A portable electronic device with a touch-sensitive display (such as a cellular telephone) provides a wireless remote control for an entertainment device (such as a consumer-electronic device). After providing, to an audio/video (A/V) hub, user-interface activity information that specifies a change in a state of the entertainment device, the portable electronic device receives device-state information that specifies a current state of the entertainment device from the A/V hub. Until the device-state information indicates that the change in the state has occurred, the portable electronic device: provides: the user-interface activity information to the A/V hub; and receives, from the A/V hub, additional device-state information indicating whether the change in the state has occurred. In addition, the portable electronic device may provide feedback (such as a visual indicator or sensory feedback) to a user about the status of the change in the state.