The Logitech Harmony 880 is a universal infrared remote intended to control the numerous parts of a home theater system with one remote. The Harmony remotes are programmable allowing sequences of IR commands to be sent to start an activity. So "Watch Blu-ray" could be configured to turn on TV, receiver, and blu-ray player player, and set TV and receiver to correct inputs. Convenient to keep from needing numerous remotes to start an activity. Programming is performed using Logitech internet based software to update the remote via a USB connection. In 2021, Logitech announced that they would discontinue Harmony Remote manufacturing. The release indicates support would still continue software support, who knows how long that will remain.
The 880 remote build is great quality. I'm not sure exactly when I got mine but it is upwards of 15 years of service with only some cosmetic wear to the buttons. It has a rechargeable battery, that charges in a storage cradle. Over the years the universality of the remote has diminished as more devices use RF remote protocols. To keep the 880 working after getting a Roku box, an ESP8266 needed to be setup to translate IR remote signals to HTTP POST commands.
This project is undertaking an upgrade for the 880 universal remote to, update screen to TFT with better resolution, build in wifi connectivity, and provide an open source software solution for setup and programming.
This is dope. I really hope some people get together and try to reverse engineer the binary blobs from the online software before it goes dark forever. I can do software, but reverse engineering is out of my realm of lived experience.
In case any other unicorns are out there still into Harmony remotes, you can control *some* Rokus with a stock Harmony. Basically, if it comes with the "Simple Remote", which is just old school IR. The Voice Remote is a no-go though, although before I got the Harmony, I was using an 8bitdo controller hooked up to a Raspberry Pi, launching a series of shell scripts that would send the HTTP request for the button that was pressed, because I got tired of using the mobile app after my original remote broke. It worked, although obviously Bluetooth + sending even local network requests for every button press did add a bit of latency. Your ESP8266 implementation is arguably more elegant, but I just got annoyed and improvised something I could get working in a night lol
Unfortunately I didn't think about that when I got my mom a Harmony, and got most of her devices set up, until I realized that the Amazon Fire Stick has the same problem as the Roku Voice Remotes. Aaand I'm rambling.