I was usually able to revive the Wi-Fi connection by closing and then restarting the mobile app, but it’s a problem that never comes up with the RF-based remotes in the two higher-priced Harmony Hub bundles. My main complaints with the mobile apps were the toll they take on battery life (hard-core couch potatoes will want to keep a charging cable for the mobile device handy) and, more annoyingly, the occasional disappearance of the Wi-Fi network connection (perhaps due to interference), which left me with no remote at all.
#Harmony one software android#
The Android and iOS interfaces were generally similar, although I noticed the Android’s bottom-screen interface menu gives easy access to a set of simplified touchscreen controls that aren’t grouped separately on the iOS app. The controls were not difficult to find and generally worked well the apps also afford easy access to individual components. The mobile apps provide both traditional interface support (spread over several screens) and gesture-based controls for common commands-volume control, channel changes, and the like. When you’re done, you sync the data to the Hub before disconnecting. Also, if you’ve previously set up a Harmony remote online and your components haven’t changed, you can load those settings onto the Hub and save a lot of time. On the Web, you can also “teach” the Hub commands for devices that you can’t find in Logitech’s database, but for which you have the original remote. Users of previous Harmony remotes will already be familiar with the Web interface.
The Harmony app lets you designate up to 50 channels as favorites that you can easily access from the Favorites screen. There, after I logged into the account I’d created during the mobile setup, I was able to add devices the mobile app couldn’t, including my HDMI switch. The mobile apps, however, can’t set up everything in Logitech’s database: When I tried to input the make and model number of an 3×1 HDMI switcher I use to add HDMI inputs to my aging HDTV, the app advised me to continue setup by connecting the Hub to a computer (using the same USB cable that attaches to its plug) and navigating to the website.
#Harmony one software tv#
Finally, the setup process downloads your TV provider’s program guide and lets you specify up to 50 channels as favorites, to make tuning to them easier. I also have activities for watching movies on my Blu-ray player and for watching TV through my TiVo DVR.
For example, my Watch TV activity turns on my HDTV, Motorola cable box, and home theater audio system specifies the TV input the cable box hooks into and tunes the audio receiver to the input from the HDTV. If the app finds all your devices, you then proceed to setting up activities-combinations of settings needed for typical entertainment center use.
#Harmony one software software#
After each device is set up, the app tests the settings it retrieves from Logitech’s huge database to make sure they actually control the device.ĭuring setup you provide make and model info on your home entertainment devices, and the software retrieves the IR or Bluetooth remote codes from Logitech’s database. After that, it prompts you to create a account if you don’t have one, and then to enter the make and model info on your components, one at a time. After you plug the Hub into a wall outlet and put it into pairing mode by pressing a button on the device, the app detects it and collects the info needed to connect it to your Wi-Fi network. Both provide setup support for most common entertainment center components. I tested the stand-alone Hub with both the Android and iOS apps (more about the hardware remotes later). (The company sells additional Harmony IR Mini Blasters for $10.) Logitech gives you one blaster with the stand-alone Hub and the Smart Control, two with the Ultimate. To help distribute signals from the hub to devices on multiple shelves, you can plug in up to two IR blasters (small transmitters on long cables that echo the Hub’s signals) to the back of the Hub. You can even put the Hub inside a home entertainment system cabinet. But in addition to having to learn the user interface (in order to control various different devices), you also have the ongoing inconvenience of IR signals themselves-most notably, you must position the remote within line of sight of the component you wish to control.īut because RF and Wi-Fi signals can go through walls, line-of-site communication isn’t required-you must only be in the general vicinity of the Hub to control it. Why a base station? Most universal remotes rely on the same IR signals that standard remotes use-you simply program the universal remote to replicate the signals for all the remotes it replaces.
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