I would invest in a Harmony personally. But my older Onkyo(gone now) was able to control my BD, sat, and tv. It could also do macros. Imo it seems like a backslide not to include on any AVR, and especially midrange and higher ones. Problem is most AVR remotes aren’t good in the first place. Some manufacturers used to include two remotes. One small one for basic tasks and a larger one for deep diving. I like remotes that have different areas, or zones on them and especially unique shaped buttons. That way I don’t have to look at the remote, I just few it like Brail. That’s some you can’t do with a remote companion app.
I think the manufacturers are trying to provide codes for the equipment, but are aware that most people won't use them. At the OEM level, a remote is very inexpensive- it's in how it can be programmed and customized that causes the expense to increase. An example of a brand that includes a remote that is a PITA to operate is Denon- they have an AMP button with Main, 1, 2 & 3 next to it and if the AMP button isn't pressed, the receiver functions aren't accessible, other than Volume, Mute and a few others; it will be operating the device that matches the button pressed, such as DVD, Cable, etc. If 1,2 or 3 are pressed, it's trying to operate one of the other zones. In order to do anything else with the AVR, the user needs to press AMP or Main. A Harmony 650 operates in activity modes, which map the buttons for the "best" configuration, based on close to 20 years of existence and feedback from users. If someone wants to add, delete or customize buttons, it's pretty easy. The code library for Harmony is extensive and they're able to convert from HEX, check commands to find/fix errors and can actually tell the user why commands for one device are operating something that has nothing to do with the other, as happened when I was trying to operate a surveillance DVR with IR commands and it turned out that the TV manufacturer used the same IR chipset manufacturer, which resulted in code overlap. URC tech support has been bad, in my experience, far too often. Their trainer is great, but some of the support team don't seem to get the idea that customer support is how they could have kept a lot of integrators in their corner.
Midrange and higher-end AVRs are often bought by techy people who like to mess with configurations, but many are installed by dealers/contractors/integrators who prefer one or two brands, are very proficient with the custom setup intricacies and will use a control system that operates the whole system to a fine degree, along with smart devices, lighting, thermostats, shades, etc.
