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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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    d514jv
    Lyricist I
    January 22, 2020

    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.

    Bye bye Sonos - just lost my custom 

      mclark
      Lyricist I
      January 22, 2020

      Congratulations guys - you’re about to become a Harvard Business School case study, and not one of the good ones.

        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. 

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

        Laughing here f**k knows why as it’s a grim expensive situation we all in …. but your comment provoked an involuntary laugh!!!!

          mjmcg
          Lyricist III
          January 22, 2020

          This should become a business case about how NOT to handle a product transition.

          The main rub is that even having one legacy product in your system renders the entire system in legacy mode, with no updates. There is no way software engineering can’t make both new and legacy work together.

          As I mentioned in the now locked thread, sell a standalone device that offloads the processing needed for legacy devices to work with modern services, and let those legacy devices become simple speakers.

            Goodbye Sonos
            Enthusiast II
            January 22, 2020

            https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.sonos.com

             

            Doesn’t too good for Sonos

              Softstone86
              Lyricist I
              January 22, 2020

              I bought a Sonos 1 in November - a product which will now become useless because my Connect will be made obsolete. So actually that's a product lifespan of just 2 months. I'm gutted that I've just wasted money adding to a system that is now being dumped.

              Companies that encourage the disposal of perfectly good products don't deserve to survive... Which is exactly where Sonos are now heading…

              It was good while it lasted, but I can't see you lasting more than a few years now. Your product is no longer unique or even best in class. So this is the final nail in the coffin.

              I don't buy the whole lack of ram and under-powered cpu either. My connect is essentially a phono connector that works over WiFi. Absolutely no reason for that to stop working. This is a money grabbing scheme for sure. Shame on you Sonos. 

               

                jwinther
                Lyricist III
                January 22, 2020

                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?

                Mine died a while ago - and it makes no difference at all, so I just removed it.

                “This is a chance now to come up with a system that doesn’t cause massive planetary damage in exchange for disposable stuff,” Proctor said. (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3a8dpn/sonos-makes-it-clear-you-no-longer-own-the-things-you-buy)
                  Brentr
                  Trending Lyricist I
                  January 22, 2020

                  Sonos why did you lock the previous thread,? I guess 55 pages of negative feedback had you worried. Pathetic

                    cosmicdiver
                    Lyricist II
                    January 22, 2020

                    SONOS you could have handled this better. If it is possible to maintain legacy (not sure how a 3 year old device can be regarded as legacy) with new devices, maybe you should have announced that first. Seems like a response to all the bad feedback from "loyal" customers who made you what you are.

                     

                    Looking around I found a great quote in a competitor's site, 

                    "Well, we don’t have every single little music service on the planet, just the ones that count." As you can see I'm one customer who is already looking elsewhere. Probably won't be the last, but having had SONOS products since 2005, it hurts to end what was a great relationship. 

                    I won't mention who this quote was by as I think the company have enough problems trying to cope with the situation SONOS management has created. Just feel sorry for the great SONOS staff who have had to convey this awful decision to the market!

                    I wait with baited breath as to whether SONOS can fix this with a hybrid system approach or whether I take delivery of a competitor system come the second half of the year. To be honest I was surprised about one competitor that gets 5 star sound reviews. I never rated anything when I was a loyal customer, after all, SONOS products were great and streaks ahead of the world when I purchased them and until recent times when the preoccupation of having voice technology and numerous updates every month started to wear a little thin. I can see now that the management and marketers have probably reduced the life cycle of good solid hifi tech products and so now the technical guys have said we can't go on. Shame really...

                     

                     

                     

                     

                      bonervz
                      Enthusiast II
                      January 22, 2020

                      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?

                      Mine died a while ago - and it makes no difference at all, so I just removed it.

                      The Boost.

                      Sonos from leader to loser in 2020.
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