How to do "activities" like on Harmony?

Astrion Astrion - Core Discussions
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First of all, I don’t own the Astrion so far, so I couldn’t try out anything. But it looks promising.

I’d like to do some things like Harmony and Sofabaton did with activities. Like, turn on TV, AV receiver, and Chromecast, then have the DPad control the Chromecast and the volume keys the AV receiver. Or almost the same with the DVD player instead of the Chromecast. Then turn everything off with one button.

Is this possible with the Astrion? The closest I’ve seen so far is the TV card, but this seems limited to the Android TV scenario - and even there I’m not sure if/how the AV receiver can be handled.

Other use cases like DVD could be additional TV or media player cards? If so, how to switch between them so that e.g. the DVD player gets turned off when switching to Android TV? Is there some kind of active card entity I could trigger the necessary actions? Or even a simpler way?

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You can solve this with a combination of the Home Assistant Universal Media Player and scripts which are now supported by the TV card. Check out the posts from @peteS-UK here at the end of the thread: :brain: Feature requests (user perspective) - Astrion / Astrion - Core Discussions - Sanytron

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Hi @mort, welcome to the community :waving_hand:

:bullseye: Short Answer

Yes — you can absolutely achieve Harmony-style “Activities” with Astrion, but the logic is handled a bit differently:

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Instead of being built into the remote itself,
:backhand_index_pointing_right: The “activity logic” is handled by Home Assistant (HA)

:brain: How It Works (Astrion Philosophy)

With Astrion:

  • The remote = UI + control interface

  • Home Assistant = brain (automation, state, logic)

So an “Activity” (like Watch TV) is typically implemented using:

  • Scenes → for turning devices on/off

  • Scripts / Automations → for sequencing logic

  • Cards (like TV Card) → for control mapping

:white_check_mark: Example: “Watch Chromecast” Activity

You would typically set it up like this:

1. Create a script (or scene + automation) in HA:

  • Turn on TV

  • Turn on AVR

  • Set AVR input → Chromecast

  • Turn on Chromecast

2. Bind that script to Astrion

  • Use a Scene Card or Script button

3. Configure control mapping (this is the key part):

In the TV Card, you can mix entities:

  • D-Pad → remote.chromecast (or Android TV / ADB / etc.)

  • Volume → media_player.avr

Example concept:

- key: VOLUME_UP
  type: media_player
  entity_id: media_player.avr
  value: volume_up

So:

  • Navigation controls Chromecast :white_check_mark:

  • Volume controls AVR :white_check_mark:

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Exactly like a Harmony Activity

:counterclockwise_arrows_button: Switching Between Activities

For example:

  • “Watch Chromecast”

  • “Watch DVD”

You would:

  1. Create separate scripts/scenes for each activity

  2. Each one:

    • Powers ON required devices

    • Powers OFF unused ones

    • Sets correct inputs

  3. Bind each to:

    • A Scene Card button

    • Or a custom button

:warning: Important Difference vs Harmony

Harmony:

  • Activity system built into remote

  • Tracks state internally

Astrion + HA:

  • State is managed by Home Assistant

  • More flexible, but requires setup

:backhand_index_pointing_right: The advantage:

  • You can handle very complex setups (multiple devices, conditions, logic)

:backhand_index_pointing_right: The trade-off:

  • Requires initial scripting / automation setup

:light_bulb: Pro Tip (Recommended Approach)

Many advanced users (like @starob and @peteS-UK) use:

  • Scripts for activities

  • Optional: Universal Media Player (to unify control)

  • TV Card for control surface

This gives a very powerful and scalable setup :+1:

:rocket: Future Direction

We also recognize that:

  • Native “Activity-style” workflows

  • Easier setup / abstraction

would make onboarding much smoother — and this is something we’re actively evaluating for future improvements.

:white_check_mark: Summary

:check_mark: Yes — fully possible today

:check_mark: Use scripts/scenes in HA to replicate activities

:check_mark: Use TV Card to map control across multiple devices

:warning: Slightly more manual setup than Harmony

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