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Topic:
Harmony and Xbox One... Work-around or..?
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Post 1 made on Tuesday February 11, 2014 at 14:05
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February 2014
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Okay, so this will be a long one, ha ha...

What is currently the best configuration for running a Harmony remote (in my case a Touch model) with an Xbox One?

When I got my Xbox One on launch day, the Harmony support wasn't really there. It could power on the Xbox, and even control the menu if I set up a "Play a Game" activity, but it wouldn't control the cable box at all.

On the other hand, if I set up "Watch TV", and selected the Xbox One to change the channels, it was the same deal... I could navigate the Xbox menu to select live TV, but neither change the channel nor open or navigate the cable box menus. If I selected the cable box to change the channels, then I could do so and navigate cable menus... But then I couldn't control the Xbox.

It is as if Harmony is fundamentally missing the point of the Xbox One, that being that it is an all-in-one media center, with cable service being integrated as an app, much like Netflix, Hulu, et al.

The big issue here, of course, is that for a proper interface with the Xbox One and a cable box, the same set of controls is called upon to do different things within one activity. The directional pad has to control both the Xbox menus, and the cable box menus, for instance. If we look at the defunct Logitech Revue, we know this is possible. The d-pad on the Revue remote could navigate the revue menu and apps like Netflix, but when the TV app was selected, the pad could then control your cable box's On Demand menu, Guide menu, etc. while watching TV.

Apparently (unless something has changed) it's not the same with the Xbox One.

At any rate, here's the crux of my question (finally)... I believe I have figured out a work-around, however I want to know if this is the best option at the moment?

Here's my configuration:

One activity "Watch TV" (renamed "Xbox").

The setup helper wanted to turn on just the cable box and TV, and turn the Xbox off. Again, missing the point of the Xbox One, as the cable box has to go through the Xbox, which must be on, to send picture to the TV.

I manually added the Xbox One to be on.

The cable box is set up to change the channels.

And here's where it gets complicated and annoying... Basically I split nearly every button on the remote between the cable box and the Xbox One utilizing the "short press" or "long press" option. For instance, a short press of "right direction" will let me navigate to the right in the Xbox menu or app like Netflix. A long press of the same button will let me navigate to the right in a cable box menu, such as Guide or On Demand.

Same deal with the play/pause/FF/RW buttons, and the colored buttons on bottom of the remote. Everything is set up short press for the Xbox One and long press for the cable box (with the exception of the menu button, which I set up as the Xbox One "Home" button with a long press).

Everything works pretty flawlessly, however being stuck with long presses for every cable box control (beyond the channel buttons) is super annoying. Navigating a guide menu to find something not airing for several hours takes way longer than it should, for instance.

I'm aware that being a touch, I can utilize on screen keys as well. And I've added the Xbox Home button front and center in the main activity screen. However I'd really love to find a better solution for the solid keys... Some configuration that would allow the Harmony to understand when it's in the Xbox One, and when it's in the TV app, so the standard presses could be used for all buttons.

Any ideas? Have there been any fixes I am unaware of, and I'm not over-complicating things? Or is my work-around the best option currently?

Thanks!

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