Retired Sonos Staff

End of Software Support - Clarifications

December 8, 2022 at 11:29 AM
4256 replies
269590 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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blkmg

Contributor I

This is a textbook screw up on how to manage communications with your customers.

First, announce something you know will be unpopular, but let's be vague and offer 30%, because 30% sounds like a lot.

Second, post "clarifications" that clarify nothing - and just offer some more confusion.

Third, close threads where customers were angered and say "oh, comment in this other thread if you still have questions"…

The fourth one will be to start banning users in this forum. It will happen.

The fifth one will be to blame your customers for "not understanding", and "sorry for the miscommunication" - but you will not fix anything.

The other one is saying "we have no plans to stop supporting other products" - when let's be honest, we know you will, and soon. Can't wait until my Play 1s stop working because they don't have enough memory to do the one single function they were bought for.

S

StephanG2321

Lyricist I

I just want let you to know that in the german speaking part of the Community there is the same situation as here; just the frequency of replies is a little lower.

The original thread with the Announcement was closed half an hour ago and the clone of this one was opened instead (exactly with the same content).

So there the outrage is just the same as here and the users can’t believe what they read. I still hope that together we are strong and the management of SONOS can’t hide from this yelp and is forced to revise their decision! Keep going!

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beardah

Lyricist III

This is a poorly thought out solution. They could have released a $25 "bridge" type device that connects to legacy equipment via ethernet and/or wifi. Kinda like how the Sonos Connect connects to 50 year old receivers. You'd think if Sonos can develop a device that can connect your 1967 McIntosh amp to the sonos network, they could also develop something that could connect your 2015 Sonos speaker. They could then mark it up to $50 and make a modest profit on each unit sold. I've seen a few other posts by people suggesting a solution similar to this.

I've got 11 sonos products and only 1 is legacy, but I now know it's just a matter of time before they are all legacy. I'm not biting on the ridiculous 30% coupon in exchange for bricking a perfectly good device

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plastictoast

Lyricist I

This brand is on its way out. I’ve been in since 2007, and the USP has always been that it just works. No stress, no fuss, it just works as you want it to. Very rare in tech goods, and it was a breath of fresh air.

Except now we know, it only works for a limited amount of time. Then it stops. So it’s just like all other disposable tech after all.

What’s worse though, is that Sonos used to be focused on keeping customers happy. Now it focuses on keeping shareholders happy. This decision isn’t about not being able to update the ‘legacy’ units, it was a cold, hard decision made in the boardroom. Let them buy more, they said. They assume we will, no matter what they do.

But no, I will not buy more, because for starters, I don’t know how long those shiny new units will last before becoming ‘legacy’. 5 years? Not long enough. My main (non-sonos) speakers are 13 years old. My amp is 13 years old. And I am not expecting either of them to stop working any time soon. That’s why I was happy to pay the price I did.

But mainly I will not buy more because you’ve acted like I don’t matter. You’ve lost my trust. And, unlike in 2007, I have other options.

U

user_end_of_lifed

Enthusiast II

After May, systems that include legacy products will continue to work as before - but they will no longer receive software updates or new features.

This is, as you well know, self-contradictory. The Sonos platform has ALWAYS since day one been sold as an integrated ecosystem that plays music from remote sources. With the exception of the 3.5mm input on some devices, there is literally no way to play music without a network service of some kind. The nature of network services, especially, but not solely, streaming services is that the interfaces change over time and clients that wish to integrate have to be modified in-step.

Refusing to provide maintenance updates to a product that relies on integrated services for its core function is 100% killing it dead. We just don’t know the exact time of death yet.

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.

This is, as you well know, disingenuous. It would be ENTIRELY possible to split the codebase such that the older devices keep their original feature set while the newer devices move on. The streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music are going to change and necessitate updates to the Sonos devices, yes, but until such time as Apple switches to projecting holograms of the musicians in to your home they’re not going to change to an extent that the older devices can’t handle.

Implicit in what you’re saying here is that you currently DON’T do this, and so my Play 5 is currently carrying the weight of all the features you’ve put in your codebase that it can’t use. Here’s an idea - strip all that bollocks out and use the extra resource to maintain support for the Play 5’s feature set.

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.

Some of your partners do enhance their software over time, that’s true. As a secondary tip, perhaps Sonos could try this rather than just killing bits of it off *cough* desktop Sonos controller software *cough*. I’m not sure I could tell you anything that’s changed in the Sonos app the whole time I’ve had it.

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.

Explain to us one good technical reason why a play 5 that has been able to handle a synchronised audio stream for the last 5 years is suddenly going to stop being able to do so. Not got one? Good. Now explain to us why one of the more modern products won’t be able to send a play 5 one of these audio streams as it does today.

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.

At this point you deserve kudos for simply having the gall to keep presenting this extortion as if it’s some sort of perk to the current customer base. Well done, you have a bright future in PR.

Ryan SAuthor

Retired Sonos Staff

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.

You missed out a vital point, does this mean the legacy and modern will be interoperable? Or completely seperate? I am fine with my legacy speakers not getting updates, but I want my modern speakers to get updates and new features. I then EXEPCT to be still able to group music between legacy and modern.

This is the main issue on the table! I have 26 SONOS devices, 16 of which are “legacy”. If you tell me I have to separate them out, then you gave failed in your mission, and why I purchased $10k of equipment from you… to have Whole House Audio.

@David_366 and @morgan4x4, these legacy devices are stretched to the limits of their hardware already. Where possible, we will work to maintain the existing experience and conduct bug fixes on the legacy devices where the computing hardware will allow.

Did SONOS LOCK the real thread which was up to 55 pages of negative customer feedback over the course of 1 night?

@Nikisixx21, we wanted to make sure everyone was able to read the clarifications above, and then continue the conversation in this thread. The comments in the old thread aren’t getting deleted or removed in any way. Also, these threads can start becoming very unwieldy as they get upwards of 50 pages.

Cheers and probably goodbye, though you’ve still not answered my question. While only posed yesterday I had a devil of a job even finding them. They were on page 24 and now we’re up to 54 (and counting) pages of comments that are ~99% negative. Perhaps you need a new way to deal with the community response, which isn’t to close the thread?

1 - After May, what will happen when I try to add a new controller, particularly phone or tablet to my legacy system? Will I be able to do this or not?

2 - After May, can I add another new or legacy device (or speaker) to my current setup? Will this be possible?

3 - After May, if I want to sign up to a subscription service (or have to disable then enable a current one) will this be possible?

@User933635, I have a few answers in that thread which address these questions, but here goes:

You will be able get the app that works with a legacy system to use on new mobile devices, or if you accidentally delete it.
You will be able to add products to your legacy systems. We'll have more to share on the experience come May.
Yes. You’ll be able to put in your account details for an existing service. Over time, if a services protocols change it may stop working on legacy systems.

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

J

Johnnydot

Enthusiast I

I too have spent a lot of money on systems for three homes along with systems for my children. I certainly hope the legal people at Sonos where consulted when this decision was made. There are alot of hungry lawyers out there who would love a class action suit like this. “Planned Obsolescence” of a product that costs this much is not acceptable-neither is insulting owners with a cheesy 30% trade up offer. Well it was a good product while it lasted. Too bad but this opens the doors for the other competitors. I bet Bose is licking their chops!!

Good Luck

I hadnt heard of Bluesound til it cropped up in the thread about sonos bricking our perfectly functional equipment.

Bluesound. Multi room hifi that isnt sonos.

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patbla

Enthusiast II

Given that the other thread was closed, I thought I would reiterate my comment and request for the code base when you stop supporting “legacy” components.

The more I think about this the more disappointed I am becoming.

There are many approaches that could have been taken and they seem to have taken one that is easiest on them (simply not worry about “legacy” devices any longer and let the chips fall were they may) instead of continuing to support “legacy” devices with the understanding that their functionality will not be expanded beyond their current capabilities due to hardware limitations.

If the limitation is indeed processor and memory based then you could provide functionality in the app – or, perish the thought, the desktop application – that allows users to load on only the features they use and want. I personally use a local library, Tunein, and Spotify. I do not need every music service loaded to every component. I would understand that such functionality may need to be at the network level so that all speakers have consistent functionality.

I do not believe that any of the people writing here would have objected to this. I do not need airplay or Chromecast in my existing speakers and I would understand having to purchase new equipment to make use of this new technology. What I do not understand is Sonos saying that they will simply stop updating those products and let them die off.

If the current position is maintained then I ask that you provide access to the code base for the products that you will no longer support as I feel confident that there would be a community of developers that would gladly take up keeping this equipment functional for years to come.

J

jzobe

Lyricist I

Now that we know Sonos equipment will be end of life every 3 to 5 years, what competing brands would people recommend as a replacement for Sonos?

G

gmmorris

Lyricist I

Didn’t like so many upset users so you closed the previous thread??? Not cool.

As most of us knew, SONOS was eager for trade-ups during the holiday period. Evidently few took SONOS up on the offer, given no inherent need or desire for upgraded units… so what does SONOS do? FORCE the trade-up!!! Too many units lying around and not enough sales? Shame.

Lots of other products around now.

Bye SONOS

(A 2005-6 adopter with 12 zones.)

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