Bose goes open supply with its growing older SoundTouch audio system

Right here’s one thing I’d prefer to see extra of: a tech producer selecting not to brick considered one of its older cloud-connected merchandise. 

On this case, we’re speaking Bose, which simply months in the past was poised to yank cloud performance from its more-than-decade-old line of SoundTouch Wi-Fi audio system and soundbars, a transfer that may primarily rob them of their smarts. 

Now, Bose is altering course, and whereas direct entry to music-streaming providers continues to be on the chopping block, native networking options will stay. Extra importantly, Bose is opening up its SoundTouch tech to outdoors builders. 

In response to the unique plan, SoundTouch homeowners would see their apps go darkish by February 18, that means they might not be capable of stream tunes from Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn, or the like from the SoundTouch app. As a substitute, they’d should pipe audio to the audio system by way of HDMI, Toslink, AUX jacks, or Bluetooth. In different phrases, their good SountTouch audio system—which value anyplace between $400 to $1,500—have been about to show dumb. 

Naturally, furious SoundTouch customers gave Bose a bit of their collective thoughts, and it seems Bose truly listened. As ArsTechnica reviews, the favored residence audio model relented, to an extent: whereas it’s nonetheless reducing cloud service for SoundTouch audio system (it’s prolonged the deadline to Could 6), it should maintain Spotify Join and AirPlay performance, the latter of which can permit a number of SoundTouch audio system to play the identical tunes concurrently. 

And whereas the SoundTouch app will lose entry to cloud options, it should nonetheless allow you to management native performance to your SoundTouch audio system, together with Bluetooth, AirPlay, and Spotify Join streaming, distant playback, pause, and quantity, speaker grouping, and setup and configuration. 

Even higher, Bose will permit builders to poke round SoundTouch API, that means they may construct their very own apps to regulate the audio system. 

It’s commonplace for homeowners of soon-to-be-bricked tech to name on the producer to open-source their merchandise earlier than they flip into paperweights. It occurred when Google selected to yank help for its first- and second-generation Nest thermostats, and whereas Google has so far remained unmoved, hackers have taken issues into their very own fingers. 

So it’s a pleasant change of tempo to see a serious model like Bose lay naked the SoundTouch API, primarily giving their almost defunct merchandise a brand new lease on life. 

This information story is a part of TechHive’s in-depth protection of one of the best good audio system.