Harmony Hub integration / reliability

harmony
#1

After reading many forum topics i still dont get how to make Harmony work well with ST. I was assuming the integration would work good since its implemented by ST themselves. All topics i read are either old, unsolved or they fix problems by installing a server. Is it not possible for these 2 apps to communicate good without needing a server or a workaround? If my harmony app from my phone can control volume why cant ST on the same phone do it? Do i really need a raspberry pi to simply turn volume up or down? Its ridiculous in my opinion.

  1. My first and most important problem is that the Harmony hub in ST is not reliable at all. It disconnects all the time. If after 10mins it still doesnt jump to “unavailable” its long. If i cant fix this theres no point in using Harmony with ST at all.

  2. How do i get things like volume control or change channels working with ST? I see people making harmony activities for just volume or adding a server and use for example KUKUharmony. Some of these problems date back to 2014. Is there a decent solution yet?

(Ron Talley) #2

Reliability… I have 3 Hubs and they all work perfect. ST treats the implementation just like activity buttons. Works perfect.

I chased the volume thing down for a while. After I achieved it, I scratched my head and asked why. It’s stupid simple to pick up the remote and change the volume which was the case for me 99% of the time. Even having the ability to change volume with Alexa, it’s silly to screem into the Alexa device to change the volume when the harmony remote is sitting right on the table.

I have Fire Sticks and TVs everywhere. We use the fire remote religiously to change “channels” programs. However, the Harmony is a super cool remote. It would however not be as streamlined if I had to cycle through all of my devices just to get to the volume and channels switching.

I love the concept of cars that drive there selves but give me a steering wheel please Sir. :joy:

#3

Good to hear theres someone out there who says it can be reliable. However at this point i sadly cannot share your opinion. My Harmony hub disconnects a few minutes after i manually connect it. Any idea what can be the cause of this?

About the remote you have a valid point. But right now i do not own a harmony remote, well i do have an older version but it wont be compatible. So for now i wanted to be able to adjust volume and change channels with my phone. But yes, after i get a new remote i most likely will never use phone again for this.

(Steve Jackson) #4

Just to add, my Harmony hub works great too. I never have issues. I too played with the volume thing and realized it was more work to use voice to control volume. I can change channels by voice which is helpful. I have a couple activities tied too Smartthings that allow me to tell my Google home to “pause fire stick” and it pauses the video and brings the living room lights up. I have a “resume fire stick” which of course resumes the program and dims the lights. I never lose connection to smart things. I love my Harmony. I also have the remote for the hub and consider it to be very well laid out with a great “feel”.

Since you can’t find the issue maybe completely remove the Harmony from your automation setup and try reinstalling everything? You probably already tried it but that’s what I would do.

#5

Virtual Devices are the key. When you turn in your TV have a VD turn on which then executes a routine or core piston to do what you want.

#6

I battled with volume and other controls outside of harmony activities, hated creating so many activities. I finally installed kukus harmony api on a raspberry pi and couldn’t be happier, finally granular control of any IR device.

#7

How did you guys install the Harmony hub in ST? I used the normal method of adding the app throught the menu. I think it was in remotes. This is correct or should i try some custom app or device handler?

(Mark) #8

No custom smartapps or device handlers needed, just install from the marketplace tab.

I also have no issues with reliability of my harmony-ST integration.

Have you opened a ticket with support?

#9

Not yet. I figured i will try a bit more before i contact support about it. I have the feeling the fault lays at Logitech, not ST. Atleast Smartthings can find the Harmony hub, it just disconnects after some minutes. But on the Harmony side i cannot detect ST at all.

#10

I would like to be able to turn off everything connected using harmony within a routine in smartthings. Is this possible without external server running api?

#11

if you create a harmony activity that turns everything off you can trigger that activity from ST but thats about it unless you start mingling with the api

#12

Its also possible to add a pocket socket to it that really turns everything off after that instead of keeping it on standby.

#13

David I saw this activity was now available by default which previously couldn’t make an activity for it.