Retired Sonos Staff

End of Software Support - Clarifications

December 8, 2022 at 11:29 AM
4256 replies
269815 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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rbenjamin

Lyricist I

I have five figures worth of investment in Sonos products, and that does not include those I have given others as gifts. I’m done. You have lost a loyal customer with this. Not only am I no longer buying or gifting your products, I am no longer suggesting that my friends or family have anything to do with your company. This is a terrible decision and your company deserves all of the ill will that is coming your way.

Your fanbase on Reddit - which historically LOVES sonos - has turned on you:

Solely by way of example, https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/erzg66/sonos_planned_obsolescence/

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Nidderdaledps

Reached the BBC news here in the UK:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51206604

Gazer

Enthusiast I

Well I saw this coming 4 months back, have a read of this post I did... second one down and the ones that followed, when the sonos port was released https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/introducing-sonos-port-brilliant-sound-connected-6829498/index4.html

Got to say I saw this coming.

melvimbe

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.

It is still very early and there is a lot of confusion and misconception about what is actually happening and what the actual effect is going to be. People are understandable angry right now, but when it dies down a bit, look at Sonos options, look at the options that other companies provide and their support history, things may look a little different.

It’s also entirely possible that Sonos will have good news in the future in the form of products or features that draws a lot of people in, despite the current bad news. From a stockholder standpoint, a successful lawsuit against Google could be very good….but getting off track.

Danny

chicks

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

Which one? Squeezebox? Bose (in their fourth iteration so far, with scant support for their legacy products)? Denon (another on at least their second gen, again with scant support)?

Your Sonos legacy products will continue to work fine with local sources, which is what they were originally intended for. Not much Sonos or any other vendor can do about the changing requirements of the online music providers, and their huge demands for local resources. Computer-based systems like Sonos are generally obsolete in 3-5 years. Sonos has supported their legacy hardware for FAR longer than any competitor I can think of...

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TimKent

Contributor I

I am dumfounded! I spent £3000+ on products after reading how well Sonos had backed up their product. Well yesterday that went out of the window. Write to the CEO, Post on social media and drive the Sonos share price down. That is the only way the greedy will climb down . Faced with losing their not so hard earned they will reverse this marketing ploy and ensure we get the service we deserve. Perhaps someone can develop a crack for the system?

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skyschemer

Enthusiast II

This is a question for Sonos employees. The question is, literally, “How do you sleep at night?”

I don’t mean, what do you listen to, or whether you use a CPAP. I mean, how do you sleep at night, knowing that you are screwing over thousands and thousands of people who have invested thousands of dollars into your system?

I

iSD49

Lyricist I

I have been a loyal Sonos Customer. I have 1 play 5 2 play 1’s and a beam. I was looking to purchase 2 more play 1’s. Not any more. I am very angry with the news that sons play 5 gen 1 will no longer be supported.

I wonder if Sonos would be so kind to buy back all my sonos equipment? Sonos?

G

Gillydior

Enthusiast I

Closing the previous threat won’t stop people commenting on this disgusting move by sonos!

What if Tesla stopped software support for there cars but instead of just stopping the updates they continued with them and by doing so they made the car unusable?

Well that’s what Sonos is doing - why not just stop further updates for older products and make a new updated app for new products, this giving people the choice of using what they currently have, or updating to a new whizz bang system?

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sps

Contributor I

Wow, ain´t this just the complete shootshow.

Thanks a bunch you greedy holes.

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