Any info on new feautres/fixes coming for UCR3?

[josh]

I'm still deciding if I'm keeping or ditching my UCR3.

Was hoping to see a list of things the developers are working on, to see if some of my frustrations are being addressed in upcoming firmware. But the "Roadmap" section of their support area seems to have gone stale with their plans showing only for 2025 upcoming features.

Similarly, the Changelog section of the support site shows the firmware hasn't been updated since June of 2024? Same for the community site... showing they were pretty much releasing firmware every month or so, but then just stopped entirely since June '24... no later updates.

Else maybe I'm missing that they've shifted this info to github or reddit or discord.

They also have an "updates" page on their website that was last updated 18 months ago.

If anyone has a better place to hear from them, or is aware of upcoming stuff from another source, would be great to add here.

I realize they had to prioritize getting units out for the big backlog, and then had all kinds of tariff drama to deal with, but still a few sentences on their website about things that may be coming or that there will be some software fixes would be more reassuring to their customers (existing and prospective).

 

[audio-videophile]

@josh Your comments are a large part of the reason why I chose the AVA Cinema-Remote. Also, the money I saved from buying a Whirleypop vs. Popsmith went towards the AVA!

 

[Darin]

I'm still deciding if I'm keeping or ditching my UCR3.

Was hoping to see a list of things the developers are working on, to see if some of my frustrations are being addressed in upcoming firmware. But the "Roadmap" section of their support area seems to have gone stale with their plans showing only for 2025 upcoming features.

Similarly, the Changelog section of the support site shows the firmware hasn't been updated since June of 2024? Same for the community site... showing they were pretty much releasing firmware every month or so, but then just stopped entirely since June '24... no later updates.

Else maybe I'm missing that they've shifted this info to github or reddit or discord.

They also have an "updates" page on their website that was last updated 18 months ago.

If anyone has a better place to hear from them, or is aware of upcoming stuff from another source, would be great to add here.

I realize they had to prioritize getting units out for the big backlog, and then had all kinds of tariff drama to deal with, but still a few sentences on their website about things that may be coming or that there will be some software fixes would be more reassuring to their customers (existing and prospective).

Yes, the Unfolded Circle team has done a poor job of maintaining its website. The best way to get Unfolded Circle information is via the Unfolded Circle Discord Channel: Discord - Group Chat That’s All Fun & Games .

There have been multiple firmware updates (beta), which you can, and should, access through the remote's Web Configurator (Settings/Software Updates/enable Beta Updates).

Unfolded Circle also needs to get on the ball with getting some kind of basic setup instructions published. If you do the research via the website, the Discord channel, and forums, you can figure it out, but most consumers are not going to do that.

Otherwise, I am very happy with my "UCR3". It works perfectly, has been stable, and has a much "snappier" response time (all IP integrations) relative to the former Harmony Elite with my LG TV, Kaleidescape, Trinnov, Sony BluRay, and Apple TV devices. I just ordered a second UC remote to replace my family room Harmony remote.

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have.

EDIT: Firmware update notifications can be found here: Discord - Group Chat That’s All Fun & Games
Developer integrations can be found here: Discord - Group Chat That’s All Fun & Games

 

[StanfieldNC]

I have the Ghost Remote....I mean the Unfolded Circle 3. I mean...I don’t have it. At this point, I'd rather just have my money back.

My Harmony Elites still do everything I need them to. I have a Harmony 900 that I dont use. Honestly wonder if there is a market for it.

 

[josh]

Yes, the Unfolded Circle team has done a poor job of maintaining its website. The best way to get Unfolded Circle information is via the Unfolded Circle Discord Channel: Discord - Group Chat That’s All Fun & Games .

There have been multiple firmware updates (beta), which you can, and should, access through the remote's Web Configurator (Settings/Software Updates/enable Beta Updates).

Unfolded Circle also needs to get on the ball with getting some kind of basic setup instructions published. If you do the research via the website, the Discord channel, and forums, you can figure it out, but most consumers are not going to do that.

Otherwise, I am very happy with my "UCR3". It works perfectly, has been stable, and has a much "snappier" response time (all IP integrations) relative to the former Harmony Elite with my Kaleidescape, Trinnov, Sony BluRay, and Apple TV sources. I just ordered a second UC remote to replace my family room Harmony remote.

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Thanks. Since you offered, I'll ask a few:

1. How are you feeling about the ergonomics/feel of the remote itself. Just don't love how it feels in the hand, plus it seems quite fragile and with tile floors in one of the rooms, I'm convinced at some point that remote is going to fall on the floor and break.
2. battery life: while i haven't used it "for real" and only have experimented with getting it running, I'm shocked at how fast it seems to go through the battery, seemingly needing to charge every day.
3. Charging - what have your charge times been? To me, it seems flimsy in the dock as well. wish it sat in there better and felt more stable. For me, it's essentially unusable in the dock since it is pretty tippy and it's just too hard to use, so a real USB-C port on the bottom would have solved this... use dock when you want, use a standard cable if you want to use it while charging. Wireless was a decent idea, but also flawed implementation... no self-aligning magnets and the coil isn't even at the midpoint so the remote kinda tilts and disconnects when on a normal MagSafe disc-type charger.
4. Activities... while I've learned some tricks around it, i just don't like that activities show as "on" or "off"... sometimes that just doesn't make sense, and while i can live with it, guests/wife/kids will find it strange. Wish it could be labeled how i wanted and have the on/off status be hidden for activities if i chose.
5. Kept hoping we'd hear more about better customization... changing button sizes not just on screens within an activity, but on the list of activities and the home page. Let me lay it out the way i want.

there's a lot of other annoynaces like lack of font size options for buttons and other design issues, as well as some odd programming logic. but those i could have lived with.

Without having really used it very much, and not at all for last month, that's what i remember struggling with.

That said, i'll point out the positives again: there's no better remote for real full IP control of so many devices, having true 2-way comms is good for devices that will support it, the screen is quite good, and the integration with Home Assistant is the best out there. That's what has kept me hoping that the other annoyances wouldn't bother me a lot...

 

[josh]

EDIT: Firmware update notifications can be found here: Discord - Group Chat That’s All Fun & Games

Thanks! That's much more encouraging seeing all those updates. Am surprised they can't post at least some subset of stuff to their support website as well... where nothing has changed in like 18 months which isn't a good look for them.

 

[Darin]

Thanks. Since you offered, I'll ask a few:

1. How are you feeling about the ergonomics/feel of the remote itself. Just don't love how it feels in the hand, plus it seems quite fragile and with tile floors in one of the rooms, I'm convinced at some point that remote is going to fall on the floor and break.
2. battery life: while i haven't used it "for real" and only have experimented with getting it running, I'm shocked at how fast it seems to go through the battery, seemingly needing to charge every day.
3. Charging - what have your charge times been? To me, it seems flimsy in the dock as well. wish it sat in there better and felt more stable. For me, it's essentially unusable in the dock since it is pretty tippy and it's just too hard to use, so a real USB-C port on the bottom would have solved this... use dock when you want, use a standard cable if you want to use it while charging. Wireless was a decent idea, but also flawed implementation... no self-aligning magnets and the coil isn't even at the midpoint so the remote kinda tilts and disconnects when on a normal MagSafe disc-type charger.
4. Activities... while I've learned some tricks around it, i just don't like that activities show as "on" or "off"... sometimes that just doesn't make sense, and while i can live with it, guests/wife/kids will find it strange. Wish it could be labeled how i wanted and have the on/off status be hidden for activities if i chose.
5. Kept hoping we'd hear more about better customization... changing button sizes not just on screens within an activity, but on the list of activities and the home page. Let me lay it out the way i want.

there's a lot of other annoynaces like lack of font size options for buttons and other design issues, as well as some odd programming logic. but those i could have lived with.

Without having really used it very much, and not at all for last month, that's what i remember struggling with.

That said, i'll point out the positives again: there's no better remote for real full IP control of so many devices, having true 2-way comms is good for devices that will support it, the screen is quite good, and the integration with Home Assistant is the best out there. That's what has kept me hoping that the other annoyances wouldn't bother me a lot...

1. Ergonomics: Like you, I don't "love" the ergonomics of the remote. It feels a little small in the hand and maybe easy to fumble. I have been using the remote in a carpeted theater room, so haven't been concerned too much with dropping it, but I have not dropped it at all. However, the second remote that I have on order will be for a tiled-floor family room, where I will get one of the 3D-printed cases ordered (described in the Discord channel). Because it is flat and thin, it does sit rather securely on the arm of the chair without too much concern for it falling off.

2 and 3. Battery Life and Charging: I have had no issues with charging or battery drain. I have the "keep WiFi on" setting set to on, but don't use the "prevent sleep in activities" setting. The battery life is actually better than the current (old) state of my Harmony Elite. I think the lowest I have ever seen the charge is 50%, which was on New Year's Day fast forwarding through football games all day. I place the remote on the charger every night. The remote sits in the dock loosely, which was concerning at first, but it has never not started charging or disconnected after placing it in the charger. Again, it charges more reliably than my current Harmony remote, for which I have to clean the contacts about every two weeks to keep the charger working. I have only used wireless charging a couple of times and it worked, but as you say, you have to get it aligned perfectly on the wireless charger. On the Discord channel you will find that some people have created 3D-printed stands with wireless charging devices to facilitate wireless charging.

4. Activities: The "On" and "Off" display has never bothered me, if I understand what you are saying. To me, it makes sense to see the "state" of the activity on the remote.

5. Customization: I am surprised to hear that you feel like the customization is lacking. It sounds like maybe you are talking specifically about the display customization. Maybe it is my lack of trying other remotes, but it was my impression that the Remote 3 was the most customizable remote available. It has been sufficient for my needs. Also, with increased customization comes increased complexity, which is already an issue with the setup process for most consumers. People have developed some quite complex display configurations (see the Discord channel), but the effort was more than I am interested in doing. I agree that font size for button text would be a useful upgrade.

Let me add that in my Family Room where I intend to add a second Remote 3, there was not an IP integration for my brand of AVR. It would work with IR (via learned or provided codes), but I prefer all IP integrations. I posted on the Integrations section of the Discord channel that it would be great if an integration could be developed, and within 24 hours a developer volunteered to do it and within 3 days an integration had been created. He is still working out some bugs, but my point is that integration development is more like the Home Assistant community than traditional product development. Very little development work is done at Unfolded Circle. It is created by volunteer developers and then "adopted" by Unfolded Circle.

 

[josh]

1. Ergonomics: Like you, I don't "love" the ergonomics of the remote. It feels a little small in the hand and maybe easy to fumble. I have been using the remote in a carpeted theater room, so haven't been concerned too much with dropping it, but I have not dropped it at all. However, the second remote that I have on order will be for a tiled-floor family room, where I will get one of the 3D-printed cases ordered (described in the Discord channel). Because it is flat and thin, it does sit rather securely on the arm of the chair without too much concern for it falling off.

2 and 3. Battery Life and Charging: I have had no issues with charging or battery drain. I have the "keep WiFi on" setting set to on, but don't use the "prevent sleep in activities" setting. The battery life is actually better than the current (old) state of my Harmony Elite. I think the lowest I have ever seen the charge is 50%, which was on New Year's Day fast forwarding through football games all day. I place the remote on the charger every night. The remote sits in the dock loosely, which was concerning at first, but it has never not started charging or disconnected after placing it in the charger. Again, it charges more reliably than my current Harmony remote, for which I have to clean the contacts about every two weeks to keep the charger working. I have only used wireless charging a couple of times and it worked, but as you say, you have to get it aligned perfectly on the wireless charger. On the Discord channel you will find that some people have created 3D-printed stands with wireless charging devices to facilitate wireless charging.

4. Activities: The "On" and "Off" display has never bothered me, if I understand what you are saying. To me, it makes sense to see the "state" of the activity on the remote.

5. Customization: I am surprised to hear that you feel like the customization is lacking. It sounds like maybe you are talking specifically about the display customization. Maybe it is my lack of trying other remotes, but it was my impression that the Remote 3 was the most customizable remote available. It has been sufficient for my needs. Also, with increased customization comes increased complexity, which is already an issue with the setup process for most consumers. People have developed some quite complex display configurations (see the Discord channel), but the effort was more than I am interested in doing. I agree that font size for button text would be a useful upgrade.

Let me add that in my Family Room where I intend to add a second Remote 3, there was not an IP integration for my brand of AVR. It would work with IR (via learned or provided codes), but I prefer all IP integrations. I posted on the Integrations section of the Discord channel that it would be great if an integration could be developed, and within 24 hours a developer volunteered to do it and within 3 days an integration had been created. He is still working out some bugs, but my point is that integration development is more like the Home Assistant community than traditional product development. Very little development work is done at Unfolded Circle. It is created by volunteer developers and then "adopted" by Unfolded Circle.

Wow, thanks so much for the very detailed reply... super helpful. Am glad to hear battery life hasn't been an issue. Saw some of those 3D printed case designs, and yes that might help. If only they'd have put that USBC port on the remote I'd feel much better about the physical hardware, especially since i could then buy a rubber/silicon case to protect the remote and not have to remove it each time it needs a charge, but if the dock is secure and charge lasts at least a couple of days then i could live with it.

I think I'll take another plunge at configuring and using the R3 again with a fresh install and the latest beta firmware before deciding to sell it. Have a Sofabaton X2 on the way to try out as well, though i know it will be tougher to get it controlling things via IP where possible, but based on many of the reviews/comparisons, it has some things I think I'll like better for my particular needs.

Again, thanks for your detailed feedback!