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Ryan S
Ryan S
Retired Sonos Staff
January 22, 2020

End of Software Support - Clarifications

End of Software Support - Clarifications

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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    4256 replies

    Show previous replies
    MySpeakersAreLeased
    Lyricist II
    January 22, 2020

    Just updated your product description for you.

     

     

    *** I know the Play:1 is still receiving updates at the moment! ***

      attacama40
      Headliner I
      January 22, 2020

      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.

      I didn’t, not for second. 

        philip12345
        Lyricist I
        January 22, 2020

        Been a Sonos customer since 2009 and I own 3no play 5’s, 3no play 1’s, 2no connects, a bridge and a playbar. I was also just about to order a sub but don’t think I will now only to find that it will also become obsolete shortly?

        My total spend so far is approx £2700 and now they want to scrap them, and apparently if you trade up they send a signal which bricks the old one. What about the environment Sonos? what about all these players going to landfill?

        All Sonos is doing is making loyal customers buy more products they don’t need to boost sales. Circuit boards, processors and memory are all “cheap as chips” now and I’m quite sure Sonos could come up with a retro fit board that an approved repairer could fit for a small fee to bring the affected players up to future spec.

          bonervz
          Enthusiast II
          January 22, 2020

          Just updated your product description for you.

           

          The play 1 isn’t a legacy product……

          Until july that is.

          Sonos from leader to loser in 2020.
            fletch57
            Lyricist I
            January 22, 2020

            So what happened Sonos? Weren’t enough people taking you up on the offer of a 30% discount on a new product for the privilege of having an older product bricked so you decided to force the issue? My Gen1 is barely over 5 years old. I purchased it in November 2014. You are now telling me that unless I separate it from the rest of my system not only does the Play5 become legacy but all the rest of my Sonos components become legacy  including the Sonos Beam that I bought only last week. What other functionality are you about to launch that requires so much processing power that you can’t make a Gen1 Play 5 pair with a Gen 2 Play 5 or other newer product? 

            Unless there is a rapid change of heart or a much improved exchange programme I’ll be getting rid of my Play 5, 3 Play1’s and Beam pretty quickly before you make them all obsolete. I’m sure other manufacturers will love to have a whole bunch of ex-Sonos customers heading their way   

              Dampfish
              Lyricist I
              January 22, 2020

              Unfortunately for Sonos there are competitors now. That wasn’t the case when I bought in to Sonos all those years ago.

              I have 7x devices that are now doomed, from an original ZonePlayer to a Play 5.

               

              Anyone care to guess how many Sonos devices I plan to buy in the future? Here’s a clue, it’s less than 1.

                MrSkov
                Lyricist III
                January 22, 2020

                https://www.channelnews.com.au/commentloyal-customers-screwed-by-sonos-as-they-desperatly-try-to-force-upgrades/
                 

                also dealers and installers are p....

                  Goodbye Sonos
                  Enthusiast II
                  January 22, 2020

                  Unfortunately for Sonos there are competitors now. That wasn’t the case when I bought in to Sonos all those years ago.

                  I have 7x devices that are now doomed, from an original ZonePlayer to a Play 5.

                   

                  Anyone care to guess how many Sonos devices I plan to buy in the future? 

                  would that be zero???

                    MySpeakersAreLeased
                    Lyricist II
                    January 22, 2020

                    Anyone care to guess how many Sonos devices I plan to buy in the future? 

                    I’m assuming the same amount as Sonos cares about their customers: NULL ?
                     

                      bonervz
                      Enthusiast II
                      January 22, 2020

                      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.

                      I didn’t, not for second. 

                      Me neither, never crossed my mind. Now it is the only thing on my mind.

                      Sonos from leader to loser in 2020.
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