As I walk trade shows or encounter systems, that are mostly spinoffs of example configurations, I think that the screens are too cluttered and that there is a tendency to include all of the native remote buttons, many of which are never used or are only required for setup. The configuration captures the pain of multiple native remotes in a single shell.
In some cases I can interrogate the system and, as the remote wakes, I'll display the appropriate screen. This is very convenient when a user walks into a room and it is not immediately clear what is playing (cable, ROKU, Internet radio station, etc.) -- especially for significant others who don't appreciate the mega system approach to A/V.
One annoyance as an integrator is if I must go back to the site for some reason, need a rare button, must track down a native remote, and probably some fresh batteries. A way around this is to include an initial screen, possibly password protected, that leads to all these buttons. This screen is available only after a reload or reboot and cannot be accidentally encountered during normal operation. In multi-room systems there should be a way of changing a remote's room in case the dog eats one remote, but this capability should not be available with a slip of the finger -- else there is the risk of introducing a late night thundering chase into a bedroom.
Implied in the above is that remotes are screen oriented. I feel everyone's pain who wants a button remote because a button remote can be all touch and you don't need to be constantly changing your focus between the remote screen and the TV screen. The other side of this coin is the button remote that has more buttons than necessary and the button labels do not correspond well with the native remotes. Another side of the coin is the phone/pad App that will probably better present a device's current status than a custom remote. And yet another side of the coin is the Apple approach with a minimum of confusing buttons, but it's an annoying (to me) routine of constant scroll and drill down. A "Netflix" (or similar) button would be convenient.
