AV CONTROLLER - US 4+

The user interface on this app is quite bizarre. It is basically functional, except for a few items that you still need to use the on-screen AV menus and physical remote control to change. And I have offered their criticism about that, which I agree with.

One user interface improvement I would like to see is with zones. When you choose a zone, the interface does not tell you what zone you have selected until you turn on the power. This ambiguity makes it confusing to know which zone you currently have selected if you happen to open the app at some later time. This should be an easy fix.

Other than that, I wish the AV device had independent volume control for both the main zone A and secondary zone B. For example if both zones are turned on, if you adjust the volume on zone A (main) it will also adjust zone B. This does not work well when you have a setup with inside speakers (A) and outside patio speakers (B). In other words, you cannot increase the volume of zone B any higher than zone A. This makes going in and out of the house (for example during a barbecue or a party) annoying. Either the outside speakers are too low or the inside speakers are too loud. Maybe the device can do this but the software restricts it, I don't know.

It’s great to be able to control my stereo remotely, but the organization of controls on this all doesn’t make a lot of sense, particularly with regard to adjusting volume, which you might have to do fairly often. There’s a lot of switching of screens necessary even though there’s plenty of space on a single iPhone screen (and certainly an iPad) to display (and control) volume for each individual zone and even a master control too. There’s no need to have a special “knob” interaction when we are all familiar with the classic iOS slider for volume that both displays and allows you to interact; all the knob does is force more clicks into the user flow. Really, if there were a simple page that had all volumes controllable simultaneously without paging around the app, I’d have rated this app much higher. Hopefully we’ll see that in a future version!

Yamaha has simply forgotten about the user experience when it comes to its applications in regard to its network enabled receivers and processors my CX-A5000 SSP audio processor. not only is the IP address, web, interface, miserable, entirely unintuitive, and poorly designed, but the application for iOS is simply a disaster and almost entirely inaccessible to a blind user who must use a sided friend or family member to navigate the onscreen menus because the Internet or network enabled device, which should be accessible to blind people, is entirely in accessible! it is clear to me, that Yamaha designers, at least of this application and the web interface, simply could not care less about the user experience of someone who might have poor eyesight, or is totally blind, to say nothing of the user experience of anyone who is cited for that matter. come on Yamaha, one of the greatest corporations in the world, especially with audio and sound equipment, and I have to put up with this kind of nonsense! I am presently due to upgrade my main audio system, and at this juncture, it is highly unlikely. I will be purchasing another Yamaha product, unless Yamaha can somehow improve it with interface and application for configuring it home, audio equipment, such as it’s receivers or integrated amplifiers.