Bose open-sources its SoundTouch home theater smart speakers ahead of EoL
If companies insist on bricking gadgets, this is a better way to do it.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/01/bose-open-sources-its-soundtouch-home-theater-smart-speakers-ahead-of-eol/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

@arstechnica Thank goodness. I use several of these to stream audio from a locally hosted streaming server. Bricking them seemed so stupid to me.

@arstechnica and this kids is how you get free, organic marketing and future customers using written-off discarded assets...well done

@arstechnica Unexpected, to say the least - but the right thing to do. I don't own their products, so I don't benefit directly from that decision. It hopefully sets an example for the future and other companies, though.

@arstechnica That's rare.

Cc @rdgp

@arstechnica I kind of want one now

@arstechnica Excellent news! I have Soundtouch speakers, plus turned friends onto them in the past.

@arstechnica From comments, to save time: "It's not even "open-sourcing" anything. They simply supplied documentation for an HTTP-based API. An API that could have easily been deciphered by simply sniffing HTTP traffic going to one of these speakers when using the official app or however they were operated normally."

For most people familiar with what open source means, what Bose did is not open source in any manner.

@arstechnica Unfortunately the buttons will stop working, which is the key thing people used these for (the one touch button presets).

@arstechnica I wish that people would take this as a sign that buying things that require a third party connection (that you have no control over) is not a well thought out idea. At least Bose (I have their headphones and speakers) is making the API available, but firmware is still closed and subject to security flaws that will go unpatched.

@arstechnica It really shouldn't be newsworthy when a company does the right thing with abandoned tech.

@arstechnica Can I... just buy the open source bricked version?

@arstechnica I remember when most electronic products - from my table radio to my Marantz receiver - included printed schematics in the user manual.

@arstechnica
#altText4Me #altText4Everybody

@arstechnica let people enjoy bricking them themselves, and then learning how to solder a jtag and unbrick them.

@arstechnica Maybe something like this should become a legal requirement.

@arstechnica
fucking rare

@arstechnica oh yes this is good! Nice first step!

Poke @pluraliatic@mamot.fr

@arstechnica i wish this happens with all hardware. We need a law for that.

@arstechnica I think your writer and your editor should both familiarise themselves with what "open-sourcing" means. Publicly documenting a web API isn't.

That being said, it's an amazing thing for Bose to do.

@arstechnica
And here I thought Bose was just expensive crap for the sake of it, like Apple. When really, they're more like Google. :)