May 2023

State of the Union

Version 8 focuses on updating core pieces of the app. The primary systems of the app including the Activities Panel and Action Panel have been significantly updated. One of the most important integrations from long ago has been our partnership with Lutron. In this release, all of the modern Lutron controllers are supported including quite a few advanced use cases. For Homeworks QSX, keypad monitoring is now supported. On the other end, Pico hard button remotes are now supported with Caséta. We’re very proud of how well integrated this is, and that’s due in large part to top-notch systems from Lutron that allowed us to explore these finer details in a very reliable way.

Meanwhile, multiple window support has been added. This is most obvious on macOS, but also supports the newly introduced iPadOS 16.1’s Stage Manager as well as iPadOS 15’s side-by-side mode. Video Cameras and diagnostic logging can be split off into their own windows.

Our built-in Intercomm system also available as a stand-alone app now supports direct HomePod intercom announcements live – not pre-recorded. Sonos announcements are now much higher quality. Both target types support sending announcements to all known speakers simultaneously.

In 2015, we added Simple Control Accounts. These accounts offered a secondary payment system designed for integrators, Remote Access, and Cloud Sync. We later consolidated in Version 6 (2018) so that all payments go through Apple for simplicity and security, cloud sync goes through iCloud, and Remote Access uses VPN thus obviating the original accounts. The payments through the old system have finally all expired and thus are shut down and consolidated in this release. All of the old accounts, email addresses, and names are being purged for privacy. Going forward as of this release, everything goes through Sign In with Apple offering you numerous privacy options while also providing the only thing we actually needed which is a unique identifier to distinguish a particular home for relaying Alexa Commands. Existing Alexa links will continue to work as long as you perform an in-place upgrade from a working linked device. New Alexa links, if you choose to create one, use Sign In with Apple authentication instead of the old accounts. This long-planned transition may look simple, but took a huge amount of planning and work behind the scenes.

System Requirements have increased by the usual +1 annual change. Remember to evaluate your Primary Controller platform to make sure it is up to date. The current recommended Primary Controller for new purchases is either an iPad Air 5 if you plan to use it as a dashboard, or an iPhone 13 mini – with an 1G Ethernet dongle on either. The key element is the CPU. An A12 CPU (such as that in the 2021 Apple TV 4K) should be considered the absolute minimum today. A Primary Controller with numerous video cameras on the Dashboard and Automation tasks really benefits from an M1 such as that in the iPad Air 5, but the new 2022 Apple TV 4K with an A15 CPU is also an excellent choice. The actual minimum requirement is any device that runs iOS 15, tvOS 15, macOS 12. Note that the new widgets requires iOS 16.1 or macOS 13.1, and Live Activities support requires iOS 16.1. The watchOS app requires watchOS 8.5.

In early November, Roomie 8.1 launched adding several significant upgrades. The most notable are Live Activities, and Instant Home Sharing. Since the V6 release, we have relied entirely upon iCloud Sharing to share with Family or Guests. We now provide a direct local network sharing method bypassing all of that. For users that can rely upon synchronization over the local network, it is the new preferred method of sync. Remote synchronization is still performed via iCloud, and iCloud Sharing is still supported. A core use case for this feature is visiting a home. You are visiting your parents’ home, or your integrator is visiting your home. Simply by getting on Wi-Fi, the home can be shared instantly. This feature can be disabled in the Always-on Settings panel if you have miscreants on your Wi-Fi at times.

In late December, Roomie 8.2 launched new widgets designed in the new style and framework, no longer relegated to the bottom of the widget list with other old widgets. These are hot off the presses and they can go right on your Home Screen. The old widget has now been fully deprecated/replaced by these new widgets.

In addition, December saw the launch of a new sister app for Roomie called Now Showing – Movie Poster TV, a Live Movie Poster display for Home Theaters. Deep integration with Roomie Remote provides live feedback of in-progress movies including artwork and progress. Interfaces scales up to 8K TVs for direct control from a connected macOS, iOS, or iPadOS device showing your posters on a monitor or via Screen Mirroring. Ideal deployments include a Mac mini connected to a vertical wall-mount Samsung Frame TV, or a wall-mounted iPad. Remotely control the display from your iPhone. Check out the new app yourself here!

In mid-February 2023, Roomie 8.3 added a new Large size for the Recent Activities widget. Media Guides were significantly revamped across the board, and the Zidoo Media Guide went from just an SMB Browser to a full-blown Movies and TV Shows guide integrated with Zidoo Home Theater. It is certainly one of the best Media Guides at this point. The Kaleidescape, Plex, and Kodi Media Guides were also improved as part of that. Plex Media Player support broadly was updated to accommodate numerous improvements over time on their side as well as adding support for their Two Factor Authentication.

In late May 2023, Roomie 8.4 returned full Keyboard Control to Apple TV! This took an unbelievable amount of work, but it is really great to have it back. It is now recommended to add both the Airplay and Companion devices for each of your Apple TVs. The Activity should target the Airplay device as the Primary. The Companion device simply needs to exist anywhere in your Devices list to enable Keyboard Control from the Airplay device. Version 8.4 also returned full support for the latest Android TV/Google TV models – sporting full keyboard control and app launching!

Roomie Remote continues to provide a high-end control system for a low-end price. We used to provide a Comparison page on our website, but the problem was simply maintaining accuracy over time as our competitors’ prices increased ever further into the stratosphere and our additional features over them were so substantial that it was hard to believe, so we removed it. The difference is now so great that we don’t need to be the source of that information. Our prices are lower. Our functionality is comparable and in most cases significantly better especially when it comes to anything Apple-related.

There are no changes to modern pricing and subscriptions with this release. Older V6 subscriptions have been upgraded and prices normalized to match them with the current subscriptions. As part of that transition, Family Sharing has been activated for those as well. This means there will be no need to migrate to a V7/8 subscription as all subscriptions from V6 through V8 operate as a coherent family. Note that this does not apply to V4 and V5 subscriptions. If you are still on one of those from an old app, please stop renewal and subscribe from the modern app. We will hard stop renewals for V4/V5 subs in late 2023.

Please remember to update your reviews in the App Store, and most importantly tell your friends about Roomie Remote. The App Store these days is a swamp of keyword shenanigans. Whole apps in our category exist solely to target keyword lookups. Think bots, but they are apps. The apps themselves are barely real, but skirt around Apple’s rules sporting gimmicks like 1 week subscriptions with super-high prices for trivial functionality. They are the App Store equivalent of reverse mortgage commercials tricking old people. Take the words “universal” and “remote” and “tv” and “control” and you will find an app named every combination of those words with almost no functionality and unusable UI. These scams trick the unsuspecting to accept a rapid subscription cycle and then pay bots to pump their review and download counts, but meanwhile all that trash makes it harder and harder to find quality apps like us. Hopefully, Apple will do something about this one day, but meanwhile the best defense is frequent review updates and word of mouth.

We are the only app in our category that provides privacy, universal compatibility with both A/V and home devices, an enjoyable and refined user interface, and high reliability with 11 years of experience on the App Store. Every year, we see many former competitors disappear. Yet, we continue on. We love the app and we use it all the time is a primary reason. It’s a Passion.

Will – Updated May 19, 2023 for V8.4

Feature Details

• Apple TV Keyboard Support has returned! Add both Airplay and Companion devices to your Devices list. Set your Activity to use the Airplay device as Primary. Keyboard support will then be activated. [8.4]
• Android TV and Google TV Control including all the latest models, full keyboard control and app launching. [8.4]
• Samsung TV 2023 models are now supported. [8.4]
• Zidoo Media Guide is now a full scale Media Guide with full support Movies and TV Shows. Make sure to Force Code Set Update before loading it the first time if you already have Zidoo devices. [8.3]
• Plex Media Player support has been significantly revised. Removing and replacing any existing Plex-related device is advised. First add the associated Apple TV or nVidia Shield device, then add your Plex Media Player to associate the correct Media Guide. [8.3]
• Many Media Guides have been updated and overhauled especially including Kaleidescape, but also Kodi and Plex. Updated presentation, information, and layout. [8.3]
• New Widgets! Recent Activities and Recent Rooms widgets have been added. These modern widgets replace the old deprecated widget. [8.2]
• iOS 16.1 Live Activities: Now provided on supported iPhone models. Start an Activity to see progress in the Dynamic Island or Lock Screen outside the app. [8.1]
• Instant Home Sharing: Alternative sharing method requiring local network access. New devices that join your network and install Roomie can join with one tap when this feature is active. [8.1]
• Full Support for Lutron Homeworks QSX, Radio RA3, Radio RA2 Select, and Caséta.
  • Homebar integration for Dimmers, Switches, and Shades.
  • Automation including keypad monitoring to take actions based on keypad buttons.
  • Pico remotes for Caséta including programming hard buttons and repeating Volume buttons.
• Multiple Window Support for iPadOS and macOS. Dedicated Camera viewer windows can be opened from the Homebar Cameras panel. Live Diagnostics window can be opened from the Settings panel (and then remain open as a separate window).
• Intercomm Features:
  • HomePods are now eligible targets for live Intercomm announcements either all at once or individually.
  • Audio quality of Announce via Sonos has been doubled.
• ActionPanel Improvements:
  • Channel buttons now automatically populate in Action Panels based on which channels you use. Channels flow into Action Panel margins on iPadOS/macOS layouts. Leftmost margin is reserved for Channels if they exist.
  • Function buttons automatically flow into the Media Bar if other media buttons are configured.
  • Media Bar is now editable in the Design editor.
  • Gesture Panel redesigned and now integrates progress, media feedback, and program artwork.
  • The DPad is now laid out to the right of the PlayPad in Landscape mode alleviating the need to scroll.
  • Margin button fill order is now top to bottom left to right.
• Activities/Dashboard Improvements:
  • Tapping the active button of a current Activity now reveals an inline controller for common actions.
  • Swipe left on Activities in the Activity List now shows Edit/Delete/Off buttons as appropriate.
  • Camera layout significantly improved. All cameras now support snapshots of last images. Improved flow control in the presence of many video camera streams. The Apple TV edition of the app also has these improvements.
  • Many visual improvements throughout Action Panels.
  • Improvements to user-selected icons including thousands of new high-quality symbols. In some cases, you may need to re-select an appropriate icon for some Activities.
• Device Features:
  • Apple TV tvOS 16 Compatibility.
  • JBL SDP-35/38/55/58 Feedback parsing.
  • Nest thermostats now offer more options when activating the Fan timer upon long press of the fan button in the Homebar Thermostats panel.
  • Insteon Cloud Service has been restored as the company providing it returned to life.
• Final deprecation of the old Roomie Accounts: If you have one of the very old Roomie Accounts (2015 era) linked to the Amazon Alexa Skill, you should be automatically migrated to the new Sign In With Apple accounts. Amazon Alexa support is now linked via Sign In with Apple instead. All previous forms of login/accounts have been removed.
• Prevent Screen Idle is a new switch in the Always-on Services settings panel replacing the old related options. Primary Controllers should make sure this is turned on.
• Added Invert Start Commands button to Activity ->Setup -> Stop Commands panel to auto-copy all Start commands with an inverted action. Setting up Inline Activities to turn on and off groups of lights is an example usage of this that is now 1 button. [8.2]
• Time Display on the Activity Panel can now be turned on or off from the Rooms panel.
• HomeKit Camera Audio support is now enabled in the HomeBar and Camera Windows.
• Subscription Guest Sharing (a feature of Unlimited Pro, Unlimited Perpetual, and the old Roomie Service Unlimited) has been completely re-implemented and is much more reliable. The Primary Controller must be on the Apple ID that owns the subscription. Guest devices must be on the same network as the Primary Controller.
• Alexa Smart Home and Custom Skills are now authenticated via the new Sign In with Apple accounts. Re-linking these skills is generally a good idea although we do auto-migrate in the general case.
• Increased system requirements to iOS 15 / iPadOS 15 / tvOS 15 / macOS 12 / watchOS 8.5. Widgets require iOS 16.1 or macOS 13.1. Live Activities require iOS 16.1.
• Many other fixes and improvements across the app.