Press and media
This page has everything you need to report on SoundTouch Reborn: a short description you can quote, the hard numbers, images in full resolution and a direct line to me. If something you need is missing, just send me a mail.
Short description for quoting
SoundTouch Reborn (STR) is an open source side project that makes Bose SoundTouch speakers fully usable again after the end of the Bose cloud. A free desktop app installs STR onto the speaker over your home network. After that, internet radio, your own music library and Spotify play again, and the preset buttons on the device work like they used to. It needs no account, no cloud, no phone kept running and no extra hardware. STR is MIT licensed and built by one person in Cologne, Germany.
What sets STR apart from other solutions
The difference is where the software runs. Other approaches rely on an app that has to stay open on a phone, or on a server that has to keep running in the household. STR runs on the speaker itself. Once it is installed, neither the phone nor a computer is needed, the speaker works on its own again, exactly as it did before the shutdown. That is what most people want back: press a button, radio plays.
Facts and figures
| Current version | v1.0.7 |
|---|---|
| License | MIT, open source |
| Price | Free, voluntary donations |
| Desktop app | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Supported devices | Every Bose SoundTouch model, among them SoundTouch 10, 20, 30, 300, Portable, Wave SoundTouch series III and IV, SA-4 and SA-5, CineMate with the SoundTouch adapter as well as the SoundTouch Wireless Link and Lifestyle with the SoundTouch adapter |
| Downloads in total | 65,828 |
| Interface languages | 20 |
| Back in service | See the world map on the start page |
| Development | Jens, one person, Cologne, Germany |
| Project start | Spring 2026, after the end of the Bose cloud |
| Source code | github.com/JRpersonal/streborn |
Version and download count come from the GitHub releases and are refreshed on every build. The count covers all downloads of the installer files across all versions, whether the click happened on this site or directly on GitHub. The map numbers are self reported by the community, so they sit well below actual usage.
Background
In May 2026 Bose shut down the cloud service behind SoundTouch. That removed the features which ran through the Bose servers: internet radio, the assignment of the preset buttons and Spotify Connect. The speakers themselves are technically fine, and industry reports have counted millions of units sold worldwide since the 2013 launch. STR grew out of the frustration that working hardware ends up as e-waste because a company retires a service. A few weekends of work on the interfaces of these devices were enough to make them fully usable again.
Please get these right
- STR is an independent project with no connection to Bose. Bose and SoundTouch are trademarks of Bose Corporation.
- The official Bose firmware on the speaker stays untouched. STR only adds extra files and can be removed completely from within the app.
- Bose retired the cloud service, it did not switch off the devices. What stopped working was internet radio, the preset buttons and Spotify Connect.
- Spotify Connect in STR requires a Spotify Premium account.
- STR does not break any copy protection and does not open anyone else’s accounts. It restores the cooperation between a device and its services, and the device belongs to the people who bought it.
Images
All files may be used freely for reporting on STR, ideally crediting st-reborn.de. Use the link below each image to open the file in full resolution.
Logo and social media graphics
Coverage of STR
Independent videos with STR as their topic, newest first. Titles and channel names appear exactly as their creators chose them. The links go straight to YouTube, nothing is loaded from there when this page opens.
- Bose SoundTouch lebt wieder! Cloud-Zwang umgehen #BoseSoundTouch #STReborn #HomeAssistant
Carsten's world1:096 Sept 2026GermanYouTube Short, also shows the Home Assistant integration
- Bose SoundTouch funktioniert wieder!
tink0:5028 Aug 2026GermanYouTube Short, channel of a smart home retailer
- Bose SoundTouch retten: Die Lösung, auf die ich gewartet habe
gapsed!14:5919 Jul 2026GermanIn depth review with installation and an explanation of how it works
Contact
For questions, an interview, a device running STR in practice or images that are missing here, send me a mail. I usually reply within a day or two.