Logitech Harmony now working with PS4 (with a catch)

[Elandyll]

The catch being that you still cannot actually turn the PS4 ON with the remote. The rest apparently works though.
Oh, and Harmony is kinda discreet about that, but it's only their HUB line of Harmony Products that was updated, not the older IR based products.

This has been updated yesterday:

http://betanews.com/2015/06/02/you-c...heres-a-catch/

Besides being a video game console, the PlayStation 4 is also a media machine. Quite frankly, along with the Xbox One, it is one of the best such media players, since it can play Blu-ray and all of the popular streaming services. You can even buy and download films to the internal 500GB hard drive.

Unfortunately, Sony's console does not come with a remote control; the user is expected to control their media with the game controller. True, if a users wants a proper remote, they can buy a third-party Bluetooth variant, but what if they want one remote to handle all of their devices? Today is their lucky day. You see, Logitech Harmony remotes with Hub can now control the console. Unfortunately, there is a big catch.


"Control for PlayStation 4 is something our customers have been asking for for some time. We're happy to announce that, in addition to bringing home control capabilities to all hub-based products, our most recent software update also makes PlayStation 4 control possible for these hub-based remotes", says Logitech.

The company further explains, "with this new functionality, you can now navigate menus on your PlayStation 4 using your Harmony remote or the Harmony app. We know many users rely on PlayStation 4 for more than just games, so now you can use your Harmony remote or app to control Blu-Ray movies and streaming apps streaming apps including Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Instant Video, and more. And in many cases, you can use the Harmony mobile app to enter text to find your favorite show or movies or when using the PlayStation 4 web browser".

So what is this catch I speak of? Sadly, you cannot use a remote to power on the PlayStation 4. Logitech explains that it is not their fault, instead blaming Sony for a poor design choice. As of now, only PS4 controllers can power on the console. Maybe Sony will fix this in a future revision or firmware update. Having to walk up to the PS4 to turn it on before using the remote will be tedious.

Xbox One owners will have a much easier time as Microsoft wisely included an IR sensor in its console.

Are you excited to finally control PlayStation 4 media with your Logitech Harmony remote and Hub? Tell me in the comments.

Afaik, It's all Bluetooth signal sending codes over to the PS4. So ... Unless Sony decided to encrpyt the start sequence (for security reasons) sent to PS4, there is no reason for the PS button to be different from the rest of them buttons.

Interestingly, as you will have noted, ONLY the most recent of Harmony products actually received this update:

https://support.myharmony.com/en/har...-playstation-4

So it's Harmony Hub -ONLY- ($99 for Hub alone).

Many have pointed out that in many cases turning on the PS4 will be a non issue -IF- your TV and Receiver are HDMI-CEC compatible.

I am pleased with this development, but the turning on might be an issue in my case (given that my receiver is -not- CEC compatible).

Baby steps