PS4 IP control?

2013 · 25 replies · Devices

This discussion is 13 years old. It predates today's Roomie Remote X, and the app names, menus, features, pricing, and device details below have changed substantially since 2013. Treat it as historical reference — see Support and current compatibility for how things work today.

In short

Any indication of the PS4 supporting IP control? Fingers crossed, the PS3 (soon to be replaced by PS4) is my only non IP — Staff replied: “Our guess is that it will be possible. Whether they allow it to be reverse engineered sufficiently for third parties to access is the unknown.”

Question 2013-11 · older version

Any indication of the PS4 supporting IP control?

Fingers crossed, the PS3 (soon to be replaced by PS4) is my only non IP device. Would love to be all IP.

Roomie Staff 2013-11 · older version

Our guess is that it will be possible. Whether they allow it to be reverse engineered sufficiently for third parties to access is the unknown. Given that we have Sony IP control and registration support for their Blu-ray players and TVs, chances are good though. We'll have one tomorrow to start testing.

Thank you.

Member 2013-11 · older version

<span style="background-color: #444444; color: #999999; line-height: 21px;">We’ll have one tomorrow to start testing.</span>

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Yeah right. I forsee a long stall in Roomie updates coming. :)

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Member 2013-11 · older version

Awesome. I have one now Im going to pry around a bit myself.

Keep us updated!

Roomie Staff 2013-11 · older version

It looks like it will be possible. They have indeed obfuscated it and made it about as difficult as they can. Pure reverse engineering will have to go the bit/binary level for this. Control will likely be possible in the future if one is willing to jump through the high hoops. Retrieving authentication credentials from PSN may be part of the requirement. Too soon to say whether just the authentication challenge will work.

On the good news side, once all hurdles are jumped, it does support Power On and Off via IP. This aint no PS3. But it will probably be a while before we and others on the net can completely decode this protocol.

Thank you.

Roomie Staff 2013-11 · older version

We got word back from Sony today that they do intend to release the protocol for third-party integration but "not at this time". This is great news because it means we wont have to reverse engineer it. It's not so great news in that we don't know what the timeframe is for actually releasing it. Most likely they want to let the next couple of months shake out their early issues and then release in Q1. We're keeping a very close eye on it anyway.

Thank you.

Member 2013-12 · older version

Please keep us posted!

Member 2014-03 · older version

Hi guys, any more news on this?

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Thanks

Member 2014-04 · older version

I would love to see an update on this as well. Hoping Sony releases the IP spec as Roomie mentioned was shared with them.

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Member 2014-04 · older version

Perhaps just after they add CD support...

I'm honestly surprised they will offer up the protocol information. On one hand.. they do publish protocol information for my Sony projector but the gaming side is completely different in every way.

Member 2014-04 · older version

Are we any closer to having PS4 control? I currently have to turn mine on and off manually because Roomie doesn't support it yet.

Roomie Staff 2014-04 · older version

Nothing supports any form of PS4 control today.

On the horizon are some infrared adapters specifically for the PS4.

There is also the statement that Sony will at some point release information on IP control.

This infrared remote with a USB adapter looks like it might be an option to use with infrared learning:

gamestop.com/ps4/accessories ... rol/113590

It's safe to say we're not endorsing that product, we've never tried it.

Thank you.

Member 2014-06 · older version

Kind of sad and gamers would frown on me for saying this, but as a casual gamer im probably going xbox one over ps4 simply because i cant automate it for my family and you cant use a remote to control netflix. I am not a huge netflix user but my console does that duty and using a controller is not ideal.

I seen schmartz say that before his product will work (I have an old one) they need to release a remote to allow bluetooth pairing.

It would be better if we simply had ip control though. I did notice the official ps4 app has all the controls you would need. Sony would not share that information with a company like roomie though? Up, down, left, right, enter, and the ps button.

Roomie Staff 2014-06 · older version

We have three times received assurance from Sony that they *will* be releasing the IP control information including as recently as a few weeks ago. That's good news.

The only path right now is reverse engineering. That would be at least a month or so of dedicated work with no guarantee of success. But given that Sony has stated they will be releasing the information, the time seems best spent elsewhere for now.

Given that they just announced Playstation TV this week, it seems like continuing to have no control solution whatsoever would very much be a gap in their solution. We think the proper incentives exist for them to proceed with their stated plan to open this up a bit.

Thank you.

Member 2014-06 · older version

I guess my only concern is when sony will actually release it or will it be 2 years from now. I understand the hardwork for roomie to reverse engineer and its not for me to say what roomie should do or how to spend time, thats up to the roomie team. But i will say in my search on this topic, many upset ps4 owners asking for a remote, and alot of logitech users upset its not working with logitech yet. If roomie beats them to the punch it would be a pretty big eye grab feature in my opinion. And since logitech does not do IP control thats where roomie could get a one up. Just an idea though, its really not for me to say though.

Roomie Staff 2014-06 · older version

If we worried much about Logitech, we'd never get anything done. Once someone finds Roomie, they pretty much always choose Roomie. Our challenge is not whether we're a better product, but simply making people aware that Roomie exists.

roomieremote.com/feature-comparison/

Roomie is so far ahead on the feature front that we can't see them in the rear view mirror. The Harmony line is about massive marketing spend, take over retail displays, cover entire web pages with ads, it's safe to say they spend many millions on marketing and we spend peanuts.

We think past actions speak for themselves. The likelihood that we will reverse engineer PS4 or add Sony's official PS4 protocol the moment they release it is pretty much a given. That's what we do. Meanwhile, every IP control device Harmony adds shoots themselves in the foot as it's yet another formerly infrared device that people no longer need Logitech's hardware to control, and if people don't buy their hardware hub, they have no business model. In this instance, Sony has already indicated the solution will be IP based, so Bluetooth also wont help.

We'd love to beat anyone to the punch on PS4. It's very likely we could reverse engineer it given our analysis to date, but the only way to reverse engineer it correctly may be to extract encryption keys from Sony products. Doing that isn't difficult, but puts us in a gray area of legality that we'd like not to cross especially when Sony has clearly indicated a desire to publish this information. Working through the system and making clear that we're adhering to the rules is the better path just as we recently demonstrated with our great integrations of DISH, TiVo, and Kaleidescape all of which were at one time in a very similar situation.

That's not to say there are not cases where reverse engineering is the right way to go. There are many of them, we do it literally every day in appropriate circumstances. But this does not appear to be one at this time.

Thank you.

Member 2014-08 · older version

Does anyone know the url to launch the playstation app from roomie?

Member 2014-10 · older version

Just wondering if there has been any progress on controlling the PS4 as yet?

Member 2014-11 · older version

Any update on this, Roomie? I've about had it with my two PS3 Schmartz IR1000's constantly getting confused as to which PS3 they are attached to and continually having to be reset. I'll sell both PS3's on eBay and replace them with PS4's just because roomie supports IP remote control of them. That's how much power you have over my home theater setup please put the pressure on Sony to release the specs!

Member 2014-12 · older version

Has there been any word from Sony on the protocol yet? I'm dying to ditch the Blu-Ray player and use the PS4 instead.

Member 2015-01 · older version

While I'd love proper IP control, there is a workable alternative in the meantime. Both the PS4 and later models of the PS3 support HDMI CEC. This means if you're using a compatible AV amp or TV you can send IP commands to the TV and they'll be passed onto the console. In my case I'm using a Sony Bravia, but it should work with other TVs as well. You need to make sure it's enabled first. On the PS4, the relevant setting is in the Settings =>System under 'Enable HDMI device link'.

The main limitations are that you can't as far as I'm aware power the PS4 on this way, but o. nce you've got it switched on I've found it works rather well. I've used it in the main menu, store, Amazon and Now TV apps. It should also work fine for disc playback. Precise functionality varies between apps. For example, in the Amazon app the FF and Rew buttons do nothing and you have to use the directional controls to select fast forward and rewind. In the Now TV app, FF, Rew and pause work as expected, but Play doesn't and you have to press pause again to resume.

Anyway, hope that's helpful for some people.

Member 2015-03 · older version

Hey all,

I too have a PS4 and wish dearly that Roomie could control it.

So I did something about it.

If you have a Raspberry Pi hooked up to your TV or amplifier, you can use it as a CEC "bridge" that Roomie can talk to. I build out a Plist already that will give you close to native control support of your PS4. It even will let you eject discs from Roomie! Sadly, theres no feedback currently, but i'm working on it.

More info <a title="CEC-Roomie" href="https://github.com/robbiet480/CEC-Roomie">here</a>

Member 2015-06 · older version

Just subscribing to this thread and hoping to hear some updates on the PS4

Member 2015-08 · older version

PS4 is the only device i have in my home that does not have any kind of support in roomie, fingers crossed some reverse ip engineering could be done. I wouldnt bank on sony ever releasing anything.

Its also to bad this was not in the request forum and instead in here, given how popular the ps4 is and how well its selling, it wouldnt surprise me if it would have the most plus 1's in the request forum quite easily.

Member 2015-10 · older version

Yes, correct... +1^(half roomie customer base)

corylorentz 2018-04 · older version

Hey everyone, is there any information on any of the apps for PlayStation 4? The PS4 Second Screen app is supposed to be able to control the PS4. Hoping to launch that app from Simple Control... Anyone have the URL for that app?

Thanks,

Cory

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