We have used Harmony remotes for many years controlling a Denon receiver, OPPO Blu-Ray, two Tivos and various other random things that have come and gone. Couple years ago we switched to using the Harmony Hub. Generally it works great and controls everything including the Apple TV via our iPhones and iPads. It's kind of ingenious and useful so I hope it is supported for a few more years. There are probably other solutions out there, but I haven't started looking yet.
We have used Harmony remotes for many years controlling a Denon receiver, OPPO Blu-Ray, two Tivos and various other random things that have come and gone. Couple years ago we switched to using the Harmony Hub. Generally it works great and controls everything including the Apple TV via our iPhones and iPads. It's kind of ingenious and useful so I hope it is supported for a few more years. There are probably other solutions out there, but I haven't started looking yet.
While I share your passion for home theater and audio, I understand Harmony backing out while they still have their shirts. We are a diminishing minority, few of the SuperAudio CD's sold, you can't really find a player anymore. OPPO made fantastic gear, they stopped making it. Streaming, you chose Tivo, I chose AppleTV - same difference.
The fact that fewer people care about audio or video purity or fidelity. Look at what is playing, gone is any nuance of melody, depth of sound stage, sophisticated recording and pure vocal/drum or guitar work. The market simply is no longer sufficient to justify the effort. Anymore, a Receiver and a single streaming input and internet acess is replacing the component setup many of us have and have enjoyed. Sure, you may have a XBox, PlayStation, Streaming Device and very few will also have a Blu=Ray Player, fewer still will have a separate CD or tape player, and phono's are prehistoric. Sad to say, the market is following the technology curve.
The software to configure my Harmonies was so bad for so long. Atrociously bad... It was clear Logitech either didn’t have the interest or the skills to do it correctly. I got so tired of screwing with them that I eventually switched to the Siri Remote full-time and put the Harmony in a drawer.
The Apple remote isn’t perfect — too flat and symmetrical, of course — but put a silicone case on it and most the problems are fixed. The touchpad is where it’s at for me, swipe-scrubbing is waaaay better than clicking D-pad buttons. And “what did he say?” via Siri is awesome, as is “go to 20 minutes”, “Find movies with so and so” etc.
The software to configure my Harmonies was so bad for so long. Atrociously bad... It was clear Logitech either didn’t have the interest or the skills to do it correctly. I got so tired of screwing with them that I eventually switched to the Siri Remote full-time and put the Harmony in a drawer.
I can't argue any of that, but to be fair, you use the config software once to set up the remote and then never touch it again. I've been using my Harmony remote for nearly 15 years, and I've used the config app maybe three or four times when I replaced devices in my setup. For me, the Harmony has been a dream device - it supports practically everything, allows you to record IR commands from devices it doesn't, fully customizable, fine-grained control over timing, ALL button functions, etc. I'll be very upset when it dies and I can't replace it. Or if this announcement means I can no longer reconfigure it when I get a new device, but I guess they said that won't happen. Which makes it weird to me that they would discontinue the line - it seems like they're continuing with the hard/unprofitable part. lol
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The Apple remote isn’t perfect — too flat and symmetrical, of course — but put a silicone case on it and most the problems are fixed. The touchpad is where it’s at for me, swipe-scrubbing is waaaay better than clicking D-pad buttons. And “what did he say?” via Siri is awesome, as is “go to 20 minutes”, “Find movies with so and so” etc.
I can't argue any of that, but to be fair, you use the config software once to set up the remote and then never touch it again. I've been using my Harmony remote for nearly 15 years, and I've used the config app maybe three or four times when I replaced devices in my setup. For me, the Harmony has been a dream device - it supports practically everything, allows you to record IR commands from devices it doesn't, fully customizable, fine-grained control over timing, ALL button functions, etc. I'll be very upset when it dies and I can't replace it. Or if this announcement means I can no longer reconfigure it when I get a new device, but I guess they said that won't happen. Which makes it weird to me that they would discontinue the line - it seems like they're continuing with the hard/unprofitable part. lol