Logitech Harmony and HDMI-CEC
Logitech discontinued production for Harmony in 2021. There were some signs Logitech needed to put in heavy investment towards the Harmony platform, otherwise it will be unsustainable: losing Mac support was one; introduction of HDMI-CEC in 2005 was the other; and most importantly, Smart TV and cord cutting made a universal remote such a niche market.
I’ve had Logitech Harmony setup on my home theater for over a decade. It was necessary to navigate between streaming box, cable box, Blu-ray player, gaming consoles, smart TV itself, and the smart speaker. I know enthusiasts who prefer the experience of powering up and setting it to the right input — perhaps retro, but physical, experience lives on through remotes. But for majority of the people with any kind of televisions, average consumers are not interested in the equipments. They are interested in the specific contents, certain channels, streaming apps, physical medium, games, and etc. For them, anything that comes in between is mere delay. Harmony automated this process for many.
What I realized with Harmony, especially once Logitech announced its intention to discontinue, was its slowly deteriorating ecosystem. Back in 2010s, I would simply setup the Harmony (i.e. add devices and the combinations of them as activities) then it would work. I had recommended Harmony to anyone who was interested in a universal remote. I can’t say for certain when it began, but around late 2010s, or early 2020s, HDMI-CEC became popular enough that most media players had some form of advanced configuration to adjust CEC signals and behaviors.
Few months ago, I had removed Harmony from my parents’ then configured CEC on their television. The new amp they previously had didn’t support CEC nor Harmony, so it was troublesome to register it; now with the new amp, it fully supports CEC in a way they prefer. I was actually surprised to see how far CEC has been implemented. Now I removed Harmony from my setup then moved onto CEC. The only odd ball it threw at me was PS5 — PS5 wouldn’t turn off the TV nor control volume over HDMI, so TV remote is a must. All of my remotes are out from the drawer again, but at least I wouldn’t need to tinker with HDMI switch because of a Harmony glitch.
The only difference I have noticed so far is that instead of using one remote for all devices, now I am using one remote per player. It still starts up all the necessary device automatically nonetheless. So far the only remote I had an issue with has been Bose Universal Remote for Soundbar; the rubber, or perhaps plastic, on the remote has deteriorated. I’m hoping the app will be able to substitute fully, in case I ever need it. Because the replacement for the remote, from the official Bose website, is priced at $49. Maybe not the most absurd price I’ve seen for a remote, but that plastic exterior just makes it unacceptable.