Logitech dropping support for the older Harmony remotes

[panteragstk]

The older Harmony remotes were fine. I wasn't a fan, but had many friends and customers that loved them.

The hub based remotes have been nothing but excellent for me. I had one die on me, but the other three have been going strong for almost a decade.

I've got backups for all of them if they die, so I should be covered as long as Logitech keeps up their end and doesn't kill their servers so we can program them.

Time will tell.

 

[highfigh]

The older Harmony remotes were fine. I wasn't a fan, but had many friends and customers that loved them.

The hub based remotes have been nothing but excellent for me. I had one die on me, but the other three have been going strong for almost a decade.

I've got backups for all of them if they die, so I should be covered as long as Logitech keeps up their end and doesn't kill their servers so we can program them.

Time will tell.

I still have the Pro 2400 they sent while I was a tester, in case en Elite remote fails or I find someone who wants/needs the base- it does more than the smaller hub and it has an ethernet port, so connectivity is no problem. It also has SMA antenna, so that can be located where it's needed, by using an extension cable.

I would like to see someone by the servers and rights to the software, but one of the comments the Mgr made, which I had posted, was that app-based control is very popular. I don't see switching between apps as a good way to control a system, but I assume this is for mass consumption, not custom integration.

 

[dolynick]

I bought a Harmony 890 back when they were getting popular. I gather it's not on the unsupported list just published but I gave up on it a while back already. It was alright, but after many years it started to get really touchy about actually charging on the base. No amount of cleaning of the contacts, etc seemed to help and it was perpetually dead when you actually needed it.

I set up a newer Ultimate One for my folks many years later. It was a nice device but I can't say I was a huge fan of the online programming they had at that point. I get why they went that way, but it just felt like yet another service/account I have to remember and manage. And one prone to forgetting because how often do you really need to reprogram a remote?

Then the shut down happened. I refuse to consider them any longer as I have little faith the service will remain available despite what the company claims. At some point, they'll just cut it off with financial justifications or something.

I have two URC MX-980 remotes that I setup and program myself. Dealing with the company to get access to the software was a pain, but they seem to have given in on that more nowadays. You definitely need to have more of an idea of what you're doing with these, but in the end, it's more flexible and I like that you can set things up with more freedom of detail on behavior.

I also picked up an Unfolded Circle Remote Two to try. It's a beautiful remote. Unfortunately, it works quite differently than the others and I couldn't get it to work in the way I wanted at the time (they had just started shipping). I didn't have time to fight with it and go through the learning curve at the time, plus I had a working MX-980 in that system already so it went back into the box for revisiting at a later date. I haven't gotten back to it yet.

 

[panteragstk]

I still have the Pro 2400 they sent while I was a tester, in case en Elite remote fails or I find someone who wants/needs the base- it does more than the smaller hub and it has an ethernet port, so connectivity is no problem. It also has SMA antenna, so that can be located where it's needed, by using an extension cable.

I would like to see someone by the servers and rights to the software, but one of the comments the Mgr made, which I had posted, was that app-based control is very popular. I don't see switching between apps as a good way to control a system, but I assume this is for mass consumption, not custom integration.

Having to switch apps to control a system is terrible. They make some remote apps that attempt to replicate a true "universal remote" but I haven't used one that was very good.

 

[Trell]

Having to switch apps to control a system is terrible. They make some remote apps that attempt to replicate a true "universal remote" but I haven't used one that was very good.

I want good old fashioned buttons on the remote.

 

[everettT]

I want good old fashioned buttons on the remote.

I don't mind a touch screen but still prefer hard buttons in addition to it. Even with backlit screens it's no substitute for the hard buttons for each device.

 

[panteragstk]

I want good old fashioned buttons on the remote.

Same. That's why I bought backups. I've heard nothing but good things about URC, but I haven't found a remote model that's "simple" enough. I need very few buttons on the remote to control things.

I don't like using touch screen remotes. I don't want to have to look down at the remote to figure out what I'm doing.

EDIT: I looked at the newer URC options and there are a few models that would work for me very well, but holy hell are they expensive.

 

[highfigh]

I bought a Harmony 890 back when they were getting popular. I gather it's not on the unsupported list just published but I gave up on it a while back already. It was alright, but after many years it started to get really touchy about actually charging on the base. No amount of cleaning of the contacts, etc seemed to help and it was perpetually dead when you actually needed it.

I set up a newer Ultimate One for my folks many years later. It was a nice device but I can't say I was a huge fan of the online programming they had at that point. I get why they went that way, but it just felt like yet another service/account I have to remember and manage. And one prone to forgetting because how often do you really need to reprogram a remote?

Then the shut down happened. I refuse to consider them any longer as I have little faith the service will remain available despite what the company claims. At some point, they'll just cut it off with financial justifications or something.

I have two URC MX-980 remotes that I setup and program myself. Dealing with the company to get access to the software was a pain, but they seem to have given in on that more nowadays. You definitely need to have more of an idea of what you're doing with these, but in the end, it's more flexible and I like that you can set things up with more freedom of detail on behavior.

I also picked up an Unfolded Circle Remote Two to try. It's a beautiful remote. Unfortunately, it works quite differently than the others and I couldn't get it to work in the way I wanted at the time (they had just started shipping). I didn't have time to fight with it and go through the learning curve at the time, plus I had a working MX-980 in that system already so it went back into the box for revisiting at a later date. I haven't gotten back to it yet.

The programming was online to make it easy to create a large database of commands- the thing they did that makes them unique is the maintenance- they would fix codes while someone was on the phone with a tech support question unless it was after hours and they had some ong hours, for a long time.

Where did you buy the Unfolded remote? Did they point you to training videos for programming?

 

[highfigh]

I want good old fashioned buttons on the remote.

And definitely no swipe function on the touchscreen. It's easy to remember where the buttons are located- I don't know why remote manufacturers try to force some 'features' on everyone.

 

[Kingnoob]

Wonder how long they will support the harmony-ultimate one . I can’t find my programming cable for my other remote. One without a digital screen on it. My avr remote volume broke so I use this one. Real shame they quit making new ones.

 

[dolynick]

The programming was online to make it easy to create a large database of commands- the thing they did that makes them unique is the maintenance- they would fix codes while someone was on the phone with a tech support question unless it was after hours and they had some ong hours, for a long time.

Where did you buy the Unfolded remote? Did they point you to training videos for programming?

I understood why they set it up that way. They were obviously evolving the platform over time as the software for my 890 was a stand alone app when I got it.

The Unfolded Circle Remote Two can be found here:

Remote Two

Introducing Remote 3, our next generation, easy to use companion for your smart home.

www.unfoldedcircle.com

I pre-ordered it during the kickstarter phase. It's out of stock now. I'm not sure if it will come back into stock or not as it looks like they're preparing a new remote for release.

They do have support stuff set up for their Unfolded OS. It was all just very new when I got mine and it felt like I was going to have to do a lot of digging to figure it out at the time. The room it was going to be used in needs some slightly non-standard behaviors set up and it was too much of a chore at the time when I already had a working URC configured and had other more pressing concerns to deal with. Some day I should dig it out and revisit it. The Remote Two was generally well received when it came out but I expect the software platform took a while to catch up. It's probably fine now.

 

[highfigh]

I understood why they set it up that way. They were obviously evolving the platform over time as the software for my 890 was a stand alone app when I got it.

The Unfolded Circle Remote Two can be found here:

Remote Two

Introducing Remote 3, our next generation, easy to use companion for your smart home.

www.unfoldedcircle.com

I pre-ordered it during the kickstarter phase. It's out of stock now. I'm not sure if it will come back into stock or not as it looks like they're preparing a new remote for release.

They do have support stuff set up for their Unfolded OS. It was all just very new when I got mine and it felt like I was going to have to do a lot of digging to figure it out at the time. The room it was going to be used in needs some slightly non-standard behaviors set up and it was too much of a chore at the time when I already had a working URC configured and had other more pressing concerns to deal with. Some day I should dig it out and revisit it. The Remote Two was generally well received when it came out but I expect the software platform took a while to catch up. It's probably fine now.

Looks like they spent a lot of money for a small number of really great-looking remotes. I bet they were hoping someone would come along and buy the company- I signed up for notifications, but may contact them if I get nothing in a few days. It looks familiar, but I may have decided "I don't want to be on teh bleeding edge again" and let it go.

I'm always leery of remotes that have significant weight and are made of metal and glass- dropping can't be good for it and at 165 gms (5.8 oz), it's not light.