Retired Sonos Staff

End of Software Support - Clarifications

December 8, 2022 at 11:29 AM
4256 replies
269817 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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H

HelterSkelter

Enthusiast II

Stuff starting to appear on youtube now.

I had to add a comment, as the zdnet man on the video infuriated me, with the comment about ‘having a good run’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi_BPR8foXY&t=142s

Taco5layer

Lyricist III

Well, this is still not even close to a satisfactory response - and closing a thread filled with dissent from your oldest, loyalest, most outspoken customers? Cowardly.

You've done us all so very wrong, and to do what? Save some money on coding to maintain services should a streaming service provider update theirs? Force us to upgrade perfectly functional equipment or face the eventual bricking of our systems?

I do not believe that a bit of clever code cannot defeat this planned obsolescence. You are even being given brilliant ideas from those willing to forgive this travesty, like a lower cost hardware gateway to manage these “memory deficiencies” that somehow affect the play 5 with the same (or was it more?) amount of memory as the play 1. Are you saving news of its demise until May?

This was a foolish decision and whoever thought it would save you money clearly did not have the foresight this betrayal of trust would have with us. If you decide to push forward, I like many others, will become brand antagonists, no longer willing to spread positive word of mouth for you, instead warning others of spending thousands of dollars only to be abandoned and then blackmailed into upgrading in a few years. This will definitely save you money, save you from making money.

Despicable. Greedy. Dishonest. Wasteful. Best to remove the page on your website claiming the opposite of what you've become.

This is the email I sent to your CEO, and I think everyone here should do the same.

To: Patrick.Spence@sonos.com

Dear Mr. Spence,

I am adding my name to the rapidly growing list of severely disappointed long-time SONOS supporters.

While I currently only have a Play 5 Gen 1 going extinct, I have now been given reason to believe that ALL of my equipment, including a Playbar, Sub, and numerous Play 1’s, will eventually be treated the same way. That, dear SONOS, is unacceptable.

The callous approach to this maneuver also does not bode well for the future of your ecosystem.

For starters, I will not be purchasing any more of your speakers. Why would I spend my hard earned money on something when you might just happen to be feeling cute and brick it at any given time? I don’t know. I wouldn't. And I won't.

I am actually glad you revealed yourself before I purchased the Move, Beam, and additional 1s I was currently considering. They are now off the table entirely. Was that worth trying to get me to upgrade a single speaker at a 30% discount? Make sure you tell your investors what you’ve caused.

I encourage you to take a good hard look at your customers’ response to this DECISION (not NECESSITY), and take any and all steps necessary to ensure you recover the fumble. Otherwise, old friend, we are through.

Today, you have betrayed your most loyal customers.

Sincerely disappointed,

Steve K.

M

morgan4x4

Enthusiast II

Hitting the Seeking Alpha stock site just now;

Sonos drops amid device support backlash

Jan. 22, 2020 12:52 PM ET|About: Sonos, Inc. (SONO)|By: Brandy Betz, SA News Editor

Sonos (NASDAQ:SONO) continues to feel stock price and social media pressure from yesterday's announcement that the company would no longer support some models released between 2006 and 2009.

The support ends in May.

The company informed customers they could either continue to use the products without updates or purchase a new Sonos product at a 30% discount.

Statement from Sonos: "As this is the first time we’ve had to end software updates for any music player, we recognize this is new for Sonos owners, just as it is for Sonos. We’ve now come to the point where our oldest products have been stretched to their technical limits in terms of memory and processing power."

Sonos shares are down 1.2% to $14.63.

Like to see Sonos at $5 after what they have done!

S

sps

Contributor I

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...

You are a SONOS employee in disguise and I claim my $5.

Think you are missing the point bud.

T

TimKent

Contributor I

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...

You miss the point entirely. Sonos are late to the party time and time again and there should be a fix for this issue

R

Rcs476

Lyricist III

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?

bah, just throw the car in the garbage, here’s a coupon to buy another.

M

morgan4x4

Enthusiast II

Well, this is still not even close to a satisfactory response - and closing a thread filled with dissent from your oldest, loyalest, most outspoken customers? Cowardly.

You've done us all so very wrong, and to do what? Save some money on coding to maintain services should a streaming service provider update theirs? Force us to upgrade perfectly functional equipment or face the eventual bricking of our systems?

I do not believe that a bit of clever code cannot defeat this planned obsolescence. You are even being given brilliant ideas from those willing to forgive this travesty, like a lower cost hardware gateway to manage these “memory deficiencies” that somehow affect the play 5 with the same (or was it more?) amount of memory as the play 1. Are you saving news of its demise until May?

This was a foolish decision and whoever thought it would save you money clearly did not have the foresight this betrayal of trust would have with us. If you decide to push forward, I like many others, will become brand antagonists, no longer willing to spread positive word of mouth for you, instead warning others of spending thousands of dollars only to be abandoned and then blackmailed into upgrading in a few years. This will definitely save you money, save you from making money.

Despicable. Greedy. Dishonest. Wasteful. Best to remove the page on your website claiming the opposite of what you've become.

This is the email I sent to your CEO, and I think everyone here should do the same.

To: Patrick.Spence@sonos.com

Dear Mr. Spence,

I am adding my name to the rapidly growing list of severely disappointed long-time SONOS supporters.

While I currently only have a Play 5 Gen 1 going extinct, I have now been given reason to believe that ALL of my equipment, including a Playbar, Sub, and numerous Play 1’s, will eventually be treated the same way. That, dear SONOS, is unacceptable.

The callous approach to this maneuver also does not bode well for the future of your ecosystem.

For starters, I will not be purchasing any more of your speakers. Why would I spend my hard earned money on something when you might just happen to be feeling cute and brick it at any given time? I don’t know. I wouldn't. And I won't.

I am actually glad you revealed yourself before I purchased the Move, Beam, and additional 1s I was currently considering. They are now off the table entirely. Was that worth trying to get me to upgrade a single speaker at a 30% discount? Make sure you tell your investors what you’ve caused.

I encourage you to take a good hard look at your customers’ response to this DECISION (not NECESSITY), and take any and all steps necessary to ensure you recover the fumble. Otherwise, old friend, we are through.

Today, you have betrayed your most loyal customers.

Sincerely disappointed,

Steve K.

Nice letter. They probably sold their Board on this brilliant move! Now figuring out how to save face.

D

Disgusted2020

Lyricist II

Reached the BBC news here in the UK:

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

In the Top 10 most popular read items too....

S

skyschemer

Enthusiast II

Let’s face it: we all knew Sonos was going to **** us over eventually. We just figured we’d be given more than 4 months warning when they did.

N

Nybhh

Contributor I

If I was a Sonos competitor, I would offer a 31% discount to trade in your legacy Sonos products for one of mine. :smiling_imp: This is a huge opportunity for a lot of other smaller competitors out there, and even the big boys to take over market share.

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