Logitech makes some of the finest universal remotes available, with all sorts of buttons and touchscreens. The Harmony remotes might be super-neat, but the Android app has long suffered from a terminal case of ugly. Well, no more with the most recent update. It looks like an app you'd want to use.

Here's the changelog from v4.0.

  • Now supports Harmony Living Home products: Harmony Ultimate Home, Harmony Home Control, and Harmony Home Hub
  • New UI provides easy access to your Activities and your AV and Home Control Devices
  • Start Activities and control devices from out of home (requires new Harmony Living Home product)
  • Start or end Activities based on schedules, or in response to sensors (sold separately, requires new Harmony Living Home product)

The app lets you pair a phone or tablet with most Logitech Harmony remotes. You don't need an IR blaster on your device to control components when connected to a Harmony remote. The app can be used to create actions that power on and change settings on TVs, cable boxes, and whatever else you have in your living room. Maybe a Betamax player, I don't know. Version 4.0 also includes support for Harmony Home Control products like blinds and lights.

The look and feel of the app is vastly improved, but it's not really a standard Android UI. Frankly, it has a bit of an iOS vibe. Still, it's about a million times better than the old UI, which you can see below.