Logitech gave Harmony remote users less than a day to install crucial update

Got a Harmony universal TV remote that works with a hub? I hope you were checking Reddit yesterday. 

A Logitech support staffer posted a message on the Logitech Harmony subreddit Tuesday that all Harmony owners with hub-enabled remotes needed to update their firmware to the latest version (4.15.600, or version 10.0.230 for users of the Harmony Pro 2400) to “ensure uninterrupted functionality.” 

The deadline for updating your Logitech firmware? The following day, meaning today, August 20. 

“Devices not updated by this date will lose functionality, a Logitech staffer warned on Reddit.

The reason for the urgent update is still unclear. I’ve reached out to Logitech for details. 

Now, the good news is that most Harmony users who miss the deadline for updating their remotes can use a “Remote Recovery Tool” to subsequently perform the update. 

The bad news? If you’re a Harmony Pro 2400 user, the Remote Recovery Tool won’t work, meaning “anything smart home related may break” on the device. (Among their many other features, Hub-enabled Harmony remotes offer integrations for controlling smart home devices, handy for turning off smart lights before watching TV.) 

Logitech is “working on getting the 2400 Hub on there,” the staffer added, presumably referring to the Remote Recovery Tool. 

Naturally, the abrupt warning from Logitech sent Harmony owners scrambling to check if their hubs and remotes had been updated to the latest version. Here’s how, by the way. 

“How long has this firmware update been out, and why are we getting this notice ONE DAY before the deadline? That’s super unprofessional, Logitech,” one Redditor wrote. 

I checked my own Harmony Hub yesterday and found that it was already updated to firmware version 4.15.600, and it does seem to be working normally today. It’s not clear how long the current firmware has been available. 

Harmony owners (myself included) have long felt like their remotes are living on borrowed time, as Logitech discontinued the Harmony line back in 2021.

Logitech initially pledged to keep Harmony’s servers running for “as long as customers are using [them].” 

But back in March, Logitech announced that it was dropping support for more than two-dozen of the oldest Harmony remotes, leaving the remaining Harmony owners wondering how long their own devices would remain working.