My wife and I have been using my 'hacked' 650 to control six devices for the last year or so, and it works flawlessly. The Harmony software sees it as one device, but it actually controls two. The commands to control my Roku would 'piggy-back' atop that existing device, such as my TV, as a sort of 'phantom device.' Just imagine a TV remote and Roku remote taped together. I could create a new 'Watch Roku' activity using commands learned from the Roku remote and tacked on to one of the five devices. The workaround depends on the fact that those commands don't necessarily have to come from the just one remote. Harmony's learning function is designed to allow you to customize a device by adding new commands from the original device's remote control. The activity system is the main reason Harmony remotes are so intuitive to use. An activity, for example 'Watch TV,' is just a sequence of commands the remote sends ('turn on devices x, y, z switch input on x') combined with particular button associations and screen layouts (Volume keys control the AV receiver, Channel +/- keys control the cable box, etc.). With Harmony remotes you have a limited number of devices but a basically unlimited number of so-called activities.

The slideshow below has the full instructions and screenshots (which are repeated at the end of this article in full for reference). Once you go universal, having to resort back to multiple clickers is a hassle akin to suddenly needing a second steering wheel to drive.Īfter a bit of thought, it occurred to me that, thanks to the Harmony's ability to 'learn' additional commands from the original remote controls, there's an easy workaround that would allow me to add a sixth and potentially even more devices. I already had five devices - a TV, an AV receiver, a Fios DVR, a PS3 (via an IR-to-BT controller), and a Moxi Mate - so I figured I'd have to 'go manual' and use the Roku's remote in conjunction with my beloved 650. I hit that limit last year when I wanted to add a Roku to my system to access HBO Go. As the first line of The Bad from our review says, it can only control up to five different devices. I love my Harmony 650 universal remote, but it has one major flaw.

Myharmony desktop software not working