This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
"Open source" really isn't the right term here, if they're just releasing API specifications. "Open sourcing" the speakers would be releasing the source code to the software that runs on the speakers.
Like, all of Microsoft's libraries on Windows have a publicly-documented interface. That hardly makes them open source. Just means that people can write software that make use of them.
Yes, the correct term for this would be “open api”
"documented api", nothing open about it
Idk, it probably has an open backdoor somewhere
There is a Soundtouch extension to Music Assistant, which which is part of Home Assistant. Last I checked the developer is unsure how functional the wireless speakers will be after the app shutdown.
Indeed it's misleading wording but credit where credit is due, this is far better than turning them all into e-waste. It's not like anyone bought these with the assumption they would have any sort of official API someday, especially after seeing how Sonos handled their similar situation...
It’s misleading wording by arse-technica, not Bose. The quoted wording from Nosebis correct and it looks like they’re doing the right thing. After originally announcing they would be dumb speakers, now they’ll continue to be useful and third party apps can continue to use them. Applaud Bose for doing the right thing
Direct your Boos to arse-technica
We need a law that companies provide device owners root access for every end of life device.
That's something the EU would do, but never America.
How about a free gun at the end of life of any device?
NOW we're talking!
I think medical device manufacturers should have to support their products for some definite length of time—maybe 10 years?—or not be allowed to make devices at all
This type of laws already exist in some cases, but realistically no one knows that the company won't just go bankrupt in 5 years. Open sourcing things is a "reasonable" last resort option, or rather, the only viable one
For software too, if a company has sold software and then goes out of business, it should have to give all licensed users permanent access to use it. Preferably also the source code. (Ideally we'd have open source options for everything but that's not always practical or possible right now.)
It would be one thing for a corporation to misuse the term open source as they've been doing lately. It's pretty bad for one of the biggest and oldest tech news sites to be doing it.
More like ArseTechnica, eh?
Basic documentation does not equal open source.
Toaster ovens from 40 years ago did better. They came with a technical diagram.
We need to start demanding technical diagrams again. I've fixed up antiques where the schematics were printed on the inside, even for a simple flashlight.
But that means you'll repair it rather than just buying another. We can't have that! Think of the GDP!
That's a pretty cool thing to do
They didn't open source anything.
Yes, but at least documenting the API and saying “have at it” is better than dropping it
The headline is still misleading.
And they didn't do it. The headline is misleading.
PDF reference of the API here: https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2025.12.18-SoundTouch-Web-API.pdf
Is there any quality, real open-source speakers? Or it's way better not bother with it and get dumb speakers and an SBC?
I don't use OpenHAB or Home Assistant, but I'd be extremely surprised if they don't have existing functionality for connecting microphones, speakers, and LLMs to set up voice-controlled stuff.
searches
Willow Is a Practical, Open Source, Privacy-focused Platform for Voice Assistants and Other Applications
Willow is an ESP IDF based project primarily targeting the ESP32-S3-BOX hardware family from Espressif. Our goal is to provide Amazon Echo/Google Home competitive performance, accuracy, cost and functionality with Home Assistant, openHAB and other platforms.
100% open source and completely self-hosted by the user with "ready for the kitchen counter" low cost commercially available hardware.
https://rhasspy.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
Rhasspy (ɹˈæspi) is an open source, fully offline set of voice assistant services for many human languages that works well with:
- Hermes protocol compatible services (Snips.AI)
- Home Assistant and Hass.io
- Node-RED
- Jeedom
- OpenHAB
For passive, and even now some active loudspeakers, very much so.
Links for passives: https://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/diy https://www.zaphaudio.com/ https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/speaker-kits/ (etc)
Active speakers are usually things like this and use commercially available parts with commercial software. But if you want you can build a DIY DSP and DAC and DIY amplifier. Note that there are tons of other designs for both available.
The DIY audio community is very vibrant. There are tons and tons of forums collaboratively iterating. You can build DIY headphones and DIY headphone amplifiers. Hell, you can even build DIY speaker drivers.
Anything I missed was not an intentional omission, lol.
Chad Bose.
They're never getting those integrations back though, e.g. Spotify. Those are usually implemented in each company's servers rather than something that can be brokered locally through an API. That needs to change
