Missing something - what is this good for?

Posted on
Mon Feb 06, 2017 12:41 pm
nathanw offline
Posts: 152
Joined: Sep 05, 2011
Location: Boston, MA

Missing something - what is this good for?

Hi. I'm hoping the people who hang out here can fill in a gap in my understanding. I have an older Harmony, and have vaguely considered a Hub as part of an upgrade, so I've been looking at this plugin... and I feel like I'm just missing something.

In a nutshell, what are the useful things one can do with the Harmony Hub and this plugin? It seems like it's mostly about causing the rest of your HA system to react when the AV system is doing something? That seems a little vague, but my imagination (as well as not knowing what else people tend to have automated) is failing me.

Posted on
Mon Feb 06, 2017 12:43 pm
FlyingDiver offline
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Posts: 7189
Joined: Jun 07, 2014
Location: Southwest Florida, USA

Re: Missing something - what is this good for?

Probably the most common is using Indigo to adjust lights, etc, when you start an Activity with the remote. Or turn the lights back on when you turn everything off with the remote.

Others are using it to send specific commands to their Hub from an Indigo control page, bypassing the remote entirely.

joe (aka FlyingDiver)
my plugins: http://forums.indigodomo.com/viewforum.php?f=177

Posted on
Mon Feb 06, 2017 1:16 pm
Different Computers offline
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Joined: Jan 02, 2016
Location: East Coast

Re: Missing something - what is this good for?

My integration is what I think of as pretty basic:

I can turn on my AV system to the input I want from Indigo, so for example, I start up the Apple TV activity when I'm out of the room and by the time I am in my TV room, the whole system is up and running. This is a bonus for me because my TV takes a while to get all the way awake. I also have the AV system amp come on automatically and switch outputs based on whether the Indigo-controlled iTunes is running

Based on the status of my AV system, I also have my iTunes (which Airplays to the AV system but isn't really a part of it) stop, since I don't really want music playing when the TV is on, and Indigo adjusts lights in the house based on things like AV state, whether my wife is home, etc. So for example, if I turn on the TV when I'm the only one home, the lights go out in the rest of the house that isn't the TV room.

If I wanted to, I could go a bit deeper and have Indigo react based on the play pause states, and even integrate with my Plex server's state.

I've considered using the Harmony Hub to control some cheapo LED color changing bulbs via IR, but that seems fiddly and maybe not worth the trouble, and I'm also unconvinced of the Wife Acceptance Factor.

SmartThings refugee, so happy to be on Indigo. Monterey on a base M1 Mini w/Harmony Hub, Hue, DomoPad, Dynamic URL, Device Extensions, HomeKitLink, Grafana, Plex, uniFAP, Fantastic Weather, Nanoleaf, LED Simple Effects, Bond Home, Camect.

Posted on
Thu May 25, 2017 9:26 am
Umtauscher offline
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Posts: 566
Joined: Oct 03, 2014
Location: Cologne, Germany

Re: Missing something - what is this good for?

Yes and for me, who just recently found this plugin I do the following:
When I get up in the mornig and enter the bathroom, I switch on a Yamaha Musiccast network speaker by it's built in power button. Indigo just sees that by polling the speaker and in turn activates the action "Radio" in my harmony setup and that leads to the whole house hetting music without even having to use a remote.

Just for ideas...

Posted on
Thu May 25, 2017 10:30 am
johnfdl offline
Posts: 177
Joined: May 18, 2017
Location: Atlanta, GA USA

Re: Missing something - what is this good for?

In my ideal world, none of my home AV equipment requires IR. My stereo (Denon) works via HTTP and the Indigo plug in as does my Tivo. While my TV is IP connected, it doesn't seem to support any control via IP or any other method (Vizio) so I still need IR for that. But my next TV will be one that I can connect to and control with Indigo. While I have a Harmony Hub (gift), I actually don't have it set up. The only benefit I could think of would be to be able to integrate it with Indigo. And I don't mind just grabbing the Tivo remote and clicking (gasp) which turns on the TV and AV system as well. Guess I am in a similar state where I am unsure of the benefit. But I see the key benefit for most as:

1. Being able to control Indigo devices, actions, etc via a Harmony "scene" (lights, etc.)
2. Being able to reduce the number of remotes to one.

Posted on
Thu May 25, 2017 10:51 am
jay (support) offline
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Joined: Mar 19, 2008
Location: Austin, Texas

Re: Missing something - what is this good for?

I use the Harmony Hub and Harmony companion remote because it's the best universal hard-button remote available (IMO). I have a TiVO, AppleTV, and Bluray player along with my Yamaha amp and Visio TV (the only one that needs the blaster). I don't have to look at it, I can just "feel" it to determine which button I want. So it works really well in a dark room. This is the best/most reliable universal remote I've ever used. Added bonus that you don't have to point it in any particular direction since it's bluetooth.

I use the home automation buttons on the companion to control the lights (using the LIFX bridge plugin), again via "feel". I raise the lights when the harmony activity turns off (via this plugin) since that means I'm leaving the room. The media room is the only upstairs room so raising the lights is critical to safely exiting the room/floor.

I don't use Indigo to control the hub really, because that's what the companion remote is for. Call me old fashioned, but for me nothing beats a good hard-button remote.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Thu May 25, 2017 12:23 pm
Busta999 offline
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Posts: 714
Joined: Mar 30, 2016
Location: Wales UK

Re: Missing something - what is this good for?

nathanw wrote:
Hi. I'm hoping the people who hang out here can fill in a gap in my understanding. I have an older Harmony, and have vaguely considered a Hub as part of an upgrade, so I've been looking at this plugin... and I feel like I'm just missing something.

In a nutshell, what are the useful things one can do with the Harmony Hub and this plugin? It seems like it's mostly about causing the rest of your HA system to react when the AV system is doing something? That seems a little vague, but my imagination (as well as not knowing what else people tend to have automated) is failing me.


I use the Harmony Hub, controlled by Indigo....

1. Using Alexa plugin, 'Alexa, turn on Tv/Appletv/Wii/Music' Indigo turns on Tv/Amp/SAT receiver - switches Amp HDMI to Sat/Appletv/Wii (use AppleTv (airplay) for music but doesn't turn on tv.

2. Same for Alexa turn off Tv...

3. Shut down everything on Alexa `Turn On Goodnight Mode' uses Harmony Hub to shutdown AV

4. Alexa Turn On Away mode also shuts down AV.

5. If we select a movie in Plex on Appletv, Indigo sets Receiver to 5;1 audio using Harmony Hub.

6. If door bell rings, Indigo pauses live Tv/ Appletv/ Plex / Music.

If think that is all the Harmony Hub.


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