Retired Sonos Staff

End of Software Support - Clarifications

December 8, 2022 at 11:29 AM
4256 replies
269828 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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user_end_of_lifed

Enthusiast II

The app shouldn't cause anyone trouble in the future.

As we move forward, we will provide ways to separate your legacy and modern products so that the modern products can still receive updates, and legacy products can still be used. We'll have more details in May.

The idea that this situation can just dawdle along for another 4 months, given the strength of the negativity you’ve received in 24 hours, is genuinely amusing. You’ll be at your next employer long before then.

G

Goodbye Sonos

Enthusiast II

Funny thing is FORD don’t send me emails saying ‘hey that car you bought 5 years back…. well it’s no longer supported - no more spares, no more servicing… and the pick up truck you bought 6 months ago, well sorry but if you insist on keeping the car then we will not support the pick up either - so no spare parts or servicing for the new pick up either”

There’s a word for this sort of behaviour

D

digger42

Lyricist I

This is disgusting, a blatant way of trying to milk the previously loyal existing customer base maybe ?

it prompted me to research alternatives this morning and I won’t be throwing any more money at Sonos

>£1500 + Sonos + 5 years = disappointment

User694694

Enthusiast II

Not good closing a thread and opening a new one, just update the orignal!

Please can you explain why you misled people by saying only 10 weeks ago on Twitter that “We have no plans to suddenly make these devices obsolete. We're simply offering our users an eco-friendly way to upgrade their older players.”

Don’t expect a reply. I’m sure the author is busy changing pants because his current ones are on fire.

J

JAV

Lyricist III

I agree a class action lawsuit is coming…

FYI… Sonos will be holding an earnings conference call on Wednesday, February 5th at 12:00 AM Eastern. Interested parties can register for or listen to the call using this link or dial in at Not Available.

It should be fun to listen to Patrick Spence as the investment community drills him…

Patrick...do the right thing and offer another upgrade /refurbish option… Stop the Blackmail activity campaign

D

Dachar

Lyricist II

Apparently my Bridge will become obsolete in May. Does anyone know what is being offered to replace it as l can’t find it on the Sonos website?

In many cases, there is no need to replace the Bridge. If you can’t directly wire one of your other devices to the router, you can run your system in wireless (WiFi) mode. if that’s not going to work, the Boost is the Bridge replacement. Sonos has not offered any trade in or other incentive for the Bridge at this time.

Thanks, that is very helpful . Using Sonos’s website It runs a check on your registered hardware. This shows which is obsolete. The first on my list was my Bridge and it said it qualified for a trade in with the 30% discount. I will look into the option of the Boost. Re

G

Goodbye Sonos

Enthusiast II

Not good closing a thread and opening a new one, just update the orignal!

Please can you explain why you misled people by saying only 10 weeks ago on Twitter that “We have no plans to suddenly make these devices obsolete. We're simply offering our users an eco-friendly way to upgrade their older players.”

Don’t expect a reply. I’m sure the author is busy changing pants because his current ones are on fire.

THIS QUESTION NEEDS ANSWERING…. it is such a misleading response. How about some honesty

D

dipp0

Trending Lyricist I

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.

The app shouldn't cause anyone trouble in the future.

As we move forward, we will provide ways to separate your legacy and modern products so that the modern products can still receive updates, and legacy products can still be used. We'll have more details in May.

I don't think you guys have until May. You need to get ahead of this now while people still care. In May people will have moved on.

A

AP2050

Lyricist III

Thanks Tacoslayer!

INTERESTING, my email from sonos didn't talk about cost effective...talked about CPU and RAM limits….but the filing says backward compatibility will no longer be practical or cost-effective.

Oh WAIT MY BAD, i forgot you can't LIE in your earnings report.....my bad
But you sure can on emails to your customers.

From SONOS’ SEC Q4 2019 filing:

We may choose to discontinue support for older versions of our products, resulting in customer dissatisfaction that could negatively affect our business and operating results.

We have historically maintained, and we believe our customers may expect, extensive backward compatibility for our older products and the software that supports them, allowing older products to continue to benefit from new software updates. We expect that in the near term, this backward compatibility will no longer be practical or cost-effective, and we may decrease or discontinue service for our older products. If we no longer provide extensive backward capability for our products, we may damage our relationship with our existing customers, as well as our reputation, brand loyalty and ability to attract new customers.

For these reasons, any decision to decrease or discontinue backward capability may decrease sales and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

B

Beemr

Lyricist II

How is this working out for you SONOS. Seems to be going sideways quickly.

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