Very generalized top level list of things we may be working or could work on. Would like to get a sense of what users would like to see. Feel free to post things I have missed on this thread if not listed here. You may pick up to 3 items below.
Feature Rankings
Built-in voice control for Roomie (no cloud needed)
Media Guide UI Revamp, more metadata
Intercomm Sharing/Remote Calls
Android TV Control Improvements
Improved UI to show Activities/ActionPanel/Guide on one iPad screen
Update IR Learning UI
TBD Integrate with Additional Hardbuttons
Native FireTV Control Support (unpublished so will require many months of work)
Deeper Alexa Integration (visual tabs for Echo Show, etc)
PS5 IP Control
XBOX One IP Control
Direct Media Player inside Roomie especially on AppleTV
Nest thermostat Google support (may require $200K or more in auditing costs)
Channel lists for countries that have no guide. So at least there is channel switching.
Deep integration with streaming services like Netflix, Disney plus, Amazon Prime, Movie rentals on AppleTV, selection what to watch in Roomie and it plays on tv.
Hey Will, can you talk a little more about the âetcâ portion of âDeeper Alexa Integration (visual tabs for Echo Show, etc.)?â I voted for that since I have a heavy Alexa commitment (10+ Echo devices), but maybe I will shift my vote if I know what else might be in âetcâ since âvisual tabs for Echo Showâ isnât likely something I would use.
It represents opening the Pandoraâs box of Alexa development. The main item there is mostly invisible to users which is a complete rewrite of the Smart Home Skill. Amazon changed the API almost immediately after we submitted years ago and then quickly decided they would only accept submissions on the new API â even though the old API still works fine today. Thus, the Smart Home Skill has not been able to be updated in years though it still works.
So anyway, that all needs a rewrite with no initial user benefit, probably a wasted month. Once weâre past that, there are a number of small wins we could adopt that weâve been unable to adopt because of that. Some of those are the visual cards you see on Echo Show. It is hard to say what other little benefits might accrue from that at this point. I think the item is better left somewhat generic as âspend a couple months on Alexa improvementsâ â but the forum wonât let me change the wording anymore.
** Note that this does not apply to the Custom Skill which is already up to date, but could also benefit from many small improvements.
Thanks for the clarification. I will keep my vote the same I guess. I am wondering if maybe you can look into the root cause of âHanding off to Roomie Remote by Roomie Remote, Incorporatedâ on every invocation of the custom skill. There are reports of this happening to other skills as well, but nothing from Amazon on why. Only clue I saw was someone alluded to this being caused by the invocation name not matching the skill name. I know the skill was renamed from Simple Control to Roomie Remote, but from this side it appears the invocation name and skill name match. I donât know if on the Amazon implementation side things appear different.
Expose basic controls for any activity via the API. My idea of basic controls are: shuttle controls and volume controls. Play, pause, vol up, vol down, mute would be a great start. Skip, back, FF, RW would be okay too, but not as useful.
Iâd love to see a more intuitive activity builder to personalize the interface. Perhaps Iâm dense but my biggest frustration is always getting the âremoteâ to look just how I want it with buttons and controls exactly where I want them.
Yes, I think that would be the KILLER feature as far as customization. Of the many remote solutions on the App Store, Iâm going to say Roomie far and away has the best design language. Will and team have made smart decisions here. It is elegant, functional, orderly and beautiful. If I could have the option of arranging buttons like I can arrange the order of apps on my iPad, it would be end-game.
One key feature of deeper integration with Alexa is the confirm to launch activityâŚAlexa overrides the activity confirmation, it will be nice to see Alexa prompt are you sure? And we have to say or no to cancel.
1, Support for streaming live tv users for example YouTube tv. This support could be in the form of a media guide for the streaming live tv channel by time zone, but if that is difficult to do then at least offer an alternative use for the UI real estate. For example if i am a streaming live tv user and I cannot make use of a media guide i would like to be able to put some other function in the top right corner of the action panel, as simple as a poweroff would be great.
2, UI flexibility particularly in regard to inline activity button sizing. Currently the buttons are very large. They can be much smaller and it would be great to be able to choose how many buttons per line by device type.
Thanks for the chance to offer an opinion.