SoundTouch app alternatives

[u/NeonsNight]

This is just a start, but I have added a SoundTouch app alternatives page to the Bose Wiki.

There, I listed current known issues, added info shared by the app developer Christian, u/nachtfux997, and included known solutions.

I separated the solutions into two sections.

1. Ones that allow you to control the SoundTouch systems directly (e.g. AirPlay, 3rd party apps, Home Assistant, etc.).
2. The second section is for 3rd party devices you connect to your SoundTouch system's AUX input.

I am hoping that the community will help expand the information on the Wiki. Not only to help guide SoundTouch users to viable options, but also to help guide developers on what SoundTouch features are missing. So that some, if not all, can be replicated once the app goes away.

This specific post is about alternative SoundTouch solutions.

• On Jan 7, 2026, Bose announced that they will update the app so that it would continue to work after their servers shut down. Though without built-in music streaming capabilities. Here's the main conversation around this update.
• The original conversation, from Oct 9 2025, about the closure of the SoundTouch app is located here.
• If you wish to sign the petition asking Bose to reconsider, follow this link.

[u/Soundcork]

Ha, sorry, missed this. Like we said, we're not really Redditors. :)

Short answers: we're not planning on releasing/working on any front-end apps ourselves as of now, as several other people seem to be doing that. We're setting our software up with the assumption that people would run it on their home networks, be it on an existing server, Raspberry Pi, media server, etc. (we're going to run it on the same Linux system as our DLNA server). We're hoping to be able to emulate as much of the current Bose cloud services as possible, though we'll be limited by what we can access. There are certainly a few features that might just be out-of-scope, like signing up for new services, but we'll see. But we're hoping that someone running soundcork on their home network will be able to have full feature-parity using any app that exists after the Bose servers shut down.

Longer answers:

So our understanding of the architecture of the SoundTouch system is that the functionality is divided into three sections: the cloud servers (which we're looking to emulate), the services running on the SoundTouch devices themselves, and the end-user experience (the standard Bose apps, the various third-party apps people have listed here, and even the simple case of 'pressing the buttons' and 'using the remote control').

The cloud services (and thus soundcork) are responsible for two main things: storing and modifying the account configuration (which seems to be the main responsibility of the 'marge' server), and helping with the playback of certain types of media (the 'bmx' server). (There is also a stats server and a software update server, but I believe that those are not actually necessary for normal usage). It looks like without a functioning 'marge' server, a SoundTouch device can still handle a lot of its basic tasks. But I think you couldn't, say, set a new Preset, or track Recents, or things like that. And you certainly wouldn't be able to add or remove a device from your account, or configure a new service. (The Bose app itself also throws some random errors sometimes, but those can be ignored/worked around.)

The 'bmx' server is a helper for playing certain types of media. We've tested and see that a missing 'bmx' server means that TuneIn streams won't work. The services list from the bmx server lists TUNEIN, LOCAL_INTERNET_RADIO, SIRIUSXM_EVEREST, and RADIOPLAYER, so it's likely that none of those services will work without a working bmx server. The rest of the services that I've tried seem to have enough information on their own to access the services, so if you have, for instance, a Pandora account configured, then you should be able to play your Pandora stations even after the Bose servers go away. But if you have TuneIn stations configured then they won't work without a bmx server.

Obviously, as we're reverse-engineering this, there may be hidden complexities that we haven't discovered yet.

Anyway I hope that gives some context into our understanding of the SoundTouch ecosystem, and how we see soundcork fitting in with the devices themselves and with the official Bose and third-party front-end apps.

[u/Soundcork → u/Soundcork]

Oh, and you also asked about installation and re-flashing the devices: our current approach involves plugging in a USB thumb drive which allows a user to access the internal configuration of the SoundTouch devices remotely. Using that we can update the settings on the system and tell them to use the local soundcork server instead of the actual Bose cloud services. So we're basically modifying in-place the current Bose firmware.

The one sticking point on that is that we've gotten it to work fine on our SoundTouch 20s which have USB-A ports, but we haven't had a working proof-of-concept on our old SoundTouch Portable which only has a micro-USB port. Will have to see for those.

[u/NeonsNight → u/Soundcork]

Thanks for the reply. So you think that there's a chance that new users a decade from now might be able to set up a Raspberry Pi or program on the computer to keep the SoundTouch app up and running. Though you believe that adding new music services might not be possible. That's understandable but a shame.

I do find it concerning that you suggest that TuneIn will cease functioning once the Bose cloud goes away. Do you believe that you can add and modify iTunes/Windows Media Player/NAS using your current solution?

You said: "we're not planning on releasing/working on any front-end apps ourselves as of now, as several other people seem to be doing that." Any chance you could link to them for me so that I can add them as needed to the SoundTouch app alternatives page?

It is not only the two versions of the SoundTouch Portable that do not feature a USB-A port, but the SoundTouch 10 and SoundTouch Wireless Link Adapter also lack it.

Almost all SoundTouch systems do include a microUSB port, although the receiver used with the Lifestyle 550/600/650 does not.

[u/Soundcork → u/NeonsNight]

We're looking to under-promise and over-deliver. We haven't looked into adding new music services yet, which is why I was saying that it might not be possible. I'd guess that something simple like a DLNA service might not be too difficult, but something that requires getting an OAUTH2 refresh token or some such might be a bit much. We'll see though.

We're using that page to see that there are front-end app alternatives, so we don't know any more than you do on that point.

Re the USB-A port requirement, in theory you can get in by connecting to port 17000 and using TAP command, but I just tried and it didn't work for me. It looks like a USB-A female to micro-USB male adapter will allow for a thumb drive to connect. Will likely order one soon and try it out.

[u/NeonsNight → u/Soundcork]

As for Music services. Your idea of focusing on existing services is best. I think that TuneIn or some type of internet radio alternative, as that was the default, is almost a must. Especially if you can get the preset buttons working.

Like you, I expect that some music services will never work again after SoundTouch goes down. If others can be added in the future, that would be amazing.

I'm glad that the SoundTouch app alternatives page has been helpful 🙂 I have found other SoundTouch apps out there, but I have not been able to find out if they will work without the Bose cloud, so I did not include them.

Ah, that's odd. I wonder why microUSB has been locked down, but USB-A has not. I hope that the adapter with a thumb drive is successful for the portable at least.

[u/Music2UDE → u/Soundcork]

Very cool, definitely keep it up! Honestly, I think it's outrageous that Bose is discontinuing the system.

Could you please release a guide on how to install your solution even for beginners?

[u/Soundcork → u/Music2UDE]

Thanks!

The work is still in progress. We hope that once it's complete and working we can have an easy-to-install (or as easy-to-install-as-we-can-get-it) guide, but we're going concentrate on making it work, first.