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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Show previous replies

robinm0

Enthusiast I

As a follow-up to my previous post, see here….

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.sonos.com?page=6

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HelterSkelter

Enthusiast II

I have 15 units, mostly legacy, and 2 recent Sonos Move.

I’ve just started an eBay return on one of the Moves, as it’s still new in it’s box.

I can’t justify spending this kind of money on a ‘speaker’ with a planned obsolescence.

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Marian Hristov

Lyricist I

You’ve got to be kidding me… I do not own one of the so called “legacy” products, but I’m still mad as hell… For the love of God… those are speakers… they’re not smartphones…. you can and you will make things work, unless you want to LOSE ALL OF YOUR CUSTOMERS… Tell me one thing - who is going to buy an expensive speaker from you, considering the “5 year software support” FOR A SPEAKER?!?!? And then what - throw the WORKING DEVICE in the bin for a pitiful 30% discount? ARE YOU INSANE?!?!?!

You’re making a bad joke on the back of loyal customers and that is going to backfire on you… YOU CAN BE SURE OF IT!

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chris_h1957

Enthusiast I

I worked in IT for a long time, over 30 years and an old boss of mine from early in my career had a sign on the wall, “You can never win an argument with a customer”. This is one argument Sonos has already lost, along with a number of customers and previously planned purchases of their products. I do think Sonos will survive this but it will be with a damaged image and reduced customer base / sales. It will take many years for them to recover, my guess 10 years plus.

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SteveNic1016

Lyricist I

I’m considering setting up a crowd funded legal challenge to get advice on legality and taking it further. It seems to me equipment in full working order should continue to be software supported. Additionally, if perfectly good new(ish) equipment won’t be supported if plugged into legacy equipment the facts should be clearly stated in the buying information so that customers know clearly what the full facts are. Nothing that I can see says this.

VW had terrible publicity over their problems, a major crowd funded legal action is ongoing and still continues to damage their reputation. Nothing good can come from this Sonos.

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VintageMike

Lyricist II

I would like to take advantage of the upgrade offer for older speakers (January 2020), I have a house full of them. However, judging you by your recent announcement I won’t as the products you advertise today will become “legacy” products in a couple of years. When the speakers no longer work I will replace them with speakers from a company who value their customers rather than one that just wants to rip them off. Goodbye Sonos!

Couldn’t have put it better myself

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SonosManu

Enthusiast II

Ask for 70% discount! #sonostradein70discount

Community Thread:

https://en.community.sonos.com/community-feedback-229090/did-sonos-mean-70-discount-to-trade-in-your-obsolete-devices-sonostradein70discount-6836092#post16396110

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Moondoggy68

Lyricist I

I bought my Play Bar, Sub and Play 5 on the same day 5 years ago to add to my Connect Amp, and have since bought the Play 1 SL’s (or whatever they’re called). We’ve just moved into a new house, so we’re (were) about to add two further Play 1’s plus two of the outdoor version. So now my Play 5 and Connect Amp need to be separated from my other kit once updates stop in May. I’m assuming the Sub and the Play Bar are to follow shortly.

The thing is, back in the day when I first bought the Amp, Sonos had no competitors, plus I was locked into a system after that so I just kept adding onto it, no questions. But now Sonos do have competitors, and they’re putting out top kit with better sound (Bose) that do the same thing. So, given that nearly £1000 worth of kit just became useless, and I have to separate it from my newer kit, I’m lost on how Sonos thinks they get to keep me as a customer.

Someone above mentioned that other manufacturers will suffer the same fate in time. Really? Not received any emails from Sony or Panasonic which made my TV’s saying they’ll stop working. I’ve got two first gen Apple TV’s boxes still working a treat. I think the lesson here is, stick with the big guys who have the money to support their equipment beyond five years.

Bye bye Sonos, it was great while it lasted.

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licenced

Avid Contributor I

Having been happy with the system for so long, I really haven’t kept up to date with the alternatives. Does anybody have recommendations on systems that offer the same sort of sound quality and useability as SONOS has done to date?

Same boat as you.

A couple of people mentioned Yamaha MusicCast on the early pages of this thread. Looks worth checking out

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chris Burgs

Lyricist I

What a joke, will not be investing in anymore Sonos kit.

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