Logitech officially discontinues its Harmony remotes

Well, ****.

Logitech officially discontinues its Harmony remotes

Logitech officially discontinues its Harmony remotes

I use the Harmony Hub and smart remote and I am very satisfied. I guess I will have to look for an alternativ next time.

People mention SofaBaton U1....

 

Ah. Looks like I have to get a second one as backup, now that they’re still available.

 

Looks very Harmony-like, doesn't it.

I'm a happy Harmony user for many years. I hate change. They say it's good, but it never is.

 

I had the 650 for years and it was a great tool...until the "8" died.
Replaced with the 665...it is not nearly as good regarding stabillity with macros or power.
I don't need/want anything too complex (similar functionality would be good).
Other recommendations?

 

That's too bad, I have been using them for ten years or so.

At least they are still providing support.

 

I had a Harmony remote for a while. It worked great until I no longer could get support for it.

 

That's too bad. I love my Harmony remote.

 

That’s a shame. I used a Harmony One for a long while and replaced it with a Harmony Elite and hub a few years back. The Elite controls our TV, multiple set top boxes, consoles, hifi and several smart devices. I’d hate to go back to using separate remotes for everything.

 

Bummer! I currently have three in active use:

• Harmony Elite
• Harmony One+
• Harmony Smart Control w/Hub and Alexa

The Smart Control w/Hub + Alexa is really brilliant for use in my living room. The kids/wife often misplace the remote, and with an Alexa command, we can at least get the system turned on/off and select a source.
I suppose with everyone moving to smart TVs + soundbars, this was inevitable. But for those of us with receivers and multiple sources including disc players, it was a really game changer.

 

I’ve got a Harmony remote that’s great, but this seems analogous to the shuttering of Oppo — sobering and regrettable but not a category-obliterating catastrophe. I’m seeing quite a few well-reviewed non-Logitech alternatives on Amazon.

Or is there some proprietary magic in the Harmony remotes I’m not aware of?

 

How long will your Logitech Harmony remote keep working?

 

The Harmony remote is another "web service" that only works at the behest of the manufacturer keeping the servers going. The database of remotes is on the server, and only individually download on to the remote on demand. So like everything else "cloud" it works as long as they want it to work.

They could easily put all known codes into the software installer and configurator, but don't.

I have a Logitech Cyberman II 3D controller that still works - in Windows 98. They abandoned it.

 

I love my harmony remote. The one I have is about 10 years old. Still works. It’s great to push one button have everything change on your system to what you want to watch. Going from cable tv to watching movies is so easy anyone in the house can do it.

 

This stinks. I have two harmony elite remotes in service and was probably going to buy another one in the near future. The Activities feature is absolutely essential for the non-techies in the house.

 

Exactly. Cloud hosting providers often claim that cloud hosting is a way to keep data safe, but it’s not.
It’s one of the most unreliable ways to store data.

 

I’m confused they said “universal remotes are no longer as crucial as they once were”

This is not good news, going to pick up another spare.

 

The big problem is how long are they going to keep the servers running? Without them, these cloud connected remotes are bricks.

 

Do any of the Harmony models support learning the commands from per-device remotes and thus would not be dependent on the server database for new devices?

Thanks.

Doug

 

It’s a shame you’re all commenting here, where they’ll never read it, it’s like an wcho chamber - but imagine what would happen if you and the rest of all their customers emailed and called them - they might think twice about that decision.

I guess an alternative will be using a remote control app for the smartphone (yes many still have IR built in)

 

I have one and I don't think so. And if you can do it, it will still depend on the database. The Harmony approach is very much server based.

 

I wonder if the My Harmony app is also going away? Pretty much makes a Harmony remote useless if it does.

 

They say support will continue, whatever that means.

 

a lot of future maintenance would be needed...adding all of the new models electronics to the database. I wouldn't run out and buy another Harmony remote at this point.

 

It's the opposite of a learning remote - you are at the whims of Logitech to add new devices. Quite the opposite of full-customizable remotes like the Philips Pronto where it could learn and be fully programmed, custom touchscreen graphics, and you can even manually type in the IR broadcast button codes.

Also, Logitech remotes work on the "macro" concept. They want you to have it operate multiple devices, like you press the DVD button and it turns on your TV and receiver and switches the input, but this takes 100x the work getting everything to still not operate like you'd expect.

Logitech is one of the few that has a RF hub that can both blast IR and also retransmit the remote's home base communication as device radio communication. An unnecessary step though.

I can see the remotes being retired in the age of smart devices - when your fire stick can be controlled with a keyboard, and there's an app for every device (with the requisite cloud also) that they can't employ.

 

I used a Harmony remote for years and one day it stopped working about six months ago. I tried everything I could think of to revive it, but no luck.