❓ Device compatibility questions (Lights, AC, TV, etc.)

Astrion Astrion - Core Discussions
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Not sure if Astrion works well with a specific device?

Ask here about:

  • Air conditioners / climate entities
  • TVs & media players
  • Curtains, covers, switches
  • Zigbee / Matter / IR devices

Please include:

  • Brand / model
  • HA integration used
  • Entity type
2

Trying to setup remote to work with FireTV. Have it setup in HA and configured with ROS cards. I mapped all my buttons with android adb bridge. I noticed that there is lag though and the bridge disconnects. Is there a way to speed up button inputs or connect remote through IR/ Bluetooth?

3

Hi Joe, welcome to the Astrion community! :waving_hand:
Great to have you here, and thanks for the detailed question — you’re already doing a lot of things right.

Regarding Fire TV control via Home Assistant (ADB / Android Debug Bridge):

:one: About the lag and ADB disconnects

What you’re experiencing is a known limitation of ADB-based control, not specific to Astrion or RosCard.

ADB over the network:

  • Relies on TCP/IP keep-alive connections

  • Can introduce latency for rapid button presses

  • May disconnect if the Fire TV enters a low-power / sleep state or if the network is unstable

This behavior is common across all HA remotes and dashboards that use ADB.

:two: Can Astrion speed up ADB button inputs?

At the moment:

  • Astrion sends commands exactly as HA exposes them

  • We do not add extra delay, batching, or throttling on top of HA

So if there is lag:

  • It usually comes from the ADB integration itself

  • Or from network latency / Fire TV power management

:three: IR or Bluetooth support?

Good questions — here’s the current status:

:small_blue_diamond: Infrared (IR)

  • Astrion Remote has built-in IR transmitter hardware

  • Direct IR control from the remote is technically possible

  • However, IR learning and standalone IR control are still under evaluation and not yet released

  • For now, IR control must go through HA (e.g. Broadlink → scripts → RosCard)

:small_blue_diamond: Bluetooth

  • Direct Bluetooth HID control (like an original Fire TV remote) is not supported yet

  • This is something we are actively discussing internally, especially for AV-centric use cases

:four: Practical tips to improve responsiveness (now)

You can often improve ADB performance by:

  • Keeping Fire TV and HA on the same LAN (wired if possible)

  • Disabling aggressive sleep / power-saving on Fire TV

  • Using scripts or scenes for common actions instead of rapid repeated button presses

  • Mapping fewer “step-by-step” commands and more direct actions

:five: What’s coming

AV control (TVs, media players, IR devices) is a major development focus for Astrion:

  • More flexible button mapping

  • Better media / TV card behavior

  • Expanded AV control methods beyond ADB

Your feedback is exactly the kind we need to prioritize these improvements :folded_hands:
If you’re open to it, feel free to share:

  • Fire TV model

  • How it’s connected (Wi-Fi / Ethernet)

  • Whether you’re using the official Android TV ADB integration or another custom setup

Thanks again for joining, and welcome aboard! :rocket:

1 Like
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Hi, I actually use it for an android tv and it works great, but I’d like to have more button like Netflix, disenyplus and prime and specially a button to go directly to the TV channel. I have also an lg TV that actually doesn’t work and would be great to use it as well on the astrion

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Hi Miki, thanks a lot for sharing your experience :raising_hands:

Great to hear that Astrion is working well with your Android TV :+1:
Your suggestions are absolutely on point:

• Dedicated app buttons (Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, etc.)
• A direct “TV / Live Channel” button
• Better support for LG TVs

All of these are already part of our AV control roadmap.

Android TV

For Android TV, these buttons can be implemented via:

  • ADB commands
  • Home Assistant scripts or helpers

We’re actively working on making it easier to map custom buttons on Astrion directly to scripts, scenes, or helpers in HA, so app launch and TV channel shortcuts become straightforward.

LG TV

LG TVs (webOS) work well in Home Assistant via the native LG webOS integration, but today they’re not yet fully supported inside the TV (ROS) card.
This is a known limitation, and script / helper support inside the TV card is one of the most requested features — it will also unlock better LG TV control.

What you can do right now

As a temporary solution, you can:

  • Create HA scripts (e.g. Launch Netflix, Go to Live TV)
  • Expose them as helpers or scenes
  • Trigger them from Astrion cards

Thanks again for the great feedback — this is exactly the kind of input that shapes Astrion’s next updates.

6

I’m running Fire TV 4k I have a Nvidia Shield I might try. The native Android tv integration doesn’t work with fire stick. My internet is not that great right now everything running wirelessly. So far loving the remote! I’m moving into my new house beginning of February so will have more integrations to try out then. Can’t wait for future updates and improvements!

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Hi Joe, thanks a lot for sharing your setup — and great to hear you’re enjoying the remote already! :raising_hands:

You’re absolutely right about Fire TV:

  • Fire TV doesn’t fully support the standard Android TV integration in Home Assistant
  • That’s a known limitation on Amazon’s side, not the remote itself

Your idea of testing with the NVIDIA Shield is perfect :+1:
The Shield works very well with Home Assistant’s Android TV integration and is one of the most commonly used media devices with Astrion.

Regarding the network:

  • Running everything wirelessly is totally fine for now
  • Once you move into the new house, a more stable network (or wired LAN for key devices like Shield / HA host) will noticeably improve response time, especially for media control and state updates

The exciting part is what you mentioned next :eyes:

“I’m moving into my new house beginning of February”

That’s where Astrion really shines:

  • More rooms
  • More entities
  • More scenes & automations
  • One remote that scales with your setup instead of needing to be replaced

We’re actively improving RosCard, media control, and multi-device scenarios, so future updates should fit your expanding setup very well.

When you’re settled in:

  • We’d love to see photos or a short write-up of your new setup
  • Especially how you combine Shield, media scenes, and physical buttons

Thanks again for the support — and welcome to the Astrion community! :rocket:
Wishing you a Merry Xmas and prosperous New Year 2026!

1 Like
8

Switched to Nvidia Shield and now Android TV integration working much better. I set up a mix of media control on the ROS TV card. The media player is still under Android Debug bridge as the Android TV integration doesnt show an apps tray for some reason. All other buttons run through Android TV integration. I wish long press was an option for buttons but doesnt seem to be working. Noticed my clock wont change to 12hour format even with android settings set to 12 hour time. The voice search only works for home assistant commands cant do voice search like for youtube. Would also like spotify playlist in the que for playlists just shows empty que.

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Hi Joe, thanks a lot for the detailed feedback — this is very helpful :+1:
Let me reply point by point and also clarify a few terms that may be confusing.

:one: About the “application tray”

Good question — this term can be unclear.

By “application tray”, we mean the list of installed apps (Plex, YouTube, Netflix, etc.) that can be queried and launched via the Android TV integration in Home Assistant.

In your case:

  • The Android TV integration is controlling navigation and buttons correctly
  • But it is not exposing the installed app list, which is why you don’t see an app tray there
  • Because of this limitation, you’re correctly using ADB as the media player entity, since ADB usually provides better app visibility and launch control

So to clarify:
:backhand_index_pointing_right: Your TV / Shield is still displayed and controllable on Astrion
:backhand_index_pointing_right: It’s just that the Android TV integration itself isn’t reporting the app list, which is outside of Astrion’s control.

:two: Long-press button behavior

Long-press is supported, but currently with some scope limitations.

At the moment:

  • :white_check_mark: Long-press works mainly for:
    • Volume Up / Volume Down
    • Up / Down / Left / Right navigation keys
  • :cross_mark: Long-press is not yet available for all buttons on the Media / TV card

We’re aware this is a common request, and expanding long-press and multi-action behavior to more buttons is already part of our ongoing R&D plan.

:three: 12-hour time format

You’re right — at the moment:

  • Astrion uses its own system-level time formatting
  • It does not yet fully follow Android / HA regional time settings

:hammer_and_wrench: 12-hour / 24-hour time display synchronization is already noted and will be added in a future update.

:four: Voice search behavior

Currently:

  • The microphone is routed to Home Assistant voice commands
  • It does not yet support native Android / YouTube voice search

This is a known limitation due to how Android TV and ADB handle voice input. We’re still evaluating possible approaches, but for now voice control is HA-command-focused.

:five: Spotify playlists showing empty

This is also expected behavior for now.

  • Playlist browsing depends on how the media_player integration exposes playlist data
  • Some integrations (including Spotify) do not return playlist queues in a way we can currently consume

:musical_note: Improved playlist handling (including Spotify) is planned and will be enhanced in later versions.

Summary

You’ve actually set things up in the best possible way with current integrations:

  • Android TV integration → navigation & buttons
  • ADB → media playback & app control

Your feedback aligns very well with what we’re actively improving, especially around:

  • Deeper button customization
  • Expanded long-press logic
  • Richer media and playlist UI

Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience — posts like this directly help shape upcoming updates :folded_hands:

10

Hi team,

I just wanted to reach out and provide some device compatibility requests.

I have an LG TV. It’s the main device I used for watching media through apps such as Netflix, Emby etc. I can use Home Assistant to do MANY things to control the TV using the WebOS integration.

I know there is development proposed for LG TV, so I thought I would provide some details on how I expect the Astrion to operate my TV.

Here is my wishlist:

  • Physical D-pad key mapping to Up, Down, Left, Right, Enter controls for LG TV
  • Touchscreen button to display numeric keypad
  • Touchscreen buttons mapped to WebOS based HA scripts
  • Touchscreen button to display a specific and customised list of TV inputs/apps such as Netflix, Prime, Emby etc.
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Hi @NeilsOnWheels, welcome to the community — and thanks for jumping straight into such thoughtful feedback :+1:

You’re absolutely right to point out the FireRemote-style media control approach, and I want to reassure you that this is very much aligned with the direction we’re taking.

A previous community member shared an excellent FireRemote YAML example, and after internal discussion, we agreed that it clearly highlights some structural limitations in our current Media / TV RosCard design. That example has already influenced our thinking around:

  • Treating each button as an overrideable action
  • Allowing any HA service to be bound to buttons, not just media_player
  • Decoupling physical buttons from a single fixed entity
  • Making media control more device-family aware (TV, Shield, Fire TV, AVR, etc.)

We are currently actively working on this redesign, and I’ll also forward your comments to the development team as additional confirmation that this is the right direction.

Thanks again for raising this — feedback like yours helps validate our design decisions and keeps us focused on real-world usage.

1 Like
12

Hi is there anyway to trigger an automation when you select the media card ? Example

I want to control my shield Tv so I setup the send control commands Ros card which controls my Shield and the vol of my Tv, but I have to manually turn on the tv first, select the correct input etc. is there anyway for the remote to trigger an automation when I press on the Ros card I can do this In home assistant.

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Hi @Skeltonmfc, welcome to the community — and great question :+1:

Yes — what you’re trying to achieve is possible, and you’re thinking about it exactly the right way.

:white_check_mark: Short Answer

Yes, you can trigger a Home Assistant automation when interacting with a Ros Card — but the method depends on how you want it triggered:

Trigger Type Supported Now Notes
Pressing a button inside Ros Card :white_check_mark: Yes Recommended approach
Opening / selecting the Ros Card itself :warning: Not directly Requires workaround

:bullseye: Recommended Method (Best Practice)

Instead of triggering the automation when the card is opened, the best current solution is:

:right_arrow: Bind a Home Assistant script or automation to a button on the Ros Card

For example, create a script in Home Assistant:

script:
  shield_tv_startup:
    sequence:
      - service: media_player.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: media_player.tv
      - delay: "00:00:02"
      - service: media_player.select_source
        data:
          entity_id: media_player.tv
          source: HDMI 1
      - service: media_player.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: media_player.shield

Then bind that script to a Ros Card button such as:

:clapper_board: Watch Shield

This way one press:

  • turns on TV

  • switches input

  • starts Shield

  • prepares remote control

This is actually the intended architecture of Astrion’s automation design — actions should be tied to explicit buttons, not UI navigation events.

:gear: Why Card-Open Trigger Isn’t Native (Yet)

Triggering automations on card open is currently not built-in because:

  • UI navigation events are considered passive states

  • Button presses are considered explicit commands

  • Explicit triggers prevent accidental automation runs

That said — your use case is valid, and this exact idea has already been discussed internally as a future enhancement direction.

:brain: Advanced Workaround (Power Users)

If you really want automation triggered on card open, you can simulate it by:

  • Creating a dedicated “Launch Media” button

  • Making it the first and most prominent button

  • Styling it visually as a header or entry action

This gives almost identical UX while remaining stable and predictable.

:white_check_mark: Summary

  • Yes, your scenario is achievable today

  • Best method = trigger automation via a Ros Card button

  • Card-open triggers are not native yet but are being evaluated