Logitech has just released an official Alexa Skill that allows you to control Harmony remotes using your voice and Alexa. The new ability will allow you to say “Alexa, turn on/off the TV” to power on/off devices. You will also be able to enable Harmony Activities which control multiple devices, including smart home devices like lights and thermostats, with a single command. If you have cable television, you’ll also be able to change channels by simply saying “Alexa, turn on ESPN” without any extra configuration. As long as the Harmony remote hub recognises your cable provider, it will automatically detect the channels available to you and make them voice accessible.
Logitech also says the new Alexa Skill will be able to launch apps on Roku devices by saying something like “Alexa, turn on Netflix.” Harmony remotes are capable of controlling Fire TVs and Fire TV Sticks via bluetooth, but there is no mention of Fire TV integration with this new Alexa Skill at this time. Many people have already been able to achieve all of these voice features, and more, by linking Harmony hubs with Alexa through third party services like IFTTT and Yonomi. This new Alexa Skill from Logitech is a good start, but hopefully they’ll continue to expand on its abilities, since 1st-party solutions have the potential to be far better than 3rd-party middleman option.
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Already got it setup. Works fairly well.
The funny thing is? I emailed them 2 days ago asking them for this…. And tada!
Now… If they could only get volume control implemented and channel changing by name.
“Now… If they could only get volume control implemented and channel changing by name.” – that’s exactly what I was hoping for. I can use IFTTT (which works very well for me) to turn TV on and off. The only thing this update does really is eliminates the need to say the word “trigger”. Hopefully, Logitech/Amazon can step it up, and give us what we really want – ability to control volume, and channels.
Works well for turning things on and off. More responsive than IFTTT. It would be nice if it had FireTV integration, but really, Amazon should be able to set that up directly without needing a middleman like Harmony.
it was working great for me and now every request is me with “sorry, the ‘whatever device’ is not responding’.
Not here in the UK Skill this morning, but either way, emulating Hue Light switches with a RPI using HA Bridge is pretty easy and avoids the command going to many laps round the internet.
It is working for me but it is limited to just one Harmony Hub and to make changes requires disabling and then re-enabling including reconnecting account. That is a tad painful if you add Roku channels. I wish it had a similar call to Fire TV apps as the Roku integration. If they get more than one hub figured out, I’d consider switching to my Rokus now the Playstation Vue is on the Roku as well as the Fire TV. It’s a good first step and better than the Yomoni intermediary that only worked occasionally for me.
It is working for me but it is limited to just one Harmony Hub and to make changes requires disabling and then re-enabling including reconnecting account. That is a tad painful if you add Roku channels. I wish it had a similar call to Fire TV apps as the Roku integration. If they get more than one hub figured out, I’d consider switching to my Rokus now the Playstation Vue is on the Roku as well as the Fire TV. It’s a good first step and better than the Yonomi intermediary that only worked occasionally for me.
I have been using the HA bridge with an echo dot for a while now and it has pretty good harmony support. The main advantage would be that it can support multiple hubs and is quite responsive (since it’s all local). In addition to harmony activities I have it controlling my logitech squeezebox music system.
https://github.com/bwssytems/ha-bridge
I assume you need the Harmony Hub, this wouldnt just work somehow with my Harmony One or Harmony 650 remotes?
How is the Harmony Hub connected? WiFi? Bluetooth? I’ve been thinking of ways to write my own Alexa Skill for my Nevo (Discontinued RCA Remote Hubs that work on Bluetooth) but I’m not sure if it would work. Knowing how this Harmony Hub connects may help.
Wifi