alt Hacker NewsBose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers
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If the software gains traction in a public git repo this could be a good purchase for someone wanting a cost effective, great sounding, customisable, retro styled speaker.
i'm curious to see whether this creates a large secondary market for EoL'd devices!
Well done Bose! This puts you higher on the list for my next purchase.
I don't understand why so many comments here are negative. This is a nice move, and Bose should be thanked and encouraged to do similar moves again. It's a step in the right direction!
The arguments in this thread about sound quality crack me up. Reminds me of when a famous mix engineer was in a best buy and the guy said 'These sound just like it did in the studio!' He said, no it doesn't. We used NS10s.
This is an amazing idea - whoever came up with it, should get a promotion. I'd not be surprised that if this continues, Bose could be what e.g.: ThinkPad became and will have a steady customer and fan base
Really glad to hear this, I've been so close to throwing out my SoundTouch 20, which makes me sad because it looks great and sounds better than my Google Nest speaker (placement issue? hard to say).
Has anyone found or started related github repos?
I am not a big fan of Bose for personal reasons, but they get my respect for this action.
Great move Bose! I hope this trend continues - it's really nice to see a vibrant market for used/vintage electronic products in some categories (e.g. old iPods) rather than them just contributing to more e-waste.
Something Sonos could learn from perhaps (sorry - I have an interest here).
I think it would be a good idea to tax companies significatnly when bricking their devices, it's creating e-waste. Open sourcing them like this would be a way for them to avoid fines.
This is where EU needs to put its weight and at least in Europe - if you sell something but not willing to support - open source client, server and device all sorts of software.
I really hope Logitech is paying attention, because when Harmony finally dies, I'm not sure how I'm going to replace it.
The released documentation:
https://assets.bosecreative.com/m/496577402d128874/original/...
From a quick glance it looks like you are just able to do high level playback controls, similar to what you'd do using their on-device UI. Perhaps that's enough?
Legends. Open source, create a community of hackers around your products, everyone is happy.
I wish Apple did this with the older iPhone models that can't even connect to cellular networks anymore.
love it, but I'm surprised after the experiences I had with Bose in the past
it's sad that this is not the default behaviour. hopefully the stop killing games movement will put something similar into law with potentially further-reaching side-effects eventually. Because frankly, sunsetting products like this should be common sense, not the exception it currently is.
Some good news
Sadly this is not the norm, but this is a great step in the right direction.
Take that Sonos!
That's very good, props to Bose.
and suddenly Bose is on the list of consumer products I will consider for my home. Good job!
On the one hand it’s great Bose is doing this — on the other it sucks that this is so remarkable. Having stuff you bought that does not actually need the cloud continue to work should be the default.
How do I upvote 3 times
Great move Bose
Shame on you, Google. You disabled my Nest thermostat and Nest Secure alarm — I will never buy your products again.
Finally someone!
API Documentation https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2025....
Bose official announcement https://www.bose.com/soundtouch-end-of-life
Ooh, I might consider actually buying Bose products now. Way to go!
this should be required by law
This is a great PR move for Bose in a market that doesn't care about name brands like it used to. Maybe they can win some customers back and be considered cool again.
"Smart" things get old quickly...
I think I bought one of these ten years ago.
My parents' sound system is from the mid 90s
The headline is somewhat questionable, but that's not Bose's fault.
Good job Bose!
I'm glad this has happened, but I'm be gladder if this was a legal requirement.
Good for them! I own two sets of noise-cancelling Bose headphones and a (dumb) speaker, and they've all been pretty solid, and for half the price of equivalent Apple headphones.
ianal and kudos to Bose for their relatively graceful hardware depreciation approach and releasing their API documentation; the license for said documentation does not appear to be easily recognized as "open source" by using a standard GPL, MIT, Apache, etc license.
Has anyone read the API documentation EULA and can comment on if it really meets some recognizable standard for "open source?"
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After my last Sonos, I gave up on smart speakers. Recently I discovered Squeezelite-ESP32 / piCorePlayer and I'm not going back. I'm free to choose my own speakers (and people sell great 2nd hand dumb speakers for nothing!), I can stream, sync, etc - and they integrate great with Home Assistant. No more proprietary protocol for me, thank you...