Retired Sonos Staff

End of Software Support - Clarifications

December 8, 2022 at 11:29 AM
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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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HelterSkelter

Enthusiast II

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.

Will this remove the ability to group old and new products together. Will this prevent the ability to stream music across all products in sync if you own a mixture of old and new ones?!?!?

I responded to your other thread, too, but yes, you would have two systems on your network, a modern system and a legacy system. They’d be separate.

So, you would not be able to group speakers from the legacy and modern together?

Would you need two apps running on an iOS or can both systems be controlled by one?

And how do we stop the legacy system from accidentally going into ‘brick’ mode?

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Niaccurshi

Lyricist III

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.

Will this remove the ability to group old and new products together. Will this prevent the ability to stream music across all products in sync if you own a mixture of old and new ones?!?!?

I responded to your other thread, too, but yes, you would have two systems on your network, a modern system and a legacy system. They’d be separate.

Why isn’t Sonos providing the necessary hardware to *bridge* these two systems before making the change? We all know that our kit now is going to progressively get sunsetted into the legacy category, Play:3s no doubt in the next 12 months or so, Play:1s a year or so after, so right now we’re looking at this and looking for Sonos to provide us with the confidence that there will be some way to maintain a legacy system of perfectly well functioning quality speakers whilst also having something on the network that can take the weight of processing and the link between those two to allow for multi-room streaming?

I genuinely don’t understand how any answer other than “We’re trying to get people to spend £1000s on upgrading their kit” makes any sense as to the way Sonos have approached this?

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Soul75

Lyricist I

Just got a mail from Sonos with the sad message the SW upgrading of Play5 gen 1 will stop in May 2020 and that the functionality gradually will deteriorate. Purchased new mid 2014 and replaced under warranty 2016 the life span is very short.

Now I have a choice between keeping my Play 5 with impact on the functionality of my complete system or get a new gen. 2 with a 30 % discount. Using the discount offer Sonos will stop the function of my gen. 1. Own Also 3 pcs Play 1 and afraid I soon will get a new mail they are also considered obsolete by Sonos!

What about Sonos policy regarding sustainability? Why not offer HW upgrading?

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jwinther

Lyricist III

And you are complaining and suing because someone is treating you wrong. Pass it on brother!

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/07/technology/sonos-sues-google.html

If you can’t read this (behind the NYT paywall) then see here: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/sonos-says-google-amazon-stole-its-speaker-technology-2020-01-15

Looks like there is a reason behind the current madness: Sonos is fighting to cash in as much as possible before being shut down by the big guys. Reminds a lot of the desperate sue-everybody-and-then-some strategy of SCO in their last days.

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“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)

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sonR

Lyricist I

Sonos - I have purchased 5 separate speakers directly from you, plus a Bridge. They all work as well or better today than the day I bought them. All 6 devices are now being called “legacy,” and I can live with not receiving new features.

However, the implied threat not to maintain their functionality with streaming services is just outrageous after taking all my money. But perhaps I misunderstood you; it does seem that your statements about this say both yes and no. Are you committed to maintaining the connectors to Spotify, Amazon Music, etc., or will they go dead the minute there is the slightest tweak to an API?

Thank you for the expected straight answer.

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larsj

Enthusiast II

Would now be a good time for Sonos to explain why the Connect (now Port) is so expensive?

https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/benoih/are_there_any_cheaper_alternatives_to_the_sonos/

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bonervz

Enthusiast II

More useful and a better shelf life than my Play 5 Gen 1…...

Is that a Play 1?

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Sonos from leader to loser in 2020.

chickentender

I am finding this a bit confusing. I have a Connect that I only bought less than a year ago. When I login into sonos.com it shows this as a ‘modern product’. So will this change in May to be shown as a Legacy product? Perhaps Sonos could provide the serial numbers of products that are either currently obsolete or will be obsolete in May please.

I get that old products get out of date but I think the answer is just to provide a better discount for people in this situation. Offering a product at cost price and keeping a loyal customer would be the best business decision surely...

@Chris Morgs, your Connect is a newer device with better hardware than the older version of the Connect. If it’s a Connect made after 2015 it is not a legacy device and in May it will continue on as a Modern device. It’s the older version of the Connect (previously named the ZP90 or ZP80) which won’t be getting updates after May.

Thanks for clarifying Ryan (so quickly). At first read of the announcement it seemed that all Connects were becoming legacy devices so this is clearly not the case.

I purchased my connect in late December of 2014. There was no distinction EVER made between the two until yesterday. The refreshed, post-2015 version is identical in look/design, identical in pricing, identical in functionality. In my estimation Sonos should send a replacement at no cost. Now that there is more clear information in the wild, many consumers are wishing they’d made more informed purchase decisions, but point of fact, that was not possible at the time.

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SJBill

Lyricist III

Will it be possible to add a Sonos Port or successor purchased in 2023 to a network containing legacy Connects, and be able to have both the Connect and the Port in the same group, playing in sync with each other?

Can Sonos publish a formal support policy for existing not-legacy-yet products so customers who choose to stick with Sonos can budget for future waves of obsolescence?

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K

K2K

Lyricist II

This article title summarized my feelings exactly :

Sonos Makes It Clear: You No Longer Own The Things You Buy

Modern 'smart' hardware now comes with hidden expiration dates that encourage waste, piss off consumers, and put the entire internet at risk.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3a8dpn/sonos-makes-it-clear-you-no-longer-own-the-things-you-buy

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Sonos Makes It Clear: You No Longer Own The Things You Buy

Modern 'smart' hardware now comes with hidden expiration dates that encourage waste, piss off consumers, and put the entire internet at risk.

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