Remote (Apple software)

iTunes Remote (also known simply as Remote) is a software application for the iPhone OS that allows for remote control of any iTunes (7.7+) library in an area with Wi-Fi connectivity. It is currently made available as a free download from the App Store for iPhone OS 2.0 users.

History

Patent filing

Unofficial software modifications for including this functionality in both the iPhone OS and the Apple TV OS had existed previously, but rumors of Apple giving remote control capabilities between the iPhone OS and Apple TV had existed since early 2006, when the U.S. Patent Office published a patent filed by Apple on September 11, 2006 that depicted a "media-player with remote control capabilities" alongside a "multi-media center for computing systems" [cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070416155548/http://www.looprumors.com/article.php?apple-multimedia-center-patent,1418752719|title=Apple media center patent: iPod connectivity?|authorlink=kazouz|publisher="LoopRumors.com"|date=2007-04-12] .

Release

On July 10, 2008, Apple released Remote on the App Store [cite web|url=http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/10/apples-remote-control-application-for-itunes-and-apple-tv/|title=Apple's Remote: turns your iPhone into a WiFi remote control|first=Thomas|last=Ricker|authorlink=Thomas Ricker|publisher="Engadget"|date=2008-7-10|accessdate=2008-07-14] . That same day, Apple released the Apple TV 2.1 software update that added recognition for the iPhone and iPod touch as remote control devices [cite web|url=http://www.tuaw.com/2008/07/10/apple-tv-2-1-update-goes-live-adds-mobileme-support/|title=Apple TV 2.1 update goes live, adds MobileMe support|first=Cory|last=Bohon|authorlink=Cory Bohon|publisher="The Unofficial Apple Weblog"|date=2008-7-10|accessdate=2008-07-14] .

Features

Remote, similar to the Apple Remote, allows for one to play, pause, skip or shuffle media playback on an iTunes library on either Mac OS X, Windows or the Apple TV OS through the AirTunes capability. The metadata from an iTunes library is streamed to the iPhone or iPod touch, which then renders a graphic of the currently playing media (usually album art) from the particular iTunes library.

Remote has a menu of items to choose from:

* Playlists
* Artists
* Albums
* Search
* More (which gives you access to Audiobooks, Composers, Genres, Movies, Music Videos, Podcasts, Songs, and TV Shows) [cite web|url=http://gizmodo.com/5023755/first-itunes-remote-app-for-iphone-hands+on|title=First iTunes Remote App for iPhone Hands-On|first=Jesus|last=Diaz|authorlink=Jesus Diaz|date=2008-07-10|accessdate=2008-07-15]

Drawbacks

Remote cannot display or start playing content streamed to an Apple TV [cite web|url=http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14293281|title=Apple remote App for iphone/itouch|authorlink=Kenliles|date=2008-04-17|accessdate=2008-08-10] . Streamed content appears as a shared library on an Apple TV, but Remote is unable to select content from the shared library. Instead, Remote can connect to the shared library directly and play music through speakers connected to an Apple TV using AirTunes. However, video on that shared library can not be played through the Apple TV as AirTunes only works with music and not video.

ee also

* Salling Clicker

External links

* [http://www.apple.com/itunes/remote/ Remote] on Apple's web site
* [http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284417350&mt=8 Remote] at the iTunes App Store (requires iTunes to open)

References