NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! It's the end of an era....

[Striker:WG]

I love my Harmony remotes. This news makes me very sad:

https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/10/2...versal-remotes

[peternm22]

After dealing with awful $20 universal remotes for years I finally bought a Harmony 670 more than a decade ago. I thought I was wasting my money buying such an expensive remote, but it's still going strong today.

Anyone else making good universal remotes nowadays?

[emveepee]

I like my Harmony 650 but it is the Hub that shines. My wife could never really figure out all the buttons now with "Turn on/off the .." TV, Netflix, FireTV, Radio etc all voice controlled nothing can be simpler.

Since this needs the Harmony server I really feel it is all going to fall down one day.

I wonder if the same issue is a concern programming the 650, I'm not sure the app runs offline?

Martin

[peternm22]

Originally Posted by emveepee

I wonder if the same issue is a concern programming the 650, I'm not sure the app runs offline?

I don't think it does. It relies on the Harmony servers for the code database and to "build" the configuration. I don't believe there is an offline mode at all.

[jpwegas]

Originally Posted by peternm22

Anyone else making good universal remotes nowadays?

I've been using one of the Softbaton U1 remotes and it's pretty decent as a universal remote. No Hub like the Harmony though.

--John

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Striker:WG

I love my Harmony remotes. This news makes me very sad:

https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/10/2...versal-remotes

SO it seems to say they will continue support as long as you're "using it."

What does that mean? I have always stockpiled a spare, as the buttons wear out. If I don't activate it for another year - what do we think, they won't allow it? I imagine retail supplies will last for a while if, as they say, nobody is using universal remotes anymore.

[trk2]

Disappointing but not surprising after Logitech tried to sell off Harmony a few years ago. I guess my Harmony remote has joined my cable card with an inevitable ticking doomsday clock.

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by emveepee

Since this needs the Harmony server I really feel it is all going to fall down one day.

This is beginning to sound like Wink. Buy the hardware with the promise of free cloud service forever. Ran into hardware shortage, so no revenue coming in. Service kept declining. Issued an ultimatum that you either signup for a subscription service or they turn off your devices in 2 weeks. (They ended up extending for another month, but are now subscription service only.)

Most people defected (including me) to something else. Two months after going to subscription, they had a major outage that lasted almost a week. They are slowly spiraling the drain.

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by jpwegas

I've been using one of the Softbaton U1 remotes and it's pretty decent as a universal remote. No Hub like the Harmony though.

--John

My only concern with the Softbaton U1 is that it required line-of-sight and all of my equipment in the Family Room is in an entertainment cabinet.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Striker:WG

I love my Harmony remotes. This news makes me very sad:

https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/10/2...versal-remotes

The Hub will work with ANY Logitech remote, or Logitech installed app, correct?

[emveepee]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

The Hub will work with ANY Logitech remote, or Logitech installed app, correct?

No, since the hub base is controlled by IP or RF not IR.

Martin

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by emveepee

No, since the hub base is controlled by IP or RF not IR.

Martin

My Logitech Harmony 700 remote is IR and it works?

[emveepee]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

My Logitech Harmony 700 remote is IR and it works?

Good to know, although I'd always use an RF controller if the option was available. It's nice being able to hide the hub.

Martin

[tvmaster2]

Panicked and bought two 655’s, and two Hubs at Best Buy yesterday. Shelves were looking thin. 14 days to decide whether to keep them or not. Who’s calling Logitech for clarification? lol.

[wayner]

This is disappointing, especially as more devices are moving towards IP control. For example, you don't need IR to control SageTV extenders (at least not in extender mode vs standalone mode) as you can send commands via IP, but a remote needs to be able to accept that. More and more TVs can be controlled via IP - I have recently been buying "Roku TVs" as they have a good open API where all control, including power on/off and input selection, can be done via IP.

There are other solutions that are more into the Home Automation area and cost a LOT more. I still have some Harmony remotes but I have moved toward using a Control4 Home Automation system.

Logitech also appeared to be moving in this direction when they changed their mind about selling off Harmony and started to move towards using the system as a Smarthome hub supporting some other types of devices, like Hue lights, etc. Maybe Amazon should buy them as they could integrate well with Alexa.

It would be nice if Logitech Open Sourced everything. They do have a semi-open API but it is kind of cumbersome and not that easy to work with.

[nyplayer]

At least they will continue support. I have moved to SofaBaton mostly ... easier to program than harmonies.

[peternm22]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

At least they will continue support. I have moved to SofaBaton mostly ... easier to program than harmonies.

It looks like Sofabaton only has a single set of fastforward/rewind buttons. That would be a deal breaker for me as I have SageTV setup with 10 second and 150 second fastforward/rewind buttons.

[Telecore]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

At least they will continue support. I have moved to SofaBaton mostly ... easier to program than harmonies.

Does the SofaBaton allow you to push a single button to start the "activity" of watching TV, where it would power on your TV, Receiver, Nvidia Shield (or FireTV or SageTV Extender) and select the appropriate inputs? Or is that a manual operation with the SofaBaton?

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by Telecore

Does the SofaBaton allow you to push a single button to start the "activity" of watching TV, where it would power on your TV, Receiver, Nvidia Shield (or FireTV or SageTV Extender) and select the appropriate inputs? Or is that a manual operation with the SofaBaton?

Yes you can setup macros.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sohArzrBAMc

https://youtu.be/vk5JG2N9c2E

[waynedunham]

Thanks for the info on the SofaBaton everyone. Looks like it will be a very adequate replacement for my Harmony 700's that I already have should they need replacement or I need more.