I really like Home Assistant, but there is one thing I really miss: being able to control my TV, receiver, Apple TV, etc. with a physical remote (similar to the Logitech Harmony Elite, for example), because I don’t like to use my cell phone on a daily basis to control the aforementioned items.
I would like to know if there is a smart remote integrated with Home Assistant? Could you recommend a model?
I really appreciate your attention and I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you.
I have gone down this rabbit hole multiple times. I think the “easiest” thing to do is get a remote that has a little USB dongle included, and plug that into your HA box and use the Keyboard Remote integration. Here are notes I put together during my journey on that one:
I’m using something I built using an Adafruit RP2040 USB Host (which is also documented in that Github wiki). The thing is, you have to write scripts for every button that can route things to the right integration depending on your needs. It works, but it’s a ton of effort to get it setup, and if you have a large number of AV devices, it’s going to get complicated. For me I have a Kodi device, an AppleTV 4K, and the TV (all of them can be controlled through HA integrations over IP). That’s it, so the setup isn’t too bad.