Logitech discontinues Harmony remotes

[Thomas Veil]

Logitech discontinues its popular universal Harmony remotes - 9to5Mac

After 20 years in the market, Logitech announced it's officially discontinuing the Harmony line of universal remotes.

www.9to5mac.com

Logitech’s explanation is:

“We expect no impact to our customers by this announcement. We plan to support our Harmony community and new Harmony customers, which includes access to our software and apps to set up and manage your remotes. We also plan to continue to update the platform and add devices to our database. Customer and warranty support will continue to be offered.”

I’m not sure how discontinuing the product has “no impact”. We use one to control our visual and audio tech, and without it we’d be back to separate remotes.

So it’s already had an impact on us. I went out and bought one this morning, even though I don’t need it yet. I just don’t want to have to pay some third party $400 for a $60 remote once they become truly scarce.

 

[Pumbaa]

Yikes. Hope they actually mean it and continue to support the Harmony stuff.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Shit! I've been using their top end (or maybe second down from top) models for years. Other universal remotes, or attempted TV manufacture stock universal remotes, come nowhere near.

But I admit this might be one of those situations where it started as a fancy high end option and the average mass market found less and less of a need for it, especially as other technologies advanced. I'm sure most people's "dream setup" now is just a quality smart TV and soundbar, or they see it as no big deal they have to do 5 button presses in what the Harmony can do in 1.

 

[Eric]

For most I think the ease of use of apps in the TV or set top boxes along with a soundbar is about as extensive as it gets. No more need for all of the external accessories, seems like getting rid of large complicated remotes is a natural progression in technology.

 

[Edd]

Logitech clearly sees the remotes as not profitable enough. Mildly surprised though, as those remotes are far from cheap. I used a mid-grade one for years. It started acting squirrelly though, and I began to simplify my setup. I’m on the Sonos train sound wise, and my Apple TV 4K remote (I love it, fight me!) controls everything nicely.

 

[Eric]

Logitech clearly sees the remotes as not profitable enough. Mildly surprised though, as those remotes are far from cheap. I used a mid-grade one for years. It started acting squirrelly though, and I began to simplify my setup. I’m on the Sonos train sound wise, and my Apple TV 4K remote (I love it, fight me!) controls everything nicely.

Exactly, same goes for my Amazon Fire Stick remote. I can honestly say it's the only remote I need 99% of the time and there's maybe 3 buttons on it to control the whole thing. They've made them so easy to use now that it's really all you need.

 

[Pumbaa]

Exactly, same goes for my Amazon Fire Stick remote. I can honestly say it's the only remote I need 99% of the time and there's maybe 3 buttons on it to control the whole thing. They've made them so easy to use now that it's really all you need.

True that!

I’ve lost the remote to my bedroom TV. No idea how it happened, but that’s not really relevant. I’m sure it will show up in an unexpected place one day and the speculation on how it got there will make a really good story. Anyways, what’s relevant is that I get by with my AppleTV remote 99% of the time. The only thing I can’t do is “Click OK” to confirm that I’m still watching and keep the TV from turning off, so I have to put the AppleTV to sleep and wake it to continue watching instead. Really only a problem if I’m unwell.

My living room setup is another beast, but it is still less complicated today than when I bought my first Harmony remote. Man what a mess my setup was back then! I literally needed a spreadsheet just to keep track of the combinations of audio and video inputs required for watching DVD or Blu-ray (separate units since the BD player was region locked), playing PS2, 360, or Wii, or watching TV (separate cable box required) or connect to a computer. I’m still impressed that I made everything work given the limited number of inputs at my disposal... The Harmony remote was worth it’s price, suddenly it was possible to just push one button to select an activity and have everything just work!

Today I have even more devices connected but at least most things work fine with automatic input selection. My Harmony remote still is relevant and convenient, it is really nice to only have to bother with one remote after all. But it is a conveniency now and not a necessity as it was back then. Totally makes sense that the market simply isn’t there anymore.

 

[Thomas Veil]

I suppose if one has cut the cord and is only streaming, you don't need much else. On the other hand, I haven't been convinced to go the cord-cutting route. My TV has a Fire Stick, but it also has cable, a sound bar, and a Blu-Ray player.

 

[Eric]

I suppose if one has cut the cord and is only streaming, you don't need much else. On the other hand, I haven't been convinced to go the cord-cutting route. My TV has a Fire Stick, but it also has cable, a sound bar, and a Blu-Ray player.

Cutting the cord has been the best thing I've ever done when it comes to TV. Not only am I no longer gouged by contracts from cable or satellite, I get to choose my own programming ala cart with the ability to remove anything I want at a moments notice with no questions asked.

I did the math and even with all the services we're running we're still not paying as much as we did with Comcast, who were raping us with hidden fees and upgrade costs without asking, it's like every other month there was another $5 added to the bill for some arbitrary service we didn't understand nor ask for. The freedom, savings and customization of your lineup is really worth dropping those bastards for.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Cutting the cord has been the best thing I've ever done when it comes to TV. Not only am I no longer gouged by contracts from cable or satellite, I get to choose my own programming ala cart with the ability to remove anything I want at a moments notice with no questions asked.

I did the math and even with all the services we're running we're still not paying as much as we did with Comcast, who were raping us with hidden fees and upgrade costs without asking, it's like every other month there was another $5 added to the bill for some arbitrary service we didn't understand nor ask for. The freedom, savings and customization of your lineup is really worth dropping those bastards for.

I’ve been too lazy to do the math, but I’m in the middle of a Comcast cable/internet/phone (I’ve never used but somehow makes my monthly bill less) contract. I couldn’t tell you the last time I’ve actually watched cable TV, but it also has streaming services baked in the cost. I really don’t know how much I would save or not if I killed the cable part of the package and paid for those streaming services directly. Also Comcast and I’m sure other service providers are playing around with bandwidth restrictions. So is paying for more bandwidth or overages going to make it just as expensive as having cable in the package?

 

[DT]

I’ve been too lazy to do the math, but I’m in the middle of a Comcast cable/internet/phone (I’ve never used but somehow makes my monthly bill less) contract. I couldn’t tell you the last time I’ve actually watched cable TV, but it also has streaming services baked in the cost. I really don’t know how much I would save or not if I killed the cable part of the package and paid for those streaming services directly. Also Comcast and I’m sure other service providers are playing around with bandwidth restrictions. So is paying for more bandwidth or overages going to make it just as expensive as having cable in the package?

I guess it depends on what, and how much, you want to watch. I see people add in costs like Netflix, expect we had that __before__ we cut the cord (since early 2000 when it was just DVDs being mailed ...), so that cost didn't change. Same for our Internet connection, and with Amazon Prime, we do it for the shipping, the video service is an extra perk.

Hell, we could stick with just Netflix and Prime (which we'd have with/without cable/sat anyway), and have enough content to last us for 20 years. We don't do network, much in the way of sports, but an antenna (and something handy like an HDHomeRun for signal distribution to streaming devices) and you've got free network if that's your thing.

Even if the price was the same, I prefer:

- My own hardware (it's better, more consistent, portal for that matter ...)
- The ability to add/remove/re-up services on the fly, without having to talk to a CSR


And we get services on the cheap all the time, burn through the content, especially those with dedicated series, and cancel. I just got Starz a few weeks ago, it was $0.99/month for 3 months, so with taxes and whatnot, < $4.00 for 3 months. We'll watch a few movies, the entire American Gods series, and in 3 months, goodbye.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

How the Smart Remote Lost Its Way

Once, we dreamed of one controller to rule them all. But when Logitech killed off the Harmony line, it ended an era.

www.wired.com

Didn’t have time to finish that novel yet, but a mid level read through reminded me of something we are used to with Apple’s abrupt kill switches: All you need to do is update all your existing hardware and you’ll be fine. Emerging HDMI technology has made it possible to control most things with a single remote. So there you go. Just replace everything you already own and you won’t need a fancy third party remote.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

So in my bedroom I have 4 hue light bulbs linked as a group. I have a button on my Harmony remote assigned to turning that group on and off. I recently had to replace 2 of the bulbs in the group and they work just fine with my hardware switches and Siri, but now the button on my harmony only turns the 2 old light bulbs in the group on and off.

 

[User.45]

So in my bedroom I have 4 hue light bulbs linked as a group. I have a button on my Harmony remote assigned to turning that group on and off. I recently had to replace 2 of the bulbs in the group and they work just fine with my hardware switches and Siri, but now the button on my harmony only turns the 2 old light bulbs in the group on and off.

DisHarmony, eh?

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

DisHarmony, eh?

Indeed.

 

[floridakilos]

This news has ruined my day!

 

[Herdfan]

Well crap. I have a new one in a box that I planned on setting up for the Home Theater when we sell the house. I am not giving up my URC's so I figured a Harmony for the new owner would be a good solution.

So in my bedroom I have 4 hue light bulbs linked as a group. I have a button on my Harmony remote assigned to turning that group on and off. I recently had to replace 2 of the bulbs in the group and they work just fine with my hardware switches and Siri, but now the button on my harmony only turns the 2 old light bulbs in the group on and off.

Do you have any issues with the Bridge disconnecting? It seems every time I want to use them I have to go reboot it.