If you are having trouble finding your model number, we recommend reviewing this support article: Finding your device's model number. The manufacturer and model number you entered was not found in the Harmony database of 225,000+ entertainment devices, nor were any similar matches. View this support article for more information: Adding a device that's not found in the Harmony database. If you are sure the information entered is correct, then you may still add this device by teaching Harmony IR commands from the original remote. It's important to review these carefully as different model numbers often means the device will have different IR commands or input/source lists that may cause your Activities to start incorrectly. If the manufacturer and model number you entered was not found in the Harmony database, however similar matches were, those similar matches will be presented. View this support article for more information: Understanding devices with multiple IR versions. By default, Harmony will add the device into your account using the most common version however if that does not work you can change the version. Most devices respond to a single type of IR signal however some devices have multiple versions of those IR signals and it's important that Harmony understands which one to send. There are different versions of this device It's important that you review this as changes may have to be made to your device before it can be controlled. Monopoly, even the small unimportant ones, make life a little worse.When adding a device to your account, Harmony looks for information that may help you in controlling this device and will display that information if anything's found. Pretty well every step of it has been infuriating to watch.” “Essentially, Logitech was allowed to buy up a competing company, use their brand to dominate the market for over a decade, until finally they faced other monopolists (Amazon, Apple, Google) and decided to give up and shut down, leaving customers, to borrow a recently-overworked phrase, holding the bag. the PS5) aren’t added to the database, or else vulnerable to hacking as security issues go unpatched.” :Since much of the Harmony software is cloud-based, countless systems may become inoperable, or impossible to update as new devices (e.g. As my source says, “if Harmony were its own company, I highly doubt they’d decide to shut down due to abject hopelessness.” Now the database will probably be destroyed, and people will have to redesign their systems to no longer include a universal remote. Their CEO says it is because of competition from streaming, but that's nonsense, they’ve wanted to get rid of the product line since 2013.

I say ‘was’ because Logitech is actually killing the entire product line now. For obvious reasons, they haven’t open-sourced this database.” “Their market dominance has been ironclad because of their database: they have infrared codes for hundreds of thousands of devices, from brand-name TVs to random HDMI doodads on page fourteen of Amazon. Logitech is a monopolist in the universal remote control space, which it acquired in 2004 when it purchased a firm called Harmony.

Logitech’s products are pretty, but the actual quality of the software is terrible, which is the classic sign of a marketing-driven organization run by lazy executives. “These remotes,” he told me, “can control a massive array of A/V devices including TVs, cable boxes, disc players, streaming boxes, amplifiers, and more recently IoT devices like lights, blinds, and plugs.” As it turns out, the answer is… a monopoly! A few months ago, I got an email from a professional installer and BIG reader who told me about the company Logitech, a consumer electronics producer. I had always wondered why no one has been able to solve the ‘too many remote controls’ problem, a clutter a living room of remotes with no ability to figure out which one controls which device. If you’d like to sign up to receive issues over email, you can do so here. Welcome to BIG, a newsletter on the politics of monopoly power.

Harmony remote control