The original Airnoise button and the second generation rechargeable button both rely on cloud services provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS has announced that these services will be terminated in December 2024, after which time these devices will no longer be able to connect to Airnoise and will cease to function. The new Airnoise Flic button is not affected by this change.

We worked with the manufacturer of the rechargeable button, Seeed Studios, and with AWS to see if there was a way to reprogram existing buttons to continue to work with Airnoise. The firmware in the devices unfortunately cannot be changed in a way to allow us to continue to support them.

Once AWS turns off the cloud services, these devices will no longer be able to send clicks to Airnoise and will not be able to generate complaints. But fear not!

Airnoise has partnered with a Swedish company, Shortcut Labs, to enable a version of their Bluetooth Flic button to work with our system to generate complaints. We now offer this device for sale on the Airnoise.io website. With a paid subscription, you can use this new button to generate as many complaints as you like.

The new Airnoise button is cheaper, smaller, lighter, and more durable than the previous rechargeable button. It uses an inexpensive, easily replaceable CR-2032 battery that should last for thousands of clicks. Once you pair it with the Flic app on your phone or tablet, as long as you're within 50 feet or so of your device, the button will instantly send your clicks to Airnoise to tell our systems to look for aircraft near you. This means it will work if you're out on a walk in your neighborhood, something many Airnoise users have asked for.

The button has an adhesive backing, in case you want to stick it to your nightstand or desk. Flic also sells some inexpensive clip accessories to make it easy to keep your button handy. And just as with its two venerable predecessors, you can add as many of these buttons to your Airnoise account as you like -- one for upstairs and down, if that's your thing.

All good things must come to an end, and so it goes with the original and second generation Airnoise buttons. You can continue to use them until AWS pulls the plug in December 2024. After that, you should dispose of them in your electronics recycling or household trash. Or mount that beat-up, taped-up, cut open first generation Airnoise button to a plaque and celebrate the 51,786 complaints it generated!

In order to maintain the incredible convenience of one-click complaint generation, we recommend that you replace your button with the latest Airnoise Flic button before mid-December 2024. You can order one from Airnoise.io.

We get it -- we empathize, and we're sorry -- there's nothing we can do to change this (unless you personally now the Amazon CEO and can put in a good word for us).

Over its 7+ year history, Airnoise has dealt with a bunch of things outside our control that have materially impacted our loyal customers. AWS sold us hundreds of buttons that they then bricked with a bad software update. They started charging us $0.25/month for every button we connected to their cloud services (without which, the buttons won't work). Then they simply stopped selling the buttons outright with no notice, the replacement rechargeable buttons were a significant challenge...and so on.

We have worked hard to roll with the punches, and we constantly research better options to provide our customers with the one-of-a-kind solution that the Airnoise button provides. We have communicated openly about all these challenges and been rewarded with customers who feel the same way, that actively engaging in the effort to improve aircraft noise in their communities requires flexibility and a willingness to try new approaches.

This change is no different, and Airnoise has done a lot of work to get ahead of AWS this time. We think the result actually represents an overall improvement -- a better button, at a cheaper price, with lower maintenance costs, usable in more places. We hope you'll feel the same way as we move into a new chapter.

Oh, and there are some really cool things we're going to bring to Airnoise very soon that you will want to stick around for, that is, if total awareness of all the air traffic around you 24/7 is of interest to you. :)