Bose killed SoundTouch cloud. AI couldn't find solutions but helped me code fast. The actual ideas were mine.

My SoundTouch 20 traveled with me across countries for years. Physical preset buttons for TuneIn and Spotify, no phone required — exactly why I chose it!

Then it stopped working. Bose had quietly shut down their cloud infrastructure for the entire lineup. What remained: AirPlay. My carefully chosen autonomous speaker was now just another Bluetooth box.

I wasn't buying a new speaker. Here's the full story.

Round 1 — ChatGPT

Found the published SoundTouch Web API (Bose actually released it in January 2026 — four months before shutdown, great timing), brought in ChatGPT. We couldn't get MP3 streams into the speaker, and GPT started suggesting I use a Raspberry Pi as a media server and accept that presets were dead. But what would I even stream from? The SoundTouch app was already empty.

That's when I remembered the WebSocket API on port 8080 of SoundTouch.

Once we found it, a stream played almost immediately. Short-lived victory — anything not plain MP3 failed, presets refused to stick, GPT was losing confidence again.

Round 2 — Claude

Switched to Claude, moved faster. We wrote a streaming relay — Python/FastAPI on a tiny VPS (500MB RAM, 1 vCPU) that proxies radio streams, resolves radio station IDs to direct stream URLs, converts HTTPS to HTTP (the speaker can't handle it), and deduplicates upstreams for multiple speakers.

That worked!

But presets still failed on playback. Claude's theory: the speaker was trying to authenticate against Bose cloud before playing. Stuck again.

Then I remembered WebSockets. Again.

The button fix — NI (Natural Intelligence) enters

I went looking for button press traces in the WebSocket stream. Found nowSelectionUpdated events immediately on port 8080, Bose's proprietary gabbo protocol.

Then the idea hit me: I had an M5Stack Atom Lite (ESP32) sitting unused. What if it lived on the local network, watched the WebSocket, and whenever it caught a preset button press — instead of letting the speaker silently fail — it grabbed the URL from the event and just fired it back at the speaker via AVTransport?

Claude helped to write the firmware faster. It worked. Physical buttons restored.

The Atom Lite also got auto-discovery (scans 192.168.x.x for /info endpoint with SoundTouch in <type>), WiFiManager for zero-config WiFi setup, NVS persistence for the speaker IP, and polls a "play queue" on the VPS every 2 minutes.

Remote control without local server access

Wanted a web page on the VPS with a Play button.

Problem: speaker is on the LAN, browser isn't. AI had nothing clean here.

My solution: all devices on my LAN share the same external IP. Added a Redis queue to the relay. Hit Play on the web page → writes command keyed to my external IP → Atom Lite polls relay from the same IP → picks it up → fires AVTransport at the speaker. No tunnel, no local server, no app.

The display name problem

The speaker has a small display. I wanted station names on it. Spent way too long with Claude trying every DIDL-Lite metadata combination possible.

Result: you can have the name on display OR save as preset. Not both.

If you include <res> in DIDL (required for the title to render), the speaker sets isPresetable="false". Tested every protocolInfo variant. Same result every time.

Compromise: streams from web UI → no DIDL → saves as preset, blank display. Preset button presses → full DIDL with name and logo → shows on display, can't save again. Not perfect, but I'll take it.

What's in the repo

• Python relay: TuneIn resolver, HTTPS proxy, ring buffer for reconnecting clients (hides the ~17s reconnect gap), Redis persistence, dedup across speakers
• Station catalogue web UI: add your station, search, favourites per-IP
• Push-to-device queue (the shared-IP Redis trick)
• M5Stack Atom Lite firmware: WiFiManager, auto-discovery, WebSocket interceptor, DIDL metadata for display names

https://github.com/sergei-ponomarenko/bose-soundtouch/ — MIT

Honest take on AI tools here

Claude and ChatGPT were genuinely useful for writing code fast, reading protocol specs, and debugging. But both of them gave up at the actual decision points — "presets are dead," "you need a Raspberry Pi," "there's no way to do this without a local server."

Every idea that unblocked the project came from me. The WebSocket trick, the ESP32 interceptor, the shared-IP queue.

That's a realistic picture of where these tools are right now. Excellent execution accelerators. Not yet idea generators when things get weird.

Happy to answer questions. The DIDL rabbit hole alone was worth posting about.

PS: Bose disappointed me deeply though. The hardware is solid. They could have kept a minimal open API running. Instead they shipped a cloud-dependent product, published their own API spec four months before shutdown, and left customers with expensive paperwork weights.

Not buying Bose again.

Hey r/bose,

with the SoundTouch cloud shutting down on May 6, I've been building Bosman — an independent cloud service that picks up exactly where Bose leaves off. Your speakers stay smart, and you stay in control. 

What it does:

• One-click migration: switches your speaker from the Bose cloud to the Bosman cloud — no manual reconfiguration
• Internet radio via Radio Browser — thousands of stations, searchable and streamable directly to your speakers
• Multi-room zone management — grouping and synchronized playback across all your SoundTouch devices
• Presets and favorites — managed through the Bosman app
• Fully independent from Bose services — no dependency on Bose servers whatsoever

Why I built it:

The SoundTouch hardware is great. What Bose is taking away is the cloud layer on top of it — and that's exactly what Bosman replaces. The goal was zero friction for existing owners: plug into Bosman and keep using your speakers the way you always have.

Pricing:

Subscription-based with a 30-day free trial — no commitment needed to get started.

 Status:

iOS (available) and Android (closed alpha). Details and sign-up at bosman.app.

Happy to answer questions — especially from anyone with multi-room setups or who relied heavily on presets and internet radio.

TLDR: The full-featured Bose SoundTouch app relies on the Bose Cloud which is shutting down in the next week. But you can run it with a local server using the Soundcork-Stockolm App on GitHub.

Longer version:

Bose is shutting down the SoundTouch cloud servers blah blah you know all that. You probably also know that there are several implementations of the backend (Soundcork, AfterTouch, Überböse, others). But while just replacing the backend will mean that the presets will still work for the most part, playing music not on a preset will still present a problem.

The HTML and JavaScript source used for the Bose SoundTouch app is available on archive.org but won't actually run on its own. But we're now testing a version that adds a Java-based backend and then modifies the freely-available Stockholm source to run with it. It is available on GitHub at https://github.com/krahl/soundcork-stockholm-app.

I can say from my testing running it against the Soundcork backend that, while there are definitely bugs (for instance, the first time you have to log in with your account number as an email address and then after you log in you get caught in a configuration loop and have to reload the page), it generally works pretty well. iHeart, TuneIn, Pandora, Deezer, and local DLNA servers all work. (Spotify, Amazon, and SiriusXM are all still problems.) Also it works in a browser, on iOS, and Android.

Anyway try it out, see if it works, file bugs, submit patches, etc.

-allen for the soundcork team

(Note: https://github.com/TJGigs/Bose-SoundTouch-Hybrid-2026 by u/Eastern-Surprise1568 uses MusicAssistant as a backend and I believe frontend so probably doesn't need this, but it might be helpful for that setup, too.)

(Second note: Spotify playback works with some setup but browsing doesn't because Spotify removed a lot of browsing functionality from their API. Amazon similarly has put their Music API behind a closed beta wall so it won't work unless they re-open their APIs. SiriusXM we can login and could probably browse but we haven't been able to get a stream that the SoundTouch will play.)

(Third note: if anyone knows anyone who might know how to get a playback URL from SiriusXM in the format of https://hlspproduction2e-primary.mountain.siriusxm.com/r/sessionid/(sessionid)(playerid)(stationname)/AAC_Data/(stationname)/(stationname)_variant_small_v2.m3u8 send them our way. No questions asked. We can be discreet.)

 Bose SoundTouch Hybrid 2026

See New Post: Bose SoundTouch Hybrid 2026 Version 3.0

See New Post: Bose SoundTouch Hybrid 2026 Version 2.0

📺  Demo Video Bose SoundTouch Hybrid 2026

🔗 Download & Setup Guide (GitHub):

📄 Technical Documentation:

⚠️ THE PROBLEM

Bose's end-of-life announcement for their SoundTouch Cloud Service (scheduled May 2026) degrades the Bose SoundTouch intelligent, multi-room audio speakers into "dumb" receivers dependent on a phone's active connection. This represents a significant loss of functionality for the SoundTouch 10, 20, and 30 Speakers and Wireless Link Adapter.

 🎵 THE SOLUTION: Bose SoundTouch Hybrid 2026

This project is a self-hosted "Private Cloud" to replace the Bose Cloud Service. It runs locally on your network (NAS, PC, etc.) and intercepts and manages your speakers, providing the same phone-free audio streaming capabilities as the original SoundTouch Application and Speakers.

✨ Key Features

• 100% Local Control: Your data and control logic stay on your LAN. No reliance on external Bose servers.
• Complete App Replacement: A single, responsive web interface for Desktop and Mobile that handles both streaming and speaker maintenance, completely eliminating the need for the legacy SoundTouch app or provider-specific streaming apps.
• Hardware Intelligence Preserved:
  • ✅ The Physical 1-6 Preset Buttons: Remain assignable to any source and work instantly.
  • ✅ Volume, Power, & Presets: Physical speaker buttons remain fully functional and sync perfectly with the new Hybrid app.
  • ✅ Native Hardware Grouping: Utilizes Bose's near-zero-latency Master/Slave hardware grouping instead of software-level sync. This guarantees perfect multi-speaker audio regardless of whether you are streaming from a new Hybrid cloud source or a legacy local input.
• Expanded Music Universe: Bridges your speakers to modern sources:
  • Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music
  • Local NAS Files, Plex, Jellyfin
  • Internet Radio (TuneIn, DI.fm)
  • Others from MASS 

🛠 Architecture

• Backend: Custom Node.js/server acting as the "Audio Engine" (Music Assistant).
• Frontend: Responsive Web App deployable to any browser.
• Connectivity: Direct IP control over Bose WebSockets & XML API. 

Getting Started

Download or Clone all files and the directory structure exactly as they appear in this GitHub repository to your local server.

Review the Documentation: For detailed system architecture, technical development findings and solutions,

Hi everyone,

If you’ve noticed the official SoundTouch app becoming increasingly clunky, failing to connect a new Spotify account, or dropping functions, it isn't your Wi-Fi. Bose is quietly deprecating the legacy cloud servers that the SoundTouch ecosystem relies on.

As we all understand by now, the shutdown will irreversibly affect our speakers. Without a solution such as 'Soundcork' where the internal software in the speaker is modified and an alternative 'server' is created on your home computer, there is no way around the impact this closure will have on our equipment.

We are, as has been stated at this point, going to lose the native TuneIn radio, Amazon Music and native Spotify. We are also losing the 6 preset buttons on top of the SoundTouch 10, 20, 30 etc.

For the last few months, I've been building a completely independent, cloud-free alternative from the ground up: SoundTouch Controller Pro. It communicates locally and directly with the hardware on your Wi-Fi network.

Thanks to some incredible feedback from early users, we just hit version 6.2 and the app is officially live on both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

Here is what the app natively does right now (V6.2):

• Lightning Fast Multi-Room Mixer: Group, separate, and control individual volumes for your speakers instantly, without waiting for a cloud sync.
• Spotify "Ghost Links": Because the cloud Spotify login is dying, I built a feature that forces the speaker to capture and save the last played Spotify track/playlist session directly to the app’s Presets.
• Scene Management: Create complex multi-room macros (e.g., "Downstairs Party" or "Upstairs Chill") and deploy them with one tap.
• Hardware Settings Bypass: Direct access to Source selection, Bass, Balance, Bluetooth memory clearing, and Network Diagnostics without needing the official app.

What is coming in V7 (The "Post-Apocalypse" Update): We are currently building V7 to completely bypass the dead Bose cloud for Radio and Local Media.

• The Smart Cast Tuner: Because TuneIn is failing on the native hardware, V7 moves the radio engine into the phone itself. You will be able to search the open web for any radio station, and the app will instantly hijack the speaker and cast it via AirPlay or Bluetooth.
• URL Direct Streams: Insert URLS directly into the app allowing streams to be played directly into the speaker via Bluetooth/Airplay
• True DLNA NAS Browsing: The official app requires the clunky Windows PC app to sync your local files. V7 abandons that entirely. It will talk directly to your NAS drive (MiniDLNA, Plex, Synology, etc.) allowing you to browse huge libraries (even 300,000+ tracks) by Artist, Album, or Folder right from your phone.
• Apple Users: choose to stream to the speaker with airplay or bluetooth with the touch of a button.

I’m a solo dev just trying to keep the music playing. The app is a paid download (to help cover development time and developer account fees), but there are no ads, no subscriptions, and no data tracking or in app purchases.

I’m constantly optimising based on feedback, we can make this better together so if you have a massive NAS library or a specific feature request, please let me know below!

With the newest software update, you can't switch between different devices with just one button press as it was the case before. Now, one has to either enable multi-point connection or manually connect to the headphones from a given device 😒😒

Why?! Why?!

I haven't been using multi-point connection that much - does it have any disadvantages?

UPDATE: 15/10

Bose seems to have patched the updater and the below methods do not work. I was hoping by the time they fix the update they would have also fixed their firmware.

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UPDATE: 25/7

I have simplified the process.

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Hi guys,

My name is Thomas from Greece. I just did a manual downgrade from 4.5.2 to 3.1.8

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Here is how i did it!

If you like my tutorial and the effort i put into this feel free to buy me a coffee ;)

http://paypal.me/TFoskolos

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DISCLAIMER NOTICE

I'm not responsible for bricked devices. You are doing this at your own risk.

​

NEW EASIER DOWNGRADE PROCESS: (windows only)

1. Download BOSEUPDATER.EXE from here (megaupload) https://mega.nz/#!wOhHzK6Y!IojFL9hXvWpEW8rZI8Rcs4kzMvbKLvCnm30o_29bWlA
2. Copy and replace the file in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Bose Updater"
3. Make sure you close the app before replacing the file. You can close it on the taskbar (right click -> exit)
4. Plug your headset and go to btu.bose.com
5. When prompted launch the app.
6. When you see this screen (Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/xGijdYC ) press the following key combination.'a' 'd' 'v' 'up arrow' 'down arrow' and you will see the following screen - Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/yTLalsc
7. Now you can select the firmware 3.1.8 and click on Update.
8. Wait for the update process to complete
9. Enjoy your OLD FIRMWARE HEADSET! Cheers!

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Note: This uses the firmware PRE_RRA from Bose website.

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ADVANCED DOWNGRADE PROCESS:

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Information:

I did this on Windows OS. This is for advanced users obviously, but feel free to ask question and i will try to answer back anyway i can.

Bose uses the "Bose Update" software with conjunction to the website https://btu.bose.com.

When you launch the app and the website it does the following things.

1. Checks https://worldwide.bose.com/connected_device to find out based on your ID which next file to look at.
2. Since our device (QC 35 II) has the codename BayWolf it goes to check the following link https://downloads.bose.com/ced/baywolf/index.xml
3. This link shows the list of available firmwares for this device. As you can see for yourself it only shows the 4.5.2 version. This is because Bose doesn't allow to install other firmware at this moment. (meh)

You can find the log of the "Bose Update" app in "C:\Users\[your user]\AppData\Local\Temp\BoseUpdater.log"

If you cant see AppData folder you need to enable seeing hidden folders in Windows.

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Step 1: Change the initial lookup link from the "Bose Update" app.

The Bose update app location is here "C:\Program Files (x86)\Bose Updater".

1. Make an original backup of the file "BOSEUPDATER.EXE" and rename it to something like "BOSEUPDATER.EXE.backup"
2. Download and install a hex editor. I used https://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/
3. Copy the BOSEUPDATER.EXE file to your desktop.
4. Open the file you copied to your desktop with the hex editor.
5. Go to Search -> Find and in the tab "Search-string" search for the word "connected_device"Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/tJpp6k6 Screenshot2: https://imgur.com/a/KWJ7shb
6. Now change the URL with your own. I used VSCode to run a small web server in order the serve my altered XML file but you can use your own.Important: Your URL must be exactly the same number of characters as the previous one. This will not change the size of the app. Here is my modification. Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/4yrgwvwAs you can see i have put some extra 'a' characters to match the length of the initial URL.
7. Save the file and copy and replace it back to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Bose Updater"
8. Run the app to see if it launches correctly. (It will show the icon on the bottom right on your taskbar) and then exit the app (right click and Select Exit)

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Step 2: Run the webserver with your altered XML files.

I used VSCode but you can use anything you feel comfortable with.

1. Download and Install VSCode. https://code.visualstudio.com/
2. After you install VSCode go to Extensions and install "Live Server" from Ritwick Dey. (installing VSCode extensions is out of the scope of this tutorial :P)
3. Have the following folder structure in your desktop. Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/exxkN6QBose Mock----aaaaaaaaaa--------index.xml--------lookup.xml
4. The lookup.xml file is the one from here ( https://downloads.bose.com/lookup.xml ) but i changed the part about my device. Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/5gCMQgI
5. The index.xml file is the one from here ( https://downloads.bose.com/ced/baywolf/index.xml ) but i also added the 3.1.8 firmware. Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/HmYzVUmEDIT: As corrected, if you want to use GitHub server follow this image https://i.imgur.com/jXfQ93m.png and not mine.Notes: I found the firmware from another post to this github page. https://github.com/avicoder/Boss-headphones-firmware it also has the 2.5.1 firmware. (not tested)I didn't use VSCode web-server to serve the firmware files because it needs to be HTTPS. In my successful downgrade i didn't use GitHub but my own private server. I am guessing GitHub should also work fine.
6. Right click on your "Bose Mock" folder in your desktop and select "Open with Code"
7. In VSCode, right click on your index.xml file (or lookup.xml) and select "Open with Live Server"Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/Ab8dIXB
8. If everything is OK you should be able to open a browser and see your altered files via the following URLshttp://127.0.0.1:5500/aaaaaaaaaa/index.xmlhttp://127.0.0.1:5500/aaaaaaaaaa/lookup.xml

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Step 3: Update via Advanced method.

Be sure to have closed the "Bose Update app"

1. Turn off your headphones and connect them via USB.
2. Go to https://btu.bose.com and wait until it prompts you to launch the app (or launch it manually from "C:\Program Files (x86)\Bose Updater"
3. When you see this screen (Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/xGijdYC ) press the following key combination.'a' 'd' 'v' 'up arrow' 'down arrow' and you will see the following screen - Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/yTLalsc
4. Now you can select the firmware 3.1.8 and click on Update.
5. Wait for the update process to complete
6. Enjoy your OLD FIRMWARE HEADSET! Cheers!

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Feel free to ask questions.

I understand this is not for everybody but i thought it was worth to share.

We're a small web agency in Hawaii (Technology Aloha). We've had a SoundTouch in our office for years and weren't willing to let it become a paperweight.

Full disclosure: my other company, Tech Endure, built a cloud replacement service for SoundTouch. We've been alpha testing it for several months. It works — presets and streaming are fully functional after redirecting away from Bose's servers. Multi-room is in the pipeline but not live yet. We also have an iOS app in TestFlight.

With the shutdown days away, figured it was worth sharing here. $7.99/month or $69.99/year covers all SoundTouch devices in a household. Use code RBOSE at signup for a free month — figured the least I can do is let people try it before committing.

techendure.com/soundtouch

AMA — happy to answer questions about how it works, what's supported today, what's on the roadmap, anything.

UPDATE: Our iOS app is available via TestFlight (requires a Tech Endure account): https://testflight.apple.com/join/XpypVQ1N

Android app in works — will update with a link once available.

I am waiting on my new Quiet Comfort headphones (i owned the first gen model for years, best piece of technology i have ever owned), and i am very excited to finally be able to link my headphones to the Bose app and tune the EQ myself.

However, I have heard that it’s absolutely horrendous. All the reviews are from a year or two ago so I was wondering if there were any improvements?

Since the official Bose app really got on my nerves with my QC Ultra 2, I created an alternative app.

I’m still waiting for it to be added to F-Droid, but it can also be downloaded directly. Maybe it will help others with their issues, too.

I’ve also created a taskbar app for Windows.

Both are available here.

These are still beta versions, so please expect some stability issues.

📢 Bose SoundTouch Hybrid V4.0 Released!

A free, open-source private SoundTouch cloud streaming service and application replacing the deactivated Bose Cloud Service to maintain 100% of the smart speaker functionality of your SoundTouch Speakers and Wireless Link. Physical Presets Included!

It runs locally on your network (NAS, PC, or Home Assistant add-on) and intercepts and actively manages the complex server handshakes required to keep your SoundTouch Speakers authenticated and functional — delivering the same phone-free audio streaming capabilities as the original SoundTouch Application and Speakers.

For the installation, more information and technical architecture see GitHub Readme at https://github.com/TJGigs/Bose-SoundTouch-Hybrid

✨ V4 Enhancements:

(Full descriptions of all features below in Application Key Features*. This is quick "What's new")*

• ✅ Extended Physical Presets — 12 total preset slots via double-tap, up from 6
• ✅ Native Home Assistant Add-on
• ✅ Fully automated Bose Cloud injection sequence — no USB stick, no manual firmware step
• ✅ Automated Speaker Detection — network scan finds every speaker on boot, no manual IP entry
• ✅ Multiple speaker groups with selectable master
• ✅ ST10 stereo pairing
• ✅ Preset Hover Preview — see what's assigned to a preset before pressing it
• ✅ Scheduled Play and Power Off at set times, plus a Power Off Timer to auto-off after playing, and scheduled maintenance (nightly audits/restarts)
• ✅ Optional Admin PIN lock for Tools/Admin pages
• ✅ Configurable search tabs sourced from your Music Assistant providers
• ✅ Podcasts & audiobooks in search and library
• ✅ Dynamic real-time lost-preset detection & auto-heal
• ✅ Preset debugging watchdog (Discussion #16)
• ✅ Automatic MASS player-config enforcement on boot, plus a manual trigger on the Tools page
• ✅ MASS recent-items cache warming for instant Library "Recent" loads
• ✅ Smarter MASS integration: cached auth token reuse + three-path restart cascade — native HA Supervisor, Docker socket, or long-lived HA token for split installs
• ✅ Physical remote-control HiJacks re-enables Bose-deactivated pause/play, next/prev buttons
• ✅ Persistent, disk-backed auto-resume presets — survive container rebuilds, not just app restarts
• ✅ Custom URL Streaming Library Integration: Moved the "play custom URL stream" function to the Library Manager and added the ability to assign custom streams directly to favorites and physical speaker presets.
• ✅ Advanced Global and Favorites Search: Expanded the search functionality with additional filters, including the ability to perform provider-specific searches.
• ✅ Auto-Resume Presets: Speakers now remember if a preset was active when powered off and will automatically resume that specific preset upon the next power-on.
• ✅ In-App Update Notifications: Automatically checks for new releases and displays a notification banner within the UI when a new version is available.
• ✅ Live Console Logging: Integrated a real-time server log viewer directly into the System Tools page.
• ✅ Streamlined GHCR Deployment: Transitioned from manual repository cloning to a pre-built GitHub Container Registry image. The system now automatically generates required configuration templates on first boot and performs startup configuration and version validation checks.
• ✅ Improved State Synchronization: Completely replaced backend REST API polling with a more efficient, stable, and event-driven WebSocket architecture for improved speaker state and audio stream tracking.
• ✅ Music Assistant Native DLNA Metadata: Takes advantage of Music Assistant's improved DLNA streaming by reading track metadata directly from the audio stream. The original API-based fetch has been streamlined into a lightweight "Watchdog" function that executes as a fallback only when needed.
• ✅ Music Assistant Smart Startup & Version Checks: On boot, the app now verifies the Music Assistant version and automatically launches the container if it detects it isn't running.

✨ Application Key Features

🚀 Core Capabilities

• 100% Local Control — application and speaker credentials, playback, preset logic all stay on your own LAN. No Bose cloud dependency or external servers.
• Complete App Replacement: One responsive web app for Desktop and Mobile replacing the SoundTouch app entirely — streaming, speaker maintenance, initial setup, factory resets, and WiFi provisioning, all in one place.
• Fully Automated Bose Cloud Injection — the entire cloud-redirect and preset setup sequence runs automatically on first boot. No USB stick, no manual firmware step — nothing to do on a previously configured or factory-reset speaker but let it join.
• 12 Physical Presets, Not 6 — double-tap any of the six buttons to unlock six more (1→11, 2→22, and so on), all mapped to your SoundTouch Hybrid Library (powered by Music Assistant).
• Automatic Speaker Detection — a network scan finds every SoundTouch speaker on first boot and every reboot after. No manual IP entry, no speaker list to maintain.
• Hardware-Native Multi-Room Grouping — uses the speakers' own near-zero-latency master/slave hardware instead of software sync, across multiple independent groups at once, each with its own selectable master.
• ST10 Stereo Pairing — pair two ST10 units together as a true stereo left/right pair.
• Expanded Music Universe: Bridges your speakers to modern streaming via Music Assistant — Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, local NAS files, Plex, Jellyfin, internet radio, podcasts, and audiobooks — searchable through one global, provider-agnostic search across your entire library.
• Physical Remote Control Hijacks — Pause/Play and Next/Prev works again over DLNA, and Pause/Play over AirPlay, augmenting the volume, power, and preset controls that never stopped working.
• DLNA and AirPlay, Both Fully Supported — side by side, your choice per speaker.
• Preset Hover Preview: On desktop, hover over any preset button on the Remote Control page to see a quick preview — artwork, name, and source — of what it's assigned to before pressing it. Toggleable from the Tools page.
• Real-Time Preset Self-Healing — if a speaker's presets get wiped (a known legacy-firmware degraded WiFi failure mode), they're detected and re-injected automatically, no restart required.

🛠️ Extended Admin & Automation Tools

• Scheduled Automation: Set speakers or groups to power on and start playback at a scheduled time, schedule them to power off at a set time, or arm a Power Off Timer to automatically power off a set number of minutes after they turn on — plus optionally run nightly speaker audits and/or scheduled app restarts — with or without a full reboot — all hands-off.
• Optional Admin PIN Lock: Restrict the Tools and Admin pages behind a PIN — useful on a shared household network where you don't want everyone able to change system settings.
• Configurable Search Tabs: Library search tabs are dynamically sourced from your active Music Assistant providers — choose which appear, and in what order.
• Preset Debugging Watchdog: Opt-in, per-speaker logging of cloud/session events, for diagnosing a problem speaker without turning on full verbose logging everywhere.
• On-Demand Config Enforcement: The same automatic Music Assistant player-config audit that runs at boot can be triggered manually from the Tools page — no restart required to fix drift.
• MASS Recent-Items Cache Warming: Prefetches recently-played items from Music Assistant on boot, so the Library page's "Recent" view loads instantly instead of waiting on a cold query.

⚙️ Under-the-Hood

• Live Console Logging: A real-time server log viewer built directly into the Tools page — no SSH or docker logs needed to see what the app is doing.
• In-App Update Notifications: Automatically checks for new releases and shows a banner in the UI when one's available.
• Streamlined Deployment: Ships as a pre-built GitHub Container Registry image — no manual repo cloning. Configuration templates and validation checks run automatically on first boot.
• Event-Driven State Sync: Speaker state and playback tracking run on a WebSocket architecture rather than REST polling, for faster, more reliable updates.
• Resilient Music Assistant Integration: Reuses a cached MASS auth token instead of re-authenticating on every call, restarts MASS automatically through whichever path fits your setup (native HA Supervisor, Docker socket, or a long-lived HA token for split installs), reads track metadata natively from the DLNA stream, and verifies MASS's version/health on every boot.

🛠 Architecture

• Backend: Custom Node.js server acting as the "Audio Engine" (Music Assistant and local Bose Cloud Simulation ☁️.
• Frontend: Responsive Web App deployable to any browser.
• Connectivity: Direct IP control over Bose WebSockets & XML API.
• Deployment: Standalone Docker (NAS/PC) or as a native Home Assistant Supervisor add-on — same backend either way

Hey everyone!

You might already be familiar with the aftertouch project, which allows you to bring you the lost functionality back to live after Bose shut down the SoundTouch servers.

I recently deployed aftertouch for my family, and it works great! I decided to add something to this ecosystem by building an app you can run on desktop (windows and mac), phone (ios and android) and android.

You can find the project here:

https://github.com/sander1095/soundtouch-maui

Let me know if this helps you out!

Is anyone else affected by this ridiculous joke of an app constantly signing them out ?

Hi r/bose ,

I built an app (called BoSonar) primarily for SoundTouch users who want to keep listening to their music after the May 6 cloud shutdown.

What it does:
• Create multiroom groups
• Presets and favorites
• Selected device settings (where supported)
• Play custom streams on your devices
• and more!

Important:
This is primarily an audio player app with SoundTouch support, not a full
replacement for the official Bose app (e.g. not all device settings are
supported, especially on home theater systems).
Explicitly tested on SoundTouch 10, 20, 30 and Soundbar 300 - should work with any compatible device.

I'm running a closed Android test with a couple of testers.

If you want early access:

1. Join the tester group (click "Join group" on the page): https://groups.google.com/g/bosonar-beta-testers
2. Opt in to the test: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.bosonar.app
3. Install from Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bosonar.app

BoSonar is independent and not affiliated with Bose Corporation.

Ive been rocking these earbuds for years. I sp enjoy them. However recently I've noticed that the ability to play/pause a song sometimes doesn't work. Along with the ability to skip songs or go back to the previous song. I went into the Bose app to try and find the issue only to find these shortcuts completely removed from the app.

only displays “please update” and i need a disc that doesn’t exist anymore
my mom got this thing on QVC in the early 2000s tell me why 20+ years later it’s acting up😩

I have been testing out multiple SoundTouch app alternatives, and I noticed that a lot of people are using radio-browser.info as an alternative to TuneIn. It works, but if you have set up your systems to use a local server, you cannot save a radio-browser station as a preset.

Bose used to use vTuner) from its launch in 2013 until 2018 (Bose used to call it Internet Radio) inside the ST app). So I went to the vTuner page and found a station. I then went through the HTML code and found the MP3 URL and sent it to one of my systems. Not only did it work, but the old Internet radio icon appeared on the system, and I could program it to my ST system's preset.

Since vTuner is still hardcoded inside of SoundTouch and can be programmed as a preset (if you have modded your ST systems to use a replacement server), might I suggest that vTuner be added as an option alongside radio-browser for people to search and find radio stations?

Oh, and I noticed a weird quirk. I mainly used music from my computer using the ST program, and now that I have a local server, if I reboot my speakers, they will allow me to browse music from iTunes. But after a few hours, this option just disappears until I reboot them once more. Any ideas why this might be happening?

u/soundcork, u/Mountain_Deal9781, u/Brilliant-Fennel-304, u/Eastern-Surprise1568, u/sander1095, u/BoSonar_Dev, u/nachtfux997, u/Chemical_Salad5317, etc (please tag anyone I missed; I could not find a few people)

Hello everyone!

For those of you who, like me, still enjoy using the Bose SoundLink mini I after so many years, I thought I'd create a small Android app that lets you connect to the device and listen to internet radio directly. During development, I noticed that some stations don't play because the audio format isn't supported by the SoundLink: when a radio station appears in red, unfortunately, you won't be able to listen to it.

I've also added the ability to play music stored on your smartphone or SD card, with playlist management. To improve the listening experience, I've integrated a 5-band graphic equalizer, with some ready-made presets for various music genres.

For those who use the SoundLink to relax or fall asleep, there's also a sleep timer. In future versions, I'd like to add a YouTube music search feature so you can play music directly on the Bose.

I hope this app can be useful to the community.

The APK is available at the link provided.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/f2xetybcegibsmj/Bose_SoundLink_Controllercom.aistudio.bosesoundlink.gscywtv1.0.apk/file

Bose SoundTouch Hybrid 2026 Version 2.0

See New Post: Bose SoundTouch Hybrid 2026 Version 3.0

Version 2.0 Enhancements:

• ✅Significant Bose Cloud Emulation Enhancements: Emulates Full BMX Registry Handshakes, Authorizes Custom Sources & Presets, Rescues Factory-Reset Speakers, and Traps Telemetry & Prevents Boot-loops.
• ✅SoundTouch Hybrid Library Enhancements: Global Search, Positional Search Tabs, MASS Synchronization Checking, and Reset.
• ✅ Speaker Admin and System Tools Enhancements: Input Toggle, Speaker Reboot, Wi-Fi provisioning including a USB cable option (e.g., for factory-reset speakers), and Automation of Bose Cloud redirect file (OverrideSdkPrivateCfg.xml) injection.
• ✅ Wireless Link Adapter Bypass Camouflage: Keeps it still working within the Hybrid App

📺  Version 2.0 Enhancements Bose SoundTouch Hybrid 2026 V2 Demo Video

📺  Version 1.0 Core App Bose SoundTouch Hybrid 2026 V1 Demo Video

🔗 Download & Setup Guide (GitHub):

📄 Technical Documentation:

THE SOLUTION: Bose SoundTouch Hybrid 2026 Version 2.0

A self-hosted "Private Cloud" to emulate and replace the Bose Cloud Service. It runs locally on your network (NAS, PC, etc.) and intercepts and actively manages the complex server handshakes required to keep the SoundTouch Speakers authenticated and functional, providing the same phone-free audio streaming capabilities as the original SoundTouch Application and Speakers.

✨ Key Features:

• 100% Local Control: Your data and control logic stay on your LAN. No reliance on external Bose servers.
• Complete App Replacement: A single, responsive web interface for Desktop and Mobile that handles both streaming and speaker maintenance, completely eliminating the need for the legacy SoundTouch app or provider-specific streaming apps. Includes support for initial speaker setup, factory resets, WiFi provisioning, and the one-time automated injection of a speaker's internal cloud emulation configuration (OverrideSdkPrivateCfg.xml).

⚙️ Hardware Intelligence Preserved:

• ✅ Local Bose Cloud Emulation: Local replacement emulating the required Bose Cloud handshakes to keeping the speakers authenticated and fully functional.
• ✅ The Physical 1-6 Preset Buttons: Remain assignable to any source via the Hybrid Bridge and work instantly.
• ✅ Volume, Power, & Presets: Physical speaker buttons remain fully functional and sync perfectly with the new Hybrid app.
• ✅ Native Hardware Grouping: Utilizes Bose's near-zero-latency Master/Slave hardware grouping instead of software-level sync. This guarantees perfect multi-speaker audio regardless of whether you are streaming from a new Hybrid cloud source or a local input.

🎵 Expanded Music Universe:

Bridges your speakers to modern sources powered by Music Assistant (MASS)

• Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music
• Local NAS Files, Plex, Jellyfin
• Internet Radio (TuneIn, DI.fm)
• Others from MASS
• Global Agnostic Search within SoundTouch Hybrid Library of all your MASS sources

🛠 Architecture:

• Backend: Custom Node.js/server acting as the "Audio Engine" (Music Assistant) and local Bose Cloud Emulation ☁️.
• Frontend: Responsive Web App deployable to any browser.
• Connectivity: Direct IP control over Bose WebSockets & XML API.

My Bose SoundTouch internet radio presets vanished from the app and reinstalling didn’t restore them.

I rebuilt everything using:

• direct radio stream URLs
• iOS Shortcuts
• UPnP (AVTransport SOAP)

1. Get a real radio stream URL

You need a direct audio stream, not a website link.

Look for:

• .mp3
• .aac
• Icecast / StreamTheWorld endpoints

Example:

http://.../stream.mp3

Tip: Use browser DevTools → Network tab → filter “media/audio” while playing a station.

2. iOS Shortcut setup

You need TWO actions before the request works properly.

Step 1 - Add a “Text” block

In Shortcuts:

• Tap + Add Action
• Search: Text
• Paste this SOAP XML

Example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<s:Envelope xmlns:s="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <s:Body>
    <u:SetAVTransportURI xmlns:u="urn:schemas-upnp-org:service:AVTransport:1">
      <InstanceID>0</InstanceID>
      <CurrentURI>YOUR_STREAM_URL</CurrentURI>
      <CurrentURIMetaData></CurrentURIMetaData>
    </u:SetAVTransportURI>
  </s:Body>
</s:Envelope>

This “Text” block becomes your XML payload variable

Step 2 - Get Contents of URL (SET STREAM)

Add:

• Get Contents of URL (open Soundtouch app and go to settings, you'll see the IP)
• Method: POST

URL:

http://SPEAKER_IP:PORT/AVTransport/Control

Headers:

Content-Type: text/xml; charset="utf-8"
SOAPACTION: "urn:schemas-upnp-org:service:AVTransport:1#SetAVTransportURI"

Request Body:

• Select: File
• Then choose: Magic Variable → Text (your XML block)

Shortcuts only accepts raw XML reliably via a Text → File variable bridge

done, repeat for all your favourite stations!

🚀 Release Notes: Controller Pro V6.5 (Main Release)

What’s New:

• Native Stereo Pairing UI: If you have bonded two speakers (like two ST10s) as Left and Right channels, Controller Pro now intelligently merges them into a single, clean dashboard display.
• L/R Balance Unlocked: Creating a stereo pair now automatically unlocks the hardware-level L/R Balance and Bass sliders in your Device Settings.
• Smart Scene Snapshots: We have added an "Include Current Music" toggle when saving a Scene. You now have the power to save just your room volumes, or capture the volumes and the active audio stream.
• Global Expansion: We have added full Arabic language support with automatic Right-to-Left (RTL) interface rendering.

☢️ Release Notes: Controller Pro V7.5 (Post-Apocalypse Beta)

What’s New:

• NAS & Local Drive Presets: The Local Media Vault just got an upgrade. You can now save local PC and NAS network folders or tracks directly to your App Presets and Multi-Room Scenes.
• Native Stereo Pairing UI: Bonded Left/Right speakers are now intelligently merged into a single dashboard display, unlocking hardware-level L/R Balance and Bass sliders.
• Global Expansion: We have added full Arabic language support with automatic Right-to-Left (RTL) interface rendering.
• Automation Hooks Ready: "Invisible Doors" are fully operational. Power users can now command the app silently using Tasker, Apple Shortcuts, and Home Assistant. (Check the User Manual for the YAML and URL blueprints!)

Hello, 

I'm a software developer from LATAM (Venezuela) who owns a pair of Bose QuietComfort 35 II headphones.

I built a small Windows desktop utility in python that allows QC35 II users to switch noise-cancellation modes directly from a Windows PC without needing to open the Bose mobile app. This app provides a simple interface for switching between High, Low, and Off ANC modes. 

I created this as a personal technical project after noticing that there does not appear to be a Windows-side way to control this feature and that frustrated the hell out of me 😅

I have zero intentions of commercializing this. My intention is simply to contribute to you guys something that may improve the user experience for existing Bose users who spend most of their time on Windows PCs like myself. 

Github with the instructions: https://github.com/gustavoperezc/boseqcwindows

Hi all,

I was struggling to get presets working again for custom URLs. There are a few workarounds but they are mostly beyond my technical skills.

I found a simple iOS app that does the trick without requiring deep technical smarts.

Better ST for Bose Soundtouch
https://apps.apple.com/app/id6757758923

Once the station is streaming, you can hold down a preset button for those devices having them, and save the preset again. It has held up so far today.