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Ryan S
Ryan S
Retired Sonos Staff
January 22, 2020

End of Software Support - Clarifications

  • December 8, 2022 at 11:29 AM
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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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    JohnatNowra
    Contributor I
    January 23, 2020

    Like most customers, I paid top price for my Sonos components over the years as the Sonos system is a high quality system. The first sign of obsolescence was when the original expensive controller was made redundant. However the move to iOS and Android apps was a good move.

    However the decision to no longer support software updates is very concerning. All my Sonos components are running under version 10.6.2 including my two Connect amplifiers.  Given the negative feedback from customers, I think Sonos software decision is environmental irresponsible, immoral and, in some countries, may be illegal .  (In Australia we have a “fit for purpose” government requirement which means that products but comply to reasonable expectations.).

    As an example, Windows 7 was released in 2009 and support will only cease in 2020. 11 years after release, not 5 years !!!

    However, let’s be honest. The Sonos components are speakers. Not multifunctional computers. While there is communications between the units, the main source of concern is the potential for streaming services to change their streaming protocols which would require updated software. Also Sonos does not have Bluetooth capability so the legacy speakers cannot be used standalone with phones etc. Thus it is in the interest of Sonos, its current/future customers and the environment, to prolong the use of these high quality speakers.

    Sonos is considering an alternative to split the Sonos components on the users system between legacy and new. Has Sonos considered some other software alternatives? For example, make the legacy speakers dumb speakers and have the controller software convert new streaming protocols to a standard format for the dumb speakers? A newer Sonos device may also be able to perform this function. There must be some cleaver software solutions out there !!  

    I have been a big supporter of Sonos and have recommend Sonos to many friends and family members who have purchased Sonos products.  Given the expense of the products, the lack of ongoing software support and the growth of Bluetooth speakers, I will no longer be recommending Sonos unless Sonos change their software policy.

     

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      cgraft
      Lyricist I
      January 23, 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.

      I have spent over $10,000 USD on Sonos equipment in 3 locations. Upon receiving your email I thought it had to be a Hoax or some Nigerian scam or something. I cannot believe a company would abandon their loyal customer or any customer for that matter and force them into purchasing new equipment and tossing a 30% off bone.. Just slap us in the face and then spit.  Is there some sort of Class Action they can avoid? Id be happy to be the first Plantif.  They have asked me to beta test for them as well.. SMH!!!!!

      1. Graft   monkeyjarhead1@yahoo.com 
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        alxgzar
        Contributor II
        January 23, 2020

        I met Sonos in a friend's apartment who has 3 Play:5 and I was impressed, I immediately knew that when I had enough money I would buy my own Sonos, I loved visiting my friend to use his Sonos and talking with my friends that it was the best system .

        In October I bought my first Play:1 (5 years of loyalty without even owning one) and just 1 day before they made this announcement I bought the second Play: 1, I was really very excited. 

        When I bought them I thought they would last for a long time, but now I see this and I feel worried about how much longer they will support them, 3 years? It is obviously not something I expected and I am disappointed, when you buy speakers you expect to be able to use them until they are damaged, not that the manufacturer is the one who makes you stop using them.

        I just lost my brand loyalty

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          62gazzer
          Lyricist I
          January 23, 2020

          Oh dear, you screw with your customers like this and you are done. Short and sweet, if you make my products obsolete you will never see me at the checkout again. Fine example of a company with its finger on the self destruct button. One small scenario `I’m thinking of buying a sono system 🤔’ Google search ‘buy Sonos and a perfectly good system will be made obsolete within a few years’ ‘Guess I won’t be buying that then’ really guys! Come on . Say sorry and do the right thing!

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            wottynatty
            Enthusiast I
            January 23, 2020

            On the bright side, the amount of memory in the older devices (1/3 of my system is going obsolete) was the reason for the 65k song library size limit, so hopefully they will at least kill off that old limit, too. 

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            RuralSurfer
            Lyricist I
            January 23, 2020

            Like so many people who have posted here, I feel compelled to log in and post my frustration after reading this announcement. At best it’s an act of Seppuku by Sonos marketing. At worst it’s a slap in the face for existing customers like me who have faithfully continued to add to their Sonos implementation over the years.   I have thousands of dollars of Sonos in my home environment, accumulated over many years.  I have been agonising over Sonos Move for some months now, actually trying to find a way to justify buying one to add to my collection.  No more.

             

            What on earth were you thinking when you put this announcement out ?

            Daniel

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              62gazzer
              Lyricist I
              January 23, 2020

              On a final note from me, I’ve just copied this off the website page regarding “Responsibility”  

              Responsibility

              We plan on being in business a long time, which means we must be responsible, forward-thinking citizens. We’re committed to ethical and sustainable practices and strive to positively affect our community.

              yup!

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                afilep
                Lyricist I
                January 23, 2020

                Obviously SONOS learned nothing from the ‘Trade Up’ fiasco. This latest announcement puts to rest any lingering suspicions I had as to what kind of company SONOS has turned into. The internet is abuzz with all the reasons why this latest move is completely unacceptable, so i won’t waste my time here. Luckily I only have two devices. Will cut my losses at this point and unless, by some miracle, SONOS sees the light and fixes this, will never buy or recommend another SONOS product.

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                  MrSkov
                  Lyricist III
                  January 23, 2020

                  So Sonos

                  Status 36 hours after your announcement:

                  Initial thread closed

                  No clarifications

                  No explanations

                  No answers

                  But you have received over 2,000 customer reactions from your most loyal customers - none of them positive.

                  Does this cause any reflections at your end?

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                    pchawla
                    Contributor I
                    January 23, 2020

                    Perhaps this is a great wake up call. I have a Playbase, Sub and two 1’s that work very well as my living room setup. I was going to get additional speakers around the house as replacements  but now probably going to look at a more conventional system based on an amp / receiver plus passive speakers. I’d like my system to last for many years not risk obsolence 2-3 years down the line. 

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