Help button

Every now and then, a device ends up in a power state other than what Roomie thinks it should be (eg TV is off when it should be on). It would be good to have a 'help' key which could cycle through problems in an activity by asking if each item is switched on and on the correct input setting.

That's how some other products used to work. The concept seems good but in practice it turns out to be a negative user experience. The problem with "Help" is that it has no context. So its first job is to get context by asking you which device has a problem and then it has to try to determine what the problem is and needless to say it was often wrong and took forever to reach the right conclusion.

Instead, Roomie lets you add manual remotes for any device below your Activity list. So your first action is then simply to select the Manual Remote you need and tap the Power button. By giving context first rather than asking for it, the resolution is that much clearer and faster.

Thank you.

Fair point - on a similar note, sometimes if you use roomie on more than 1 device (eg ipad and iPhone), one device doesn't realise that an activity is being used, so idozens sent display the remote for that activity. It would be good to be able to correct this, for example saying 'I am watching TV'

Well, Harmony does the questions thing. Although I prefer the Roomie way, my spouse needs that 'wife-mode'. She doesn't understand the manual remote concept is is quite content with letting the remote 'fix things' by asking her '20 questions'

It removes a level of complexity that non-geeks don't want to get to or learn