan meant when he said “Where possible, we will work to maintain the existing experience and conduct bug fixes on the legacy devices where the computing hardware will allow. “ It sounds like you’re getting what you’re asking for.

Maybe it’s about commitment, being forthright and direct. “Where Possible” and “might not” do not provide the warm fuzzies for continued investment into the products, not for me. It’s hard to stand on the sidelines and hope the Company does what’s best in the interest of their Customers. if nothing else, this event was poorly executed and communicated. Or it was planned, maybe they want to take the stock back private by driving it down.

But Ryan and Sonos can’t predict what bug fixes will be required in the future and whether they are fixable within the available hardware. Ryan didn’t say it was a matter of making a moral decision about fixing a bug, but physical limitations.

As far as the event being poorly executed, I agree. I can think of a couple different thinks I would have done differently, but hind sight is 20.20. And I can’t see Sonos tanking their own stock in order to go private.

Maybe, but KKR is the largest holder of Sonos stock (+25% or 21.8 million shares). Remember “Barbarians at the Gate”? I know, just trying to figure out why when there may not be an answer. I know have to eat some Crow for promoting product so much.

P

PerfectSound

Lyricist III

One thing is that at the moment global trend is for more eco-friendly products. How crazy does it sound that for example 3 years after buying the product you will get email that your still almost new (3 years is nothing for a speaker!) speaker will not work 100% anymore and its only matter of time when its totally useless and you have the most expensive paper weight..

The world is banning plastic bags, light bulbs, disposable cups/plates if those are plastic etc..

But it's totally okay in year 2020 sell very expensive disposable speakers?

This is getting intresting... Class action coming???

S

ScotsSonos

Contributor I

I did like the products and I have always been an ambassador for Sonos. Unfortunately with this announcement that will no longer be the case. I have some of your 'legacy products' which are excellent and will be so for many years but eventually Sonos will ensure that they are redundant. I like many others will not purchase any new Sonos kit but will look to a market which will react to this company's unbelievable announcement. Sonos you have shot yourself in the foot.

J

jwinther

Lyricist III

Just making sure I post in angry thread 2.0. This is still BS, and I’m still done with this platform.

Hehe :)

“This is a chance now to come up with a system that doesn’t cause massive planetary damage in exchange for disposable stuff,” Proctor said. (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3a8dpn/sonos-makes-it-clear-you-no-longer-own-the-things-you-buy)

AdamWillis

Lyricist III

Why can’t a boost-like device act as the processor for a room? All of a sudden these will be to old to play sound? Really seems convenient that most of your devices don’t include aux input or Bluetooth. Almost like you planned for this all along. At least when my original play:5 received true play, I was more than pleased to receive a feature I would’ve expected on newer tech but now our “old” speakers will end up in a landfill. Isn’t there a simplified experience that can be created? I would be fine with certain zones having only options for Spotify and Sonos Radio. I don’t need 20 streaming services on my older devices.

H

HelterSkelter

Enthusiast II

So despite all the rage yesterday from probably thousands of people (and rightly so) is your response basically -

sonos are still going ahead with this.
Sonos are clarifying that we don’t care about customers opinions.
we will eventually cause your old products to probably not work.
We want you to buy new ones please to replace them.
then we’ll do it again in the future.

Have I missed anything people?

Bravo Sonos - great response. Let me Clarify that I’ll never buy your equipment again.

So accurate!

I’m absolutely gobsmacked, that they’ve done nothing, except asking Ryan to try and answer a few questions from a technical angle.

No apology, no announcement, nothing … despite all the negative backlash on here and in the media as a whole.

Well done Sonos, you’ve successfully alienated your most loyal fans.
And they will most certainly avoid both your 30% upgrade deal, and any future involvement.

J

jsbarde

Lyricist I

For the record the clarifications have clarified nothing. Those of us with “legacy” devices may might probably not be able to do things or maybe we can. What does that clarify.

Horrible way to treat your customers.

M

MrDave77

Trending Lyricist I

Amazing really.

Hard to believe one of the most respected companies has overnight become one of the most despised by its customers.

How much do you care about eventually bricking people’s Equipment Sonos?

We don’t care
next to nothing.

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