When Sonos made an announcement the other day that they were stopping updates on legacy products, it was already expected that owners of said products would not react kindly to it. Now CEO Patrick Spence had to issue a statement, apologizing to their customers for the misstep with their initial announcement and reassuring that their speakers will continue “to work as they do today”. It’s not really taking back what they originally said but just clarifying things to avoid confusion.
They are still continuing the original plan to end software updates by May for the identified legacy products. But they clarified that these speakers will still work and will not be bricked. They will just not receive any more new features and this is probably because of the specifications that may not be able to accommodate future updates. But now they are pledging to continue giving bug fixes and security patches “for as long as possible.”
The CEO also responded to complaints that the older and the newer products cannot work together. He promised that they are now looking into a way to split the system so that “modern products work together and get the latest features, while legacy products work together and remain in their current state. The details about this system aren’t yet finalized and they will be sharing more later on.
While the tone of the statement is apologetic, it probably will not change how people feel about this move. Some are probably attached to their still-working legacy devices and do not want to upgrade even with the trade-up program, so not getting new features is still a huge bummer for them. Well, at least you will get bug fixes and security patches so that’s still saying something.
Don’t forget, if you have the original Zone Players, Connect, and Connect:Amp (launched in 2006; includes versions sold until 2015), first-generation Play:5 (launched 2009), CR200 (launched 2009), and Bridge (launched 2007), you will not receive any more updates by May 2020. No specific date has been announced yet, so just make the most out of the devices while you still can.
