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Release Management

This page outlines the release cycle, support policies, and deprecation schedule for the Soundtrack Player Library (e.g., libsplayer-1.so).

It's important to distinguish between the Player Library, which is updated every quarter, and the SDK API (the headers and their contents), which is designed for long-term backward compatibility. This policy refers only to the Player Library.

Key Support Policies

  • 6-Month Lifecycle: Each version of the Player Library is officially supported for 6 months from its release date. To ensure uninterrupted service to businesses, players must be updated within this window.

  • Auto-Updater Required: Due to this schedule, all partners are required to implement an automatic updater. For implementation details, please see our Upgrade and Provisioning guide.

Release Cycle

We issue new releases of the Player Library quarterly.

For exact dates, please subscribe to our public calendars:

The Release Process

Our release process is split into a pre-release for partner testing and a final full release. We follow an opt-out model: we deliver the new version, and you have three weeks to report any blocking issues before it's rolled out to all devices.

We provide new versions through a dedicated API endpoint called a release channel (see Upgrade and Provisioning page). When a pre-release is available, we automatically update your channel and notify you by email.

1. Pre-release

The pre-release is intended for you to test the new Player Library on your hardware with your specific implementation.

  • When: Three weeks before the full release.

  • What Happens: We will update the release channel tied to your development/test hardware on your test account and notify you by email.

  • Your Responsibility: You have three weeks to conduct tests on your SDK integration and report any critical issues. The specifics of testing are up to each individual partner.

2. Full-release

If no blocking issues are found or reported during the pre-release phase, the new version is rolled out to all production devices.

  • When: Three weeks after the pre-release. The rollout occurs between 02:00 and 06:00 based on each player's local time.

  • What Happens: The release channel is updated for a new version of the Player Library and should automatically be updated on all end-user devices via your implemented updater. We will send an email notification when the release is scheduled.

3. Patch Releases

In the event of a critical issue, we may issue a patch outside of the normal release schedule. Reasons for a patch include:

  • Important Bugs: Issues with direct customer impact, such as audio playback failures, UI bugs, or irregular data consumption.

  • Incidents: Proactive or reactive fixes related to back-end changes that could impact player performance.

Deprecation and Unsupported Versions

A Player Library version becomes deprecated five months after its release and unsupported after six months. Once a version is deprecated, DEVICE_ERROR_SOON_UNSUPPORTED_VERSION error is raised on the sound zone but nothing happens on the player, playback can continue as normal.

Once a version is unsupported, DEVICE_ERROR_UNSUPPORTED_VERSION error is raised on the sound zone and playback will stop. Authentication requests will fail with an HTTP 426 Upgrade Required status code.

Note

We can’t say which versions will be deprecated when, as that mainly depends on when that version was released (which can change over time). When we deprecate once a month the next deprecation batch will be decided, which will get the deprecation error (one month in advance of being unsupported). No player newer than 6 month will ever be unsupported from release date.