Kudos for Wiim - Bose? No thanks!!

[obertransae]

Dear WiiMers,

I’ve been living the WiiM life for three to four years now and, honestly… what a journey.
It all started harmlessly with a WiiM Mini. Then things escalated — quickly and without remorse: WiiM Amp, WiiM Amp Pro, and now I’m happily surrounded by WiiM Vibelink and the WiiM Ultra.

Yes, I may have a problem.
But let’s be clear: it’s a high-quality, well-engineered problem.

I mainly wanted to say thank you.
For years, the “perfect audio system” existed only in my head — and somehow WiiM went ahead and built it exactly like that.
Highly suspicious… but extremely impressive

Big kudos to all the developers who made this happen. You didn’t just create hardware and software — you built a brand that genuinely moves people. Emotionally and musically, which is not exactly easy.

At this point, there’s really only one thing left to do:
more marketing.
Once that’s in place, a few very expensive legacy brands might suddenly start wondering why they still exist

I also hope we’ll see even more love for passive speakers in the future.
Fantastic work, team — please keep going just like this… or better yet, keep being the reason audiophiles lose sleep and question their life choices.

Happy holidays to everyone, and keep doing what you do best!
Great job!!!
S.


P.S. A small real-world example from a friend of mine: he owns about 10 Bose SoundTouch devices.
Today, they can be controlled via Bluetooth or AUX. And that’s where the story ends.

No smart features. No ecosystem. Just a gentle reminder that, for some companies, the customer ranks somewhere between the logo and the power button. -> https://www.bose.com/soundtouch-end-of-life

That’s exactly why WiiM matters.

---

 

[Burnside]

Well, we do have the WiiM ad on Amazon fire tv/prime video…

 

[Wiimer]

Well, we do have the WiiM ad on Amazon fire tv/prime video…

The fact that I still haven't seen it even once is the most disappointing thing about 2025.

 

[dangermouse]

The fact that I still haven't seen it even once is the most disappointing thing about 2025.

I've never seen it either.

 

[Burnside]

Post in thread 'Advert on Amazon Prime'
https://forum.wiimhome.com/threads/advert-on-amazon-prime.6899/post-120024

 

[Kees]

P.S. A small real-world example from a friend of mine: he owns about 10 Bose SoundTouch devices.
Today, they can be controlled via Bluetooth or AUX. And that’s where the story ends.

No smart features. No ecosystem. Just a gentle reminder that, for some companies, the customer ranks somewhere between the logo and the power button. -> https://www.bose.com/soundtouch-end-of-life

That’s exactly why WiiM matters.

Until WiiM pulls the plug like Bose did.

 

[Burnside]

Not necessarily - even if WiiM as a company folded and the WiiM app/firmware weren’t removed or deliberately crippled, a lot of functionality might remain untouched. Admittedly that might deteriorate after that if the third party APIs they use became incompatible with the streaming services they support, but I’d expect a great deal of features, like acting as a upnp player/control point, AirPlay and Chromecast target etc to survive.

 

[Kees]

What happens when the WiiM app will be removed, just as the Bose app? What if WiiM decides the cost of maintaining the servers are becoming to high and find another way to earn money, just as Bose does?

 

[harkpabst]

What happens when the WiiM app will be removed, just as the Bose app? What if WiiM decides the cost of maintaining the servers are becoming to high and find another way to earn money, just as Bose does?

This exactly:

even if WiiM as a company folded and the WiiM app/firmware weren’t removed or deliberately crippled, a lot of functionality might remain untouched

You will still be able to use any of the physical inputs (until the hardware breaks). You will still be able to cast to the WiiM devices through DLNA, Google Cast, Alexa Cast, Air Play or Bluetooth (until a major API change removes backwards compatibility). You can still use the remote and/or the hardware controls found on the device.

But WiiM products - being network devices - sure do depend on an app for full fidelity, like everything else in that market.

 

[Kees]

I do not see how I can still use my Ultra in such a case.
The Bose Soundtouch devices I own are getting dumb but I can use the physical input indeed so they are feeded by the Ultra.
Until WiiM does what Bose is doing.

 

[harkpabst]

I do not see how I can still use my Ultra in such a case.
The Bose Soundtouch devices I own are getting dumb but I can use the physical input indeed so they are feeded by the Ultra.
Until WiiM does what Bose is doing.

I don't see why you don't see it.

Two people failed trying to explain what is possible and what not. If.you have specific questions, please ask.

 

[Kees]

Ok, assume the WiiM servers are gone, the app does not exist anymore. How do I receive internet radio stations and how do I acces my NAS to play my music? The Bose Soundtouch cannot anymore, why should the Ultra in such a case? What do I have to do to accomplish this?

 

[Burnside]

Ok, assume the WiiM servers are gone, the app does not exist anymore. How do I receive internet radio stations and how do I acces my NAS to play my music? The Bose Soundtouch cannot anymore, why should the Ultra in such a case? What do I have to do to accomplish this?

Re your NAS, the WiiM would still function as a upnp player so you could use of of many apps such as mConnect or BubbleUpnp. Depending on how WiiM have implemented radio functionality, that might go but you’d still have Open Network Stream/Presets or have the ability to Bluetooth or Chromecast from your phone.
As for the app “not existing anymore”, there are various sites that have the WiiM Home apk you could download and save, and for iOS, I believe there are equivalent apps that can save the app file from an apple backup.
Anyway, I don’t think the WiiM sky is close to falling down for a good few years, and by which time there will no doubt be equally affordable alternatives.

 

[Kees]

Basically it comes down to this: I do not understand why stopping the services of Bose would be different from stopping the same services of WiiM?

Thanks for trying to learn me something. But I am not a good student, so maybe it is better to stop trying making my point.

 

[slartibartfast]

Re your NAS, the WiiM would still function as a upnp player so you could use of of many apps such as mConnect or BubbleUpnp. Depending on how WiiM have implemented radio functionality, that might go but you’d still have Open Network Stream/Presets or have the ability to Bluetooth or Chromecast from your phone.
As for the app “not existing anymore”, there are various sites that have the WiiM Home apk you could download and save, and for iOS, I believe there are equivalent apps that can save the app file from an apple backup.
Anyway, I don’t think the WiiM sky is close to falling down for a good few years, and by which time there will no doubt be equally affordable alternatives.

I think he is once bitten twice shy. LMS will also still work with WiiM devices. Even room correction will still work with existing filters or new manually entered filters.

 

[hgo58]

Basically it comes down to this: I do not understand why stopping the services of Bose would be different from stopping the same services of WiiM?

Thanks for trying to learn me something. But I am not a good student, so maybe it is better to stop trying making my point.

The WiiM don't use any services in the cloud, except for RoomFit and firmware updates, as far as I know.

And should the WiiM Home App be unavailable for some reason (I can't imagine what), the WiiM devices have a HTTP/UPnP interface that can be used by other apps.

 

[Aquaman]

Basically it comes down to this: I do not understand why stopping the services of Bose would be different from stopping the same services of WiiM?

Thanks for trying to learn me something. But I am not a good student, so maybe it is better to stop trying making my point.

ANY company could fold or decide to go down another route.
If you want to be 100% self-contained you need to either live on CDs, vinyl or a PC/Laptop connected to your amp.

 

[mrehorst]

Ok, assume the WiiM servers are gone, the app does not exist anymore. How do I receive internet radio stations and how do I acces my NAS to play my music? The Bose Soundtouch cannot anymore, why should the Ultra in such a case? What do I have to do to accomplish this?

I access internet radio streams via LMS that plays on my Wiim devices and will do so even if the Wiim app disappears. I believe LMS uses UPnP/DLNA bridge and can play on many different players. I used to use an LG soundbar that LMS played on just fine.

I am sure there are other servers out there that can provide internet radio streams and will play on Wiim devices. Maybe Plex.

I would be more concerned about whether WiFi, as it exists now, will still be in use in 5-10 years. Maybe something else will replace it, something more secure, I would hope. Maybe everything will be done using modulated lights sources (easier to control where it goes) than RF.

 

[cc_rider]

While Bose (and Sonos) have always gone the proprietary route like Apple, WiiM has been committed to being very open, allowing access via Roon, Google Cast, uPnP/DLNA, LMS, Spotify/Tidal/Qobuz Connect, and probably a few I’ve missed.

 

[Kees]

@hgo58 and @cc_rider
This makes sense to me, now I have learned something. Thank you.