When working in my home office I’m sat in front of my Windows 11 PC so I naturally use the Roon Remote client for Microsoft Windows. I confess that I am annoyed daily by this software though due to the lack of any pop-out window such as iTunes has since If I want to see what’s playing - something I want to do often when I let Roon Radio suggest stuff for me - I have to pull up the full remote window and then minimise it again which interrupts my workflow far more than would be the case if I could keep a small mini-player window in the top right of my screen to glance at at any time. Yes, I could keep an iPad or phone within easy reach on my desk but my desk tends to be pretty full of papers so that is clutter that I would prefer to avoid.
When listening to my main system in my living room I always have an iPad 12.9" next to my sofa for sofa surfing so that is the natural remote for me to use when selecting music. I don’t find this 100% satisfactory either. For selecting music to play or researching artists and/or albums it is great but for my problem use case mentioned above, a quick glance to see what Roon Radio has selected, it is a bit heavy and cumbersome. Partly because of this I signed up to the Yio (now rebranded “Unfolded Circle”) Remote 2 smart remote since it is promising a Roon integration at launch and from what I’ve seen that is going to happen. My Logitech Harmony Hub remote is already central to my device control in my living room and with Logitech discontinuing the Harmony remotes I am concerned what would happen if my Logitech stuff were to break so hopefully this new remote will future-proof me for my TV/console/speaker/etc unified remote and even if all that the Roon integration offers is the now-playing display and basic controls plus ideally the queue and some manipulation capability on that I will use that for my quick “what is Roon Radio playing now?” checks.
Someone did start a thread about the remote on this forum, to a somewhat lukewarm reception. That thread is here - YIO Remote 2 - A premium smart remote with Roon support - Roon Software Discussion - Roon Labs Community