Are there any plans for homeassistant to produce or partner with someone to make an affordable universal remote that is fully integrated into homeassistant?.. I know of the yio/unfolded circle remote, which has homeassistant integration but the price is very high. Then there’s the sofa baton which is cheaper but no really integration. There’s also the Moore project that’s promising but I don’t have the skill or a 3D printer to build my own. I think it’s a good opportunity for homeassistant build a product that can get homeassistant into the mainstream and generate some real revenue. Maybe to make a remote/hub product with homeassistant server built into the hub. This could be a good way for homeassistant to get their foot in the door into becoming a major player like control4 or universal remote control(URC)
One of the more popular dedicated IR blaster hubs are the broadlink ones and the switchbot hub 2 can act as a IR blaster hub as well, you just need to teach them the codes for the remotes that you will be using if they don’t already have profiles for the devices you want to control.
The latter connects to home assistant via matter and devices connected through it will show up in the matter (beta) integration list.
From there you can find various universal remote cards to setup more personal universal remote controls for your needs i.e
As for a physical remote, this one reviewed by Lars might be one of the cheaper options out there currently for those that want one:
As for one coming from Nabu like with the Skyconnect and its varients in the works, they would need to see whats out there to bring into the open source teams based on how they respond and act.
Yea there’s tons of ways to get homeassistant working as a remote which is a testament to home awesome it is. But that’s also why it’s not mainstream because there’s not a product that is built that easy to use and made for it. A device like that could be what they need to shake up the market.
Not on the basis of reports I have seen of the 2.
Check the Switchbot Universal Remote.