Snap One has announced new features and capabilities for the Control4 Halo and Halo Touch remotes that provide a more streamlined interface with greater reliability and improved user experiences.
Following the over-the-air update to v1.7, all Halo and Halo Touch remotes will gain a redesigned lighting page that offers faster control, longer battery life, improved Wi-Fi stability, access to custom buttons from the system, and a convenient “What’s New” page that explains new features right on the remote itself.
“With the new firmware v1.7 for Halo and Halo Touch remotes, users immediately get an upgraded home control experience with faster, more intuitive lighting and ceiling fan control, up to 24 customized buttons for unique multi-system scenes or programmed controls, significantly improved battery life, a new more reliable Wi-Fi architecture, and a handy What’s New info page available right on the remote’s screen,” explains Eric Fritz, Snap One Senior Director of Product Management. “This increases the power and usability of both remotes, ensuring users enjoy the experience and Snap One Partners have strong arguments when recommending the remotes or bundled Control4 solutions to clients.”
Through the new redesigned lighting experience, you can precisely control light dimming and ceiling fan speed using sliders on the list view and colour control pages, without needing to navigate to individual devices.
With the addition of custom buttons, the remote control experience mirrors that of the Control4 mobile app or touchscreen interfaces, making all existing custom buttons available on the remotes. Custom buttons can be used to execute scenes, macros, or any programming events within Control4, offering precise control of large areas with multiple subsystems. You can create up to six custom buttons on each of four menus, offering 24 unique actions that can combine lighting, audio, video, window shades, HVAC, and more to offer instant control of fully customized environments.
To improve daily usability and user satisfaction, Snap One’s engineers have made major improvements to battery life, with both versions of the Halo remote now delivering roughly double the previous runtime thanks to better power management.
In addition to extending time between charges, the new firmware also enacts a new Wi-Fi architecture that features improved capabilities that enhance network connection reliability and usability, while reducing the need for resets. Continued rigorous Wi-Fi testing ensures ongoing enhancements and consistent performance optimizations for the remote, says Control4.
All these enhancements are presented directly on the remote itself in a “What’s New” page, with a blue dot on the home screen indicating there are new updates or features to be reviewed. Future firmware updates will be detailed in the What’s New page.
“Software offers us the chance to consistently improve user experiences and device functionality as new opportunities and needs arise, and Snap One is committed to making Control4 easier to use and easier to sell with every new iteration,” says Fritz.