Replacement Logitech Harmony

Hi there!

Just wondering what the ones of you, which currently run a Logitech Harmony running at home plans to do in future?
As I have read (i.e. here, sorry, it German: Golem.de: IT-News für Profis) Logitech do not support the stuff anymore. That’s a shame, as these remotes are pretty cool, working well, good and stable Openhab-Binding and are some kind the “center” of my home-cinema/Soundsystem.

Now I´ve broken the companion-remote (my young dog has broken it to be exact) and have to buy something new.
Currently the Logitech-remotes are still available, so this might be an option.
What are you guys doing/planning??

cheers, a.

https://www.yio-remote.com/
No cloud, api available, but very expensive.

I wrote about his when Logitech first dropped support.

I predict that universal remotes like Harmony will become more and more of an expensive niche market. There really isn’t a need for these for most people any more.

These days a typical “cord cutter’s” media set up with a sound bar, CEC, and streaming device (Roku, Google TV, etc) can be controlled with one of these:

It’s simple, intuitive, and controls 99% of everything that needs to be controlled. It’s been years since I’ve used anything else to control any of my media.

Now I’m not saying that you can or should follow the same approach. What I am saying is that more and more people only need this which means the number of users who need something more is forever shrinking meaning that market will become more niche (i.e. expensive) and with fewer companies making the devices.

They no longer manufacture Harmony remotes, but they will continue to support them indefinitely. They’ve chosen their words carefully by saying, “as long as customers continue to use them”, which gives them leeway to pull the plug when they see dropoffs and decide that it’s no longer worthwhile keeping the servers on. Even then, I’d guess that they’ll give a lot of warning to users, and not pull the plug overnight. So it’s vague, but still better than saying “we’ll give you two years of support from today”.

My hope is that they’ll eventually push a software update that enables the remotes to continue working without their servers, which would make a lot of long-time users happy. That’s pure speculation, though. Eventually, they’ll also have to consider how much effort they put into maintaining their Android/iOS apps to account for OS updates.

I agree with Rich that Harmony-style universal remotes are a dying breed as AV systems become simpler and HDMI-CEC improves. I get a lot of use out of mine, including using it to automate an IR-controlled pedestal fan, but I’m definitely an outlier.

The way I see it, if you really like the Companion remote (and I do), then it’s better to get as much use as you can out of it while you can. I wouldn’t shy away from buying a Harmony if you can get a good deal on it, but you have to be comfortable not knowing how long it’ll continue to work. Mind you, I approach every purchase like that, regardless of what companies say.

In the meantime, this thread has motivated me to buy a Broadlink RM4 sensor to see how much of my automation I can replicate with it. Because, why not?

Look in the new marketplace that is in the latest milestone and you will find a widget that you can use with your mobile phone to keep working with whilst you shop around.

Harmony Hub Remote - Add-on Marketplace / UI Widgets - openHAB Community

I have a spare remote I picked up very cheap and have not opened to use as a spare, so I am twice as annoyed these are going to stop at some point.

Not going to happen ever, period… A large company with a history of announcing product end of lines, does not spend money without seeing a direct return on that investment. They will just leave it running and when use drops to a certain point they will kill it. People would complain if they stated a time frame, so by doing this they allow users to move on and reduce the kick back to a lower number. Its only a matter of time.

Yes that is the cheap option to send IR.

Another option to look at is this to RECIEVE the IR and turn it into keyboard and MCE button pushes that most software can understand.

Flirc USB

How To PROPERLY Control Nvidia Shield & PS4 with Alexa: FLIRC - YouTube

It allows me to control Kodi and many other software packages and it is cheap and allows any old IR remote that you already have lying around to be recycled instead of going into landfill or just buy a cheap remote you like the layout for.

Combine the Flirc and an RM4 and you should get away pretty cheaply but it will need some more setup time then just buying a harmony.

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Well yeah, they basically said it’s a matter of time. I really have no issue with it. Companies can’t be expected to support legacy products indefinitely, and I think Logitech is being pretty decent about the whole thing. Harmony wasn’t making them money, so they killed the product line. It’s a perfectly reasonable business decision.

It won’t surprise me if they don’t do anything more and eventually turn the servers off, but it costs me nothing to be optimistic about it. They’ve exited the niche universal-remote market, so treating users well would actually be a net positive from a reputational standpoint. Just a question of how much effort is required, and if there’s someone pushing for it (as John Carmack did for the Oculus Quest). There’s a business case, and it’s a relatively simple cost/benefit analysis to determine whether it’s worth pursuing.

Whatever happens, I feel like I’ve gotten my money’s worth. I spent $100 on a Harmony Hub remote eight years ago, and $40 on a used one three or four years ago. I know that others won’t feel the same, but I’m content with the value I’ve received. And I’ll keep receiving right up until they power down the servers. I suspect that’ll also be the case for many other users.

Thanks for the response!

@matt1: I know the widget, and I use it already, but the wife do not want to use a Smartphone instead of the physical remote (and I agree partly).

I also agree with your statement about large companies and their support. As long it doesn’t bring money…

@sihui: Looks really nice, but I need something now. No option to let my wife wait until this thing is released :wink:

@rlkoshak: I see your point, and I even have used on the companion only a few buttons. Nevertheless, in my eyes, the advantage is to have even pretty old and native devices supported. I do only have ONE Companion on my desk and I control EVERYTHING with it. Hope you are not correct, but believe unfortunately you are…

I think I will go for a new hub/companion-bundle as I need their cloud only for the setup of the device. everything else is done via local communication (not 100%sure, have to check this before). They are currently at around 160€, so not that big deal.

Yeah, I’ve had my one flirc running my various htpcs for over 8 years now. It’s a really great and reliable little device. Now, I actually have mine receiving commands from my harmony remote, so that’s another problem altogether…

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Not going to happen ever, period… A large company with a history of announcing product end of lines, does not spend money without seeing a direct return on that investment. They will just leave it running and when use drops to a certain point they will kill it. People would complain if they stated a time frame, so by doing this they allow users to move on and reduce the kick back to a lower number. Its only a matter of time.

Logitech has made their software open source in the past. A decade ago Logitech had a music streaming service with media players named Squeezebox Duet. They discontinued the service and stopped selling the hardware but the software became open source. I’m don’t know how that happened but it must have been with Logitech’s approval/support.

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