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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T

TheFirst

Lyricist I

Like many here I have a few thousand in Sonos products throughout my home and was planning on buying another 5.1 setup (playbar, sub, and two Ones) in the next month. After this debacle I will not be buying one more speaker from you, how can we possibly trust that the play 1s won't be next to get the brick and then the playbar.

Time to start throwing my older Sonos up on the marketplace and research alternatives from Bose, Denon, and Yamaha.

M

morgan4x4

Enthusiast II

Wow, ain´t this just the complete shooshow.

Thanks a bunch you greedy holes.

Could not have said it better!

chickentender

Then i hit the 65,000 limit. Frustrating, but worked round by buying a new NAS and running Plex with Plex Pass on it. Job done. I take pride in my Metadata and i enjoy my current setup.

I never ever thought my ability to listen to my own music stored on my own server in my own home, on speakers i paid a small fortune for could come to and end by a manufacturer flicking a switch.

To be entirely fair (i’m in a nearly identical scenario)… if you leave your now-deprecated Sonos devices as-is and effectively freeze your home’s ecosystem in it’s current state (except for the operational updates Sonos has now promised going forward) you should be able to continue on without issue. Plex is certainly one of the more “inclusive” platforms out there.
And incidentally, you might abandon the Sonos controller much of the for day-to-day use if you’ve not already. For the past while I’ve been using the Plex controller to cast to my Sonos speakers. Grouping isn’t supported but I don’t change groups terribly often, and IMO the Plex interface is more friendly overall. Here’s to hoping an open-source alternative for Sonos speaker control will one-day fall out of all of this.

K

kassey22000

Enthusiast II

Well I think someone from sonos should be telling Amazon about all these devices that they are still selling with free next day Delivery that they only have a shelf life until May of this year. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sonos-BRIDGE-Expand-Wireless-Hi-Fi/dp/B000YGIJ62/ref=sr_1_47?keywords=sonos&qid=1579722291&sr=8-47

I’ve been corresponding with a few local high-end audio retailers in the last couple of days about this decision and they are NOT happy with the way this was rolled-out worldwide as well as locally. Some have already had cancellations and angry customers. I purchased a whole-home audio system (18 devices) not some cheap piece of throw-away computer gear that’s only going to increase e-waste and fill up landfills (with still-working gear).

P

Pingu

Lyricist I

We’re done with Sonos was just looking at adding more rooms in but we will look at something else now

R

Rcs476

Lyricist III

Then i hit the 65,000 limit. Frustrating, but worked round by buying a new NAS and running Plex with Plex Pass on it. Job done. I take pride in my Metadata and i enjoy my current setup.

I never ever thought my ability to listen to my own music stored on my own server in my own home, on speakers i paid a small fortune for could come to and end by a manufacturer flicking a switch.

To be entirely fair (i’m in a nearly identical scenario)… if you leave your now-deprecated Sonos devices as-is and effectively freeze your home’s ecosystem in it’s current state (except for the operational updates Sonos has now promised going forward) you should be able to continue on without issue. Plex is certainly one of the more “inclusive” platforms out there.
And incidentally, you might abandon the Sonos controller much of the for day-to-day use if you’ve not already. For the past while I’ve been using the Plex controller to cast to my Sonos speakers. Grouping isn’t supported but I don’t change groups terribly often, and IMO the Plex interface is more friendly overall. Here’s to hoping an open-source alternative for Sonos speaker control will one-day fall out of all of this.

Until their app updates to a version that requires your firmwares to be at a certain point. If you’re not using a jailbroken iphone, or an android and know how to install older APK files, you’re screwed.

D

Disgusted2020

Lyricist II

Biggest UK own goal since Gerald Ratner and his prawn sandwich quote …..

R

radelaf

Lyricist I

THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE, INCREDIBLE AND THE WORST MARKETING ACTION I HAVE SEEN IN MORE THAN A DECADE!
It could even be funny if it were not as harmful to users, customers and "music lovers" as Sonos treated us until a few hours ago .....
Now we are a group of stupid captives that to listen to music again enjoing full capabilities , we will have to spend a lot of money once again.
Moreover, I believe that the so-called "recycled mode" is intended to prevent those Sonos devices arbitrarily branded from Obsoletes continue to operate. They want them to be totally crushed and destroyed, so nobody can sell used equipment and Sonos can sell more units.

Like others said, I also recommended Sonos to many friends. I even tried to be a Sonel Reseller in my country, and after selling a few units, I didn't continue with the business.
WHAT LUCK I HAD !!!

I would not like to be in the shoes of a sales channel today, and have to attend to a totally dissatisfied customer and end up losing the prestige with the clients that cost so much to maintain.
That said, I don't know what is going to happen, I even think that users should check if there is no legal protection, or some kind of demand we can make to protect our interests.
I mean, after the month of May, suppose I buy a new house and I want to reinstall my system, how would I "authorize" the installation of my system? And what if that day, for example, I want to add another component that I had saved unused in a closet and, therefore, has an earlier version of the firmware? Being uneven with the rest, and not being able to update to the latest version, what will Sonos tell us? that I can't use all my equipment together again ??? That is clearly arbitrary, abusive and I think, almost outlawed.
Please excuse my English. I hope we can obtain an equitable and fair solution for users

G

grievesy

Lyricist I

totally shocking way to treat your customers.

M

morgan4x4

Enthusiast II

Keep posting those one star amazon reviews on their equipment if you agree that we have been wronged! This will have an immediate and significant impact on sales.

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