Hi,
I do not see anything with long/short in 1.6.10 BUT the core simulator has a nice changes.log:
"long- and short-press button mappings in the web-configurator "
So it is work in progress.
If the issue is still open it’s has not yet been included in an official firmware release.
There are 3 issues related to long press for the February milestone (February 2024 Milestone · GitHub): With the first one (#94) you can map a seconds function to a physical button on the remote via long press (the third variant via double press seems to be not included). This can be any command from any device. Soft buttons have not been confirmed but Marton said he will into it.
The second and third issues (#56 & #92) will add support for long press commands in the Apple TV and Android TV integration. Markus wrote in one of his comment in #56 that one of the next steps is to enhance the Apple TV integration to support missing commands. This is needed as it seems as the long press commands need to be added as a different command in the integration via the new simple commands feature for media player entities.
Just wanted to add my comments about R2. I was not in the Kickstarter but signed up to reserve it very early and got about a month or so after all the Kickstarters got it. My setup is a moderate Atmos surround system with a Denon AVR, Sammy 4K Blu Ray, Frontier DVR, Roku Ultra, and an LG OLED TV. My old remote was the good old Harmony Elite. Currently I am using the R2 as my daily remote and it’s doing everything the Harmony did plus much more. However it was not an easy journey as I had two very high levels of frustration!
When I got it the first thing I wanted to do was to just simply get it to control the individual devices. I thought all I had to do was learn the commands from the Harmony - WRONG. Turns out the Frontier DVR uses an IR format that R2 couldn’t learn. Even some other devices would not learn correctly to R2. This period was VERY frustrating! With help from this forum and finding about the Global Cache database of IR codes I finally got R2 to control all my devices.
Next was setting up activities which wasn’t too bad but I couldn’t get the commands when exiting an activity to work. Of course they weren’t implemented at that time but that fact was not emphasized enough. Eventually the exit sequence was live and now all my activities work like they did on the Harmony.
My final frustration was with Home Assistant. I bought HA Green with the intention of having R2 control some lights and a ceiling fan. Long story short it took a lot of messages back and forth on this forum until I could get R2 to talk to HA.
So in general I am quite pleased with R2 and am just about ready to retire my Harmony. But it was a long and at times a very frustrating process. Yes I realize UC is not a large company and their resources are limited but I think if they had a little more documentation initially available things would have been much smoother for many of us.
I agree that while the documentation is lacking and the initial learning curve was steep for me, if you’ve had it for half a year and still can’t do a single useful thing with it, maybe it isn’t for you.
Not sure who that was directed at, but it’s a terrible take. It isn’t about being able to do useful things, it’s about crippling bugs that aren’t being addressed making the remote not useable (certainly not for those not involved in doing the programming).
Sorry, I did not mean to offend anyone. It hasn’t been my experience that there are crippling bugs. Bugs, sure, but not so as to make the remote unusable.
My principle complaint was the very skimpy documentation. But documentation is improving, and bugs are being addressed. To get the thing up and running, I received much help from this community, especially kennymc.c. He’s also helpful with posting here what the developers are up to in terms of bug fixes because, apparently, you’re supposed to have a Github account.
What I think is a terrible take is saying that the thing is a shiny, expensive paperweight because the developers won’t fix the bugs, or because you can’t figure out how to get to square one with it. As I said before, if someone is unable or unwilling to get the help needed, maybe the R2 isn’t for that someone. It’s definitely not for everyone.
Sorry, having to reboot the remote every time to use AppleTV is a crippling bug. Having to change activities multiple times to get hardware keys to work in AndroidTV and AppleTV integrations is a crippling bug. Having a flaky and unreliable rebooting sequence is a crippling bug.
While getting it work for those who program it is one thing, to use it in a family environment is another. Expecting end users (eg. my family) to have to reboot the remote to use it (especially when reboot may or may not power off the remote and may or may not require multiple efforts to restart it) makes it a paperweight because it can’t replace multiple remotes already in use or crappy solutions like Harmony.
You’re post (along with ones that say “we need more positivity here” (FFS)) simply excuse the failures of UC to be even remotely responsive to users.
I use the Apple TV integration regularly and it is simply not my experience the remote needs to be rebooted every single time. Also, when I do need or want to restart, the power button always brings up “restart” or “shut down” options, which always work (unlike my Harmony, where in order to accomplish this the battery had to be yanked).
But you’re right, someone should acknowledge they are working on this. I’ve said all along it should be a central repository, perhaps a Bugzilla hosted by UC, which prompts you for all the particulars you can supply (firmware, what happens, what you expected to happen, other devices, apps within Apple TV, ect.) You should absolutely not have to go surfing around here, Discord, GitHub, etc. to get answers and acknowledgements. I guess GitHub is the official support venue but it’s not stated anywhere, all word of mouth.
Down the road, if they want this to evolve from a Kickstarter project to a viable business (and sell more remotes) they will have to provide a user manual (even if it’s all online) and a formal technical support system. The Docx linked in this thread is a start but it’s incomplete, and not a peep about how to get support or report problems. If it’s somewhere on GitHub it should say so, and contain a link.
I have no idea how this is possible. Two separate R2s in two different setups with two different AppleTVs and reboot is necessary. As for the reboot ease, one of my remotes reboots mostly without issue … the other shuts down even when you reboot and doesn’t restart with just a power button push but you have to press and hold, then press, then press and hold again in some random fashion to get it to power up again.
I also own 2 R2 with 2 Apple TVs and I don’t have your issues either. I only have random reboot problems where sometimes the reboot doesn’t work and I have to hold power as you said.
I don’t know if this changes anything : my Apple TVs are the latest 4k models connected with Ethernet. I have fixed IPs for all devices also.
Everything is in the same subnet.
Yes. We actually do and your wording underlines that. Being frustrated is understandable if one had the impression of getting a from start 100% working device. It still is a kickstarter-project with very small group of people behind. Like it or not, we as first in line are beta-testers.
Since we do not have same issues on all devices in same use issues are possibly depending on some settings / conditions. If UC is unable to repeat those then you need to step in. Just as an example, I have no issues whatsoever with my AndroidTV-integration. Or Roon, or HA for that matter.
So. Instead of shouting FFS here, step in and contribute. Take logs out of your R2, explain your config and situation where issues occur. Create an issue to git where bugs and issues are reported. If you already have done this, great, You have added possibilities to get issues resolved and helped UC.
I am still very positive. And I still think this place could use some positivity. Just because I say it does not deserve any swearing from you, you are bigger than that.
If you go to the official support page (Unfolded Circle - Support) there is a link to submit a bug report that links to a bug and feature request template on GitHub.
So I would assume that this forum and Discord are no official support channels where you would expect answers from UC. I guess they are just platforms for user to user support and occasional updates from team members.
Maybe I’ve done that? Maybe I’ve made multiple posts to GitHub with plenty of logs, all but ignored by Marton and Markus?
What we are experiencing is not acceptable or excusable. Not for a premium priced product that they are hoping to turn into a viable business. We don’t need more positivity, we need UC earning that positivity by being at least responsive:
A periodic update on what issues are being worked on and the progress being made.
When specifically tagged in a post on one of their official channels, acknowledging it and advising whether the issue is already being worked on
Offering to let users beta test solutions instead of waiting for the next “stable” firmware revision
Creating one source of truth from UC instead of everything being scattered
I have backed other crowdfunded projects. I look at my experience with UC versus (for example) AAWireless and it’s night and day. Much superior experience for a far less premium sector product.
Problem with your comment is the product will never gain traction unless the less sophisticated can use it. 90% of people want to pick it up, press a few buttons and use it.
If they can’t offer that kind of functionality then they will run out of money and die. There’s being a sophisticated user and a product being plain ridiculous to set up. I sold mine!
There are a number of knock-off products, but Emil pretty much invented the sector with his AA Gateway solution and then partnered with Snripo to create a plug and play device. I was in on the Indiegogo campaign and the support I received directly from the devs when I was struggling to get it to work with my BMW was amazing. It now work flawlessly through 3 phones and a new car.
I missed the part in the Kickstarter where they mentioned that they were only working on the project a couple hours a week because they had other obligations. Can someone point that out for me?
I would love to pay someone to walk me through getting a usable configuration with Home Assistant, and I would in turn produce a professional video tutorial. I’m a video producer, not a dev. Let’s get productive and try to help each other out.
, I didn’t even know about this option for AA