URC Tells Dealers to Postpone Customers' Sonos Updates Ahead of Platform Update
Universal Remote Control urged dealers in a Wednesday email to have customers postpone Sonos updates to preserve key features and functionality of its current URC two-way module ahead of a Sonos platform update scheduled for next week. “If the Sonos update is performed, users will lose the ability to browse all music services except for TuneIn from the two-way module,” said URC.
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URC customers will retain playback control for play, stop, pause and volume; receive metadata; be able to view and play favorites, playlists and libraries; change line in inputs and view queues, URC said.
The control company is in the process of developing and testing a new URC Sonos module to meet certification guidelines announced by Sonos in October. “It is important to note that the browsing of music services will not be included in the new URC module due to Sonos certification protocols,” URC said, saying the loss of browsing music services “is outside of our control and will be the same across the certified integration of all home automation systems.”
The upcoming update adds new features and "includes changes to continue to keep the Sonos system secure for our customers," a Sonos spokeswoman said. "Integrations built on our platform are tested to ensure long-term reliability through updates, which is not currently possible with unsupported UPnP [Universal Plug and Play] integrations," she said. Sonos' goal is to "create a scalable and sustainable Sonos platform (Endorsed and Certified partners) where we can work closely with partners to build secure experiences for customers using Sonos APIs [application programming interfaces]," she emailed. "The result is that you can have confidence that the integrations they choose to use with Sonos will continue to deliver the best and most reliable experience."
Sonos is opening its platform later this year, enabling partners to build APIs for new experiences, with certification running through Sonos, the spokeswoman told us. Home automation partners are being certified to build APIs through a developer preview program, she said. Control companies already certified to build approved Sonos APIs include Wink, and Sonos Endorsed partners Control4, Crestron, Lutron and Savant.
With the APIs, companies will be able to create new experiences, such as linking a connected doorbell with music from Sonos, the spokeswoman said. Sonos partner TunesMap delivers artist information to Sonos listeners via Apple TV, bringing back the liner notes experience that’s been lost with streaming music, she said. One Sonos community member referred to TunesMap as Sonos’ answer to Roon.
Under the approved APIs, “customers can have confidence that it’s going to be a good experience over time as Sonos releases more software updates and brings new features,” the spokeswoman said. Sonos issues regular updates roughly every quarter to add features, update security and provide big fixes, she said.
URC is working with Sonos on certification, but systems using an unsupported UPnP protocol to access music services via third-party control integration will no longer be able to browse or play music from a music service via a control system, said the spokeswoman. “The good news is we’re already working with those partners to ensure that we can get them onto the platform and that the customer can have a good experience in the end,” she said. Users will still be able to use those functions from the Sonos mobile app, she said.