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Bose is open-sourcing its old smart speakers instead of bricking them Comments Drawer Comments Loading comments Getting the conversation ready... * News News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow See All News * Tech Tech Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow See All Tech * Audio Audio Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow See All Audio Bose is open-sourcing its old smart speakers instead of bricking them SoundTouch speakers could now have a second life and won't lose support until May. SoundTouch speakers could now have a second life and won't lose support until May. by Stevie Bonifield Stevie Bonifield Stevie Bonifield News Writer Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow See All by Stevie Bonifield Jan 8, 2026, 2:42 PM UTC * * If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Bose SoundTouch Wi-Fi music systems images Bose SoundTouch Wi-Fi music systems images Photo: The Verge Stevie Bonifield Stevie Bonifield Stevie Bonifield Stevie Bonifield Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow See All by Stevie Bonifield is a news writer covering all things consumer tech. Stevie started out at Laptop Mag writing news and reviews on hardware, gaming, and AI. In a surprisingly user-friendly move, Bose has announced it will be open-sourcing the API documentation for its SoundTouch smart speakers, which were slated to lose official support on February 18th, as reported by Ars Technica. Bose has also moved that date back to May 6th, 2026. When cloud support ends, an update to the SoundTouch app will add local controls to retain as much functionality as possible without cloud services. Users will still be able to stream music to SoundTouch speakers with Bluetooth, AirPlay, and Spotify Connect (plus physical AUX connections). Remote control features and grouping speakers will also continue to work, and users will still be able to set up and configure their SoundTouch speakers. Now that the smart speakers' API is being open-sourced, users can also create their own compatible SoundTouch tools to help fill in any gaps left by the lack of cloud services. While it's still disappointing that the speakers are losing official support, Bose's approach at least lets people continue using their speakers, rather than bricking otherwise functional devices. This move from Bose is particularly surprising because of how rare it is. Usually when products lose support for cloud services, they end up bricked, and occasionally users step in themselves to fix things. For instance, when Pebble originally shut down in 2016, users kept their watches functional by creating the Rebble Alliance, a community-run replacement for the watches' cloud services, firmware, and app store. Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates. * Stevie Bonifield Stevie Bonifield Stevie Bonifield News Writer Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow See All by Stevie Bonifield * Audio Audio Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow See All Audio * Bose Bose Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow See All Bose * News News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow See All News * Smart Home Smart Home Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow See All Smart Home * Tech Tech Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow See All Tech Most Popular Most Popular 1. OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health, encouraging users to connect their medical records 2. Fujifilm's new instant camera captures video with vintage effects 3. Bose is open-sourcing its old smart speakers instead of bricking them 4. Dell admits consumers don't care about AI PCs 5. Lego announces Smart Brick, the 'most significant evolution' in 50 years The Verge Daily A free daily digest of the news that matters most. Email (required) [ ] Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Advertiser Content From Sponsor Logo This is the title for the native ad Sponsor thumbnail More in News YouTube will now let you filter Shorts out of search results YouTube will now let you filter Shorts out of search results Is it even worth mentioning that Elon Musk blew past his own Full Self-Driving goals again? Is it even worth mentioning that Elon Musk blew past his own Full Self-Driving goals again? 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