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First Impressions


Benjamin Metzler

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I absolutely love the Skip 1S. Building a new hardware remote is hard. Making an interface to that remote that is easy to use is really hard. I know, I've tried. Please take my observations with nothing but respect for the work you've done.

General:

  • I love that you can export your remote configuration to a JSON file. This is hugely powerful, beyond troubleshooting. Everything is right there in plain text glory. With access to the configuration I could
    • Clone an activity.  I exported the remote configuration, opened it up in VSCode, copied the A activity entry, updated the Activity ID to B, reimported, and it just worked.
    • Change the color of the devices in the activities to match between activities.
    • Create a repo for my remote configuration in github. Now, when I (inevitably) screw up my configuration, it's safely versioned.
  • The developers have been amazingly responsive to forum users. It feels very much like when I was part of the JP-1 community.
  • The remote is (mostly) well-designed, with a good selection of buttons without being overwhelming

Software:

  • You can't program macros to activity keys (turn on X, Y, and Z, and then switch to Watch TV activity). I asked about this on another post, but this is my biggest issue. When I sit down to watch TV, I don't want to press one button and then have to press another. I want it to turn on with a single button press and just be ready.
  • The Power button seems to maintain some sort of state, but it doesn't always seem correct. Ideally, I could program a macro to the power button as well, as the only time I'd use it would be to power off everything. I can kind of do that, but it is a pain.
  • The colors between activities don't match the devices, so activity A with my Yamaha receiver is Red, but on activity B it is Blue. I couldn't find a way to adjust the color in the app, but I discovered I could in the JSON.
  • Each Activity gets its own device list, which is strange to me. I have one set of devices and I would only use the remote in that one location. Being able to add devices to the app independent of an activity would be more usable for me, then I could mix and match devices without having to re-add them.
  • Can't see what device is currently on any activity (e.g. the name of the selected IR codes). I could in the JSON, but not in the app.
  • If you go into the wizard on an existing activity and click one of the already added devices, it takes you to the "Do you want to set up a new device" screen. Am I replacing the device, adding a new one? I'm not sure.
  • The last page in the Activity Wizard is "Your Activity Summary", which asks "Does everything looks okay?"[sic]. What am I supposed to do on this page? It looks like I should be able to configure the power button options, but I can't change anything.
  • There should be a way to search the button panel instead of having to scroll, hoping you find what you are looking for.
  • If you are in the button panel and open a button on the remote, selecting another device in that activity will close the button. So if I'm setting up a multi-device macro on a button, I have to open the button each time I switch devices.
  • A long press option would be nice, at least on the activity buttons. This would allow the remote to handle up to 6 devices.
  • I wish there was a way to upload the JSON directly to the remote without having to import into the app first.
  • I'd also like to be able to directly sync with git any changes I made. One can dream.

Hardware:

  • The activity buttons on the remote look like they have little stickers on them instead of printing
  • The color button icon on the remote is off center.
  • The remote is too damn slick in my hands. Some texture can make for a better user experience.
  • The media buttons are spread apart. The STOP and RECORD buttons are at the bottom of the remote, but the FF, REW, PLAY are at the top.
  • Like phones, thumb-ability is important in a remote. Being able to hold the remote comfortably in one hand is important. Being able to rest the remote in your hand in a braced position (bottom corner in the palm of the hand) makes it easier to use. The color wheel is just outside my (long) thumb rang. I can comfortably reach the bottom part of it, but the rest is outside my reach unless I shift the remote down. I can adjust my grip, but moving the wheel down would be the more usable solution for most people.
Edited by Benjamin Metzler
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • You can't program macros to activity keys (turn on X, Y, and Z, and then switch to Watch TV activity). I asked about this on another post, but this is my biggest issue. When I sit down to watch TV, I don't want to press one button and then have to press another. I want it to turn on with a single button press and just be ready.

I just found out too! I am so extremely disappointed about that!

I was expecting that I could alter the sequence of an activity button, to turn on the tv, turn off the Apple TV and switch the TV to the correct HDMI input. When I want to watch a movie, I would want to press activity button B and want the tv to switch to HDMI port 2. This doesn't seem to be possible. And that is where the Logitech Harmony rocks.

Although I love the quality of the remote build, the software lacks and it makes me regret buying this remote. I am so extremely disappointed right now. :-( This was totally not what I was expecting. It's not usable for me at this point.

Please do something about the activity button and add a sequence to it.

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2 hours ago, John Doe said:

I was expecting that I could alter the sequence of an activity button, to turn on the tv, turn off the Apple TV and switch the TV to the correct HDMI input. When I want to watch a movie, I would want to press activity button B and want the tv to switch to HDMI port 2. This doesn't seem to be possible. And that is where the Logitech Harmony rocks.

...

Please do something about the activity button and add a sequence to it.

Yep, this has been requested by several people and is now on the roadmap.

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I also am very disappointed in the software side. Many of the same points as above. I thought I'd be able to do macros but so far the only thing the remote can do right at the moment is control volume.

I noticed a few things in the app is greyed out, I'm guessing these are still being implemented? Like I wanted to change My activity on B to A and I could not.

My power button I have set to turn toggle power of my projector and receiver and the receiver worked, but projector didn't even respond. Also I have to press the project power button twice to turn it off, which I have set in the activity but I saw no response on even the first one. Need macro functionality so I can set delays in between codes being sent.

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I'm not disappointed. I know this is still a product in development and there will be issues. The developers have been quite forward with their development efforts, so I'm willing to give them the time they need to get to a release state. Right now it's still beta level.

Having a global sleep command would be nice though. Some buttons have a delay, but not all of them.

Edited by Benjamin Metzler
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