Gear4 UnityRemote Universal Remote Control for iPod/iPhone/iPad

by Gear4

Product Features

• Replace all your remote controls with your iPhone, with support for all devices using IR remotes
• No need to plug a "dongle" into your iPhone; simply walk into the room and use
• Create "actions" to control multiple devices simultaneously, such as turning on a whole system with one button
• Learn feature for controlling devices not already in the large database
• Easy setup--simply place the UnityRemote in your room, download the UnityApp, and follow the set-up assistant

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Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Control all of your home entertainment devices from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with UnityRemote. Designed to be the easiest universal remote you've ever used, UnityRemote controls virtually any electronic device with your Apple device's touchscreen. You can adjust volume, switch channels, or any other remote function with the swipe of a finger. Additionally, customizable Actions let you control multiple devices simultaneously. Easy to set up and completely wireless, UnityRemote makes all other remotes obsolete.

UnityRemote At a Glance: Supports virtually any home entertainment device that uses an infrared remote Receives Bluetooth signals and transmits 360-degree infrared signals Control all your home electronics with your Apple device's touchscreen Fully customizable with programmable actions, gestures, and timers Sleek and discreet wireless design

UnityRemote turns your iPhone into a universal remote. View larger.
Create Actions that make it easy to control multiple devices simultaneously. View larger.

360-Degree Support for Virtually All Home Entertainment Devices
UnityRemote will control virtually any home entertainment device that uses an infrared remote. It knows almost every device right when you take it out of the box. Those devices not already in the database can easily be taught to the remote--simply point your old remote at UnityRemote to add it to the database.

Five infrared blasters emit a room-filling 360-degree signal, allowing UnityRemote to find all of your devices no matter where they are in the room. Simply place the sleek, wireless unit anywhere in the line of sight of your devices, and UnityRemote will control them by receiving Bluetooth signals and transmitting infrared.

Compact, sleek design. View larger.

Adapts Apple Touchscreen to Remote Control Functions
Download the free UnityApp for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, follow the set-up assistant, and instantly transform your device into the control center for all your home entertainment devices. UnityRemote's advanced user interface uses your Apple device's easy-to-use touchscreen for cutting-edge functionality. Change channels, adjust volume, and pause TV with standard tap and swipe gestures. Gestures are programmable as well--simply assign specific devices and commands to your movements.

Customizable Actions Allow Simultaneous Control of Multiple Devices
UnityRemote's app-based functionality allows for full customization of your remote. Program what you want buttons to do, assign gestures to specific actions, and customize what you want to see on-screen. Creating Actions allows you to control multiple items simultaneously. For example, turn on your TV, DVD player, and stereo, select the right channel, and start playing a DVD all with the push of a single button.

Several different devices can be controlled by one onscreen interface, allowing you to control video playback and amplifier volume without having to switch control screens. Auto-connect time even enables you to set UnityRemote to wake up and shut down at certain times of the day.

Up to eight different Apple devices can be paired with a UnityRemote, so you don't have to rely on one person's device. Only one device can be in control at a time however, so there won't be any channel-changing wars.

Wireless and Discreet
UnityRemote runs on three AA batteries, so there are never any power cords to worry about. There is also no dongle required, so there's no need to plug anything into your Apple device before you can use it.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod, and iPad
UnityRemote is compatible with iPhone (3GS and 4G), iPod touch (3G and 4G), and iPad (1G and 2G).

What's in the Box
UnityRemote, three AA batteries, and user manual.

Product Description

How many remote controls do you have in your family room? And how many are lost under couch cushions or otherwise misplaced? The UnityRemote from GEAR4 aims to remedy your remote woes by combining them all into one device--your iPhone or iPod touch. UnityRemote lets you use your iPhone's screen gestures to control multiple devices and have 360-degree room coverage, with no "dongle" required. Control everything--from TVs to hi-fis, Blu-ray players to digital TV boxes, or anything that has an infrared receiver--using a single device.

UnityRemote replaces all your conventional remotes and gives you full wireless control of your devices using your iPhone or iPod touch. Click here for a larger image.

How Does It Work?

UnityRemote consists of two parts. The first is an app, which is downloaded for free from the Apple App Store. The second part is a small and sleek device that receives Bluetooth and transmits and receives infrared signals. iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads cannot currently send infrared signals, so this clever device receives a Bluetooth signal from the Apple device, and then sends an infrared command via five infrared transmitters to the device to be controlled.

The transmitter/receiver is small and discreet, and is powered by AA batteries, with no need for a power outlet. You can place it anywhere in the room, wherever it's most convenient.

How Is It Set Up?

UnityRemote is a breeze to set up. After launching the app, users simply select the device to be controlled from a default list of manufacturers. If the device to control is not listed, UnityRemote can easily "learn" how to control it.

Users can also set up "actions" for UnityRemote, to control multiple devices simultaneously. From one touch, users can turn on their TV, DVD player, digital TV box, and their home cinema sound system. Users can adjust the remote layout so that one remote layout has the buttons for multiple devices on the same screen, such as "Play" from the DVD player and volumes for the surround system.

UnityRemote App Features

Unity's Main Screen Unity is the main screen of UnityRemote. It shows the various combined remote layouts and "actions" you have set up. Press an "action" (e.g., "Watch Movie") to access the unified remote for a Blu-ray player, surround sound system, and TV, and launch a series of automated steps such as switching on all devices, setting the TV to a specific channel, or inputting and sending a "Play" command.	Unity Actions (Detail Screen) This behind-the-scenes screen shows what you have programmed the "Watch Movie" action to do. In this example, by simply pressing "Watch Movie" on the main screen, three devices will automatically power on. You can add more steps like "Go to Channel 102" or "Press Play." The combinations are virtually infinite.
The Unified Remote Screen Once you have selected an Action, the unified remote screen brings control over several devices into one screen. In this example, you can control the volume of your TV while you press "Play" on your Blu-ray player. All icons can be selected and rearranged to your preference.	Set Up Gestures The best thing about a touchscreen is not having to look at it to control your devices. Using gestures, you can swipe or tap your finger to control multiple devices. You could set sliding your finger to the left and right to control volume on the surround system and swiping up and down to control Play/Pause on the Blu-ray player. Double-tapping in the center could toggle Mute. It's up to you, and it's easy to set up.
Unity Database UnityRemote includes a wide database of devices. Simply pick the manufacturer in the list and the type of device (e.g., TV, DVD player, DMA player, etc.), and let the software help you set it up. If the manufacturer of your device isn't in the list, UnityRemote can "learn" new devices by pointing your original remote at it.

What's in the Box

UnityRemote, three AA batteries, and user's manual (app is downloaded for free from the iTunes App Store).

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Recommended September 7, 2011

By Dean Matthews

Amazon Verified Purchase

Fundamentally flawed.
Using Bluetooth instead of WiFi was a mistake. Bluetooth has a long delay between "pushing" a button and getting a response. Particularly annoying when adjusting volume. Bluetooth pairs only one device at a time. If you pair your iPhone and leave the house your wife cannot use her iPhone without going through the pairing process ...and then yours won't work when you get back.
Battery power was a mistake. This thing eats a set of 3 AA batteries weekly.
And, think about this: you want to change channels so you reach for your iPhone, slide the unlock, launch the app, navigate to the screen that has channel selection and then dial in the channel you want. That gets cumbersome really quick. And if you get a call and want to turn down or mute the volume, you can't.
Finally, the app crashed frequently. Memory usage seems to be a big issue.
I returned it and went with a Logitech Harmony 900 RF remote (despite the atrocious set-up software). Once you get it working you realize how much better a dedicated, responsive device with tactile buttons is for controlling your A/V system.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Issues working with certain electronic devices February 16, 2011

By ssm

Amazon Verified Purchase

This product is a great idea for someone who has a lot of electronics that uses remotes. I got this product set it up and was excited to try it out. The product was able to turn on the correct devices, but was unable to shut off my receiver every time. I tried to find the answer online but found nothing so I sent an email to the company's support site. After a week, I sent another email because I never got a response, and its been two weeks since I sent the second email and have yet to get a response. I decided to return the product because I could not get it to work properly. It may work like a charm for some but definitely not for me.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Great idea, software too buggy to be useful February 5, 2011

By exhausted_homeowner

Amazon Verified Purchase

While the concept is great, the system suffers from too many bugs to be useful:
- Bugs you can live with:
- Does not reconnect smoothly to iPhone as advertised, you have to go into the iPhone Bluetooth settings every time you start to use it.
- Many mislabeled keys in default key maps. You can fix these one at a time, but it is tedious.
- "Standard" action templates (e.g. "watch TV") don't work (at least for any of my equipment). You have to create custom templates instead.
- "Use device" setting when creating a creating a custom template is buggy: this option is supposed to make it easy to specify which devices should be powered on for an action. However, the option sends a "toggle power on/off" rather than a "power on" command. The workaround is to not use this setting, instead manually enter "power on" actions for each device.
- Bug that is a deal-breaker:
- The iPhone UnityRemote app constantly crashes. It crashes when programming, it crashes simply when being used. (Yes, I reinstalled the latest version of the software as of 2/5/2011.) After successfully defining certain actions, executing them would consistently crash in the same way -- a screen saying "cleaning up" appears with a spinning ball and hangs forever.

After putting many hours into attempting to use my UnityRemote, I've put it away, until some future day (if it ever arrives) when the software works!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Killer iPad app February 17, 2011

By Alvin Bruney

Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a killer app, the proof is in the sales ranking on amazon. Mine is mated with an iPad and just the cost of this For home automation is well worth it. Similar crestron units are well north of a grand. And then you have to purchase hardware. A+ for cost. Period. The software does have a few bugs. Unfortunately, it falls well within it's quota for a new product. E.g., the harmony 1000 line of products are riddled with bugs but still seem to be acceptable. It does need a software update to take care of outstanding bugs and a native iPad release but I suspect that will come shortly. The database is not tier one, there are missing products but it isn't a show stopper. I found the learn functionality to be finicky at best. Mine seemed to learn pressed against the orb at a slight inclined angle. Again, this is not a show stopper. Can I complain some more, no not when a tablet style home automation device costs $100. Granted, you need the iPad sold separately. When the device was in the database the unit had no issue controlling the device. The delay between keystroke and response is not an issue. I like the fact that there is no dongle on my iPad. With this little gem, I expect these ridiculously priced home automation units to go out of business. After all, just getting a technician to come to your house will run you a couple of hundred bucks. If you bought this for the iPad and you aren't satisfied, then a tablet styled remote is not for you because, all things considered, this is the best device for 100 bucks!

UPDATE feb 17 2011
Native iPad app is available. Looks absolutely amazing and very professional to rival high-end home automation units. Lots of bug fixes although I still seem to be getting occasional out of memory errors. I'll keep my 4 star rating for now.... Once the memory error messages are fixed I'll definitely rate this a 5 star product.

Bugs and Workarounds in ver. 1.5.6 app lib 2.1 targetting iPad
1. Out of memory warnings.
Occurs because the device has too many property pages. E.g., a 5.1 surround sound receiver should have 4+ property pages of buttons, navigating between this device and other devices causes the error. Double press the home iPad button. Close applications that are not being used. Culprits email, youtube ipad cnn, netflix apps. Memory errors will go away. It's not the remote's fault, has to do with iPad base model's memory allocation model.

2 Crashes while adding actions.
Do not add a list of activities. Separate each activity. E.g., say you want to add 'watch movie' and 'listen to music'. Add the first action then exit all the way back to the activities home screen. That ensures that your work is saved. Test your activity to make sure it is working before proceeding.Then add the next activity. Remember to exit all the way to home screen before proceeding.

3 Limit the number of time intervals in an activity to one or two. Anymore increases the risk of crashes.

4 If there is a crash while adding activities, you can be certain that the last activity caused the crash assuming you followed step 2. Remove the last activity and go to home screen activity before adding the activity.

5. Configuration error messages are caused when the app does not successfully save your data to it's internal configuration file. Usually, the last action or device can be assumed to be in an unusable state. Before proceeding, remove the last activity or device and back out all the way to the home screen.

6. In some cases any activity or device generates a configuration error message. To solve this remove all activities and shut the app down. Reopen the app and add a new activity. If there is still a configuration error, start removing devices one at a time from the bottom of the list. Test periodically by closing the app and relaunching until the problem is fixed. In some rare instances you may have to use the reset data button. Note that all data will be lost.

7. Activities automatically launch the last successful activity. If that is not possible, it launches the first activity in the list. If you need to work around this, create a dummy activity placing it as the first in the activities list. Make sure there sis no action associated with that activity.

8. When devices are added automatically, scroll the property pages to determine if there are empty spaces in each page. If you find empty spaces, move the buttons over to fill that space. That consolidates the pages and reduces the memory being used resulting in fewer memory errors.

9. Unable to learn new keys. Touch your remote against the orb and slowly pivot your remote up and down against the orb. Do not move the part of the remote that touches the orb. If up and down movements don't work, try left to right rocking motion very slowly. It seems the receptor input signal is not very tolerant. Use patience with a gentle rocking motion.

What would blow the competition away would be the ability to add custom icons.

UPDATE DEC. 2012
After using this for a while, I still love it but there are some issues which means I have dropped a review star. If the iPad leaves the room, you must re-pair the unit. When the gadget is out of the room, unity will burn through battery cycles to reconnect. I have resorted to simply leaving the iPad in that room. This is not feasible for most people, hence the 3 star rating. That solution allows my batteries to last about 6 - 8 weeks. Read more ›

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Works for me January 17, 2011

By Michael E. Cohen

Although this remote is not perfect, I found it to be a very adaptable, useful device. I have had few of the problems cited in another review of this product. For example, I was easily able to teach it the specialized buttons from my various other remotes, including an Apple Remote--the trick, which it took me only a couple of minutes to discover, is to hold the IR emitting end of the remote very close to the UnityRemote device and then to press and release (not hold) the button you want to teach to the UnityRemote. And, although I have experienced a few unexpected quits while using the device, they have been relatively rare.

In any case, I expect crashes and confusions to get rarer as the software is updated. Note, by the way, that the software is very easy for a user to update. In the short time that I've had the UnityRemote, I have already received and installed an update, which was delivered and installed just like any other iOS app update: you download it right from Apple's App Store wirelessly, or download it via iTunes and install it automatically the next time you sync your iOS device. You don't even have to wonder if an update is available: the App Store tells you when one shows up.

What I like best about the UnityRemote is how easy it is to create custom keypads for various activities. With other universal remotes, I have usually had to have the manual at hand, and to go through certain arcane keypresses or gestures in order to move buttons around and rename them. The UnityRemote app, on the other hand, is an iOS app, and uses the same gestures and conventions that all of the other iOS apps use, so editing keypads is a very familiar-feeling process.

If you're interested, I have written a much more complete review, which you can [...]