Logitech had finally gotten things going really well in my mind. Then they pulled the plug.

I have seen several "popup" options come up over the years. Most being Kickstarter deals. SofaBaton comes to mind. Sevenhugs? A few others with similarly goofy names.

Are there any worth looking at? Don't get me wrong, URC Complete Control is still solid. But it was nice with harmony having remote programming access for making changes and support which I rarely ever needed, but was a bonus to have. Having some level of IP control would be nice.... AVRs, Roku, etc.....

I know that many of us want hard buttons, but more and more I’m seeing “can’t I just use my phone to control the TV?”.

IMHO

if it is a personal bedroom "my phone" or "my tablet" makes total sense

if it is a multi person room (HT, family room, kitchen, guest bedroom....) there is nothing wrong with "my phone" as an "also can control it" but you need a dedicated device (even if it is a phone or tablet), can't start adding the controls on every one that might be using the system (the babysitter that is there to take care of kids this one time, guest that is visiting for a week...)

If it is an outdoor/ room with water only a dedicated device should be used (don't want the client to drop their phone in the hot tub).

either way it would be nice if someone made a nice little add on with hard buttons for phones and tablets.

Philips needs to bring back the Pronto... pronto. Just saying

KOT

Whoever at Logitech made the decision to kill Harmony needs to learn the real definition of Animal Husbandry.

Logitech makes more money selling conferencing gear than they ever did with Harmony. Pure business decision if you ask me.

I know- I was a Beta tester for the Harmony Elite and Pro 2400- the head of Logitec Digital Devices called me, to explain the discontinuation of Harmony, so I could hear the reasoning rather than see BS online. As soon as COVID hit, they were selling 10x as much conferencing cams and mics because people were told to stay at home, which made them want to see and hear from family & friends.

One of the main reasons- remote controls need a shyteload of customer & dealer support and cost far more to produce. Yes, it was a pure business decision but I don't think they knew or cared about the consequences. However, they were receiving more comments from people who wanted to use an app for control rather than a handheld remote.

To be honest, I didn't like several features of the Elite- end users shouldn't be able to access device control because they don't know the input/output assignments and other settings. Fortunately, a lot of equipment uses discrete commands, but that didn't stop people effing up the system and calling because "It doesn't work". I also hated the swipe feature but they did listen to the comments from all of us in the first conference calls, telling them to use 3.5mm jacks for the IR emitters, so that's great.......The removable SMA antenna was another thing I mentioned.

I was told they would support the remotes and database for the foreseeable future and that SlingBox is an indication for that since it's still supported more than 15 years after being discontinued.

If they didn’t want to produce the remote they could have kept the hub and moved to mobile device only for control. Same app same features just mobile only. Add $50 to the cost of the hub and include a code for the app.

They would still need to provide a lot of support. I can definitely see why they might want to avoid that, the same way CI brands of remote controls do- it's a royal PITA to deal with clueless customers and self-appointed experts who call tech support when they're stumped.

Programmable remotes were a must with AVRs and multiple system components. Everyone had a CD, a DVD, a VCR, a cable box…

Now, many if not most systems just have a single source, whether it be a cable box that also does Netflix and Amazon, or an Apple TV or Roku. They will also control the TV with their remote, and with more products like sound bars and Sonos amps, and fewer AVRs, the writing is on the wall.

In a one man show, I used to sell many programmable remotes per month, now I rarely sell one.

How many of your customers reduced their system to a TV, sound bar and a few speakers, using CEC to make input changes?

The whole reason for uni remotes is to prevent the need to use multiples, now a lot of systems require going from app to app for full control, or they just don't bother with the complexity that existed for so long.

Even Harmony was headed toward app-based control and before they introduced the 2400 hub and designated its remote as 'Pro', they stopped developing their PC-based pro portal, favoring the app. THEY favored it, I still don't like it but now that the pro portal requires an OS later than Win7/Pro, which still works for everything else that I do, I would need to carry one of my other computers, which aren't laptops and I'M NOT buying another laptop at this point. Fortunately, I can make program changes and synch from home, so that's a good thing.

+1, except for replacement of previous purchase, which is rare also.

My point was that not nearly as many systems have even a second input, and here, clients like to talk to their Comcast remotes.

I’d still recommend a smart remote for input changes, but the number of systems needing that are minimal now.

What escapes me is - If they were making money on Logitech why stop? Who cares what another division was doing?

If you have 3 businesses all making money, would you close one just because it wasn't making as much as the others?

I never heard anything about Harmony making money- depending on the amount of support they had to dole out, that could have been the last straw. The fact that they have to do approximately zero support for their conferencing items and they were selling ten times as much as Harmony ever did (that came from the director of the Digital Products Group) makes it likely that someone in power basically said "I don't care if people like them, they're not worth the trouble".