Remote App for iPhone and iPod Touch

Remote (free, iTunes link) is an app from Apple that lets you control iTunes or Apple TV over a WiFi network using an iPhone or iPod Touch. It works with iTunes on Macs and Windows. For anyone who uses iTunes, Remote is an incredibly convenient tool.

Uses

Why use Remote? It frees you from the computer. This is handy, for example, if you’re using iTunes to play music at a party. You could walk around the room and change songs or create playlists (or let others) using an iPhone or iPod. Remote also comes in handy if you’re in a different room than where the music is playing. Remote uses WiFi, so it doesn’t require line of sight to change songs like a normal remote control would.

I use Remote so I don’t have to switch my computer window to iTunes in order to change songs while working. I keep Remote running on my iPhone next to my computer.

Play on Multiple Speakers in Your House

Remote can also be used as a master remote to stream music to different speakers and audio equipment in different locations in your home. For example, if you were throwing a party, you could use Remote to only send audio to rooms where the party was taking place, like speakers on an outdoor deck and a stereo in the living room. Remote can turn audio off or on in different locations using a system Apple calls AirTunes, which utilizes Apple’s Airport Express network extenders to connect stereos and powered speakers to iTunes over your home network.

Setup With iTunes

Setting up the Remote App with iTunes

Setup is easy and takes only a few seconds. Make sure your iPhone is on the same WiFi network as the computer or Apple TV. Make sure iTunes is open on your computer, and launch the app on the iPhone/iPod. The app will ask you which iTunes library you want to connect to. Choose one, and it will show you a four-digit code. Go to iTunes on the computer and look for your iPhone or iPod Touch in the left sidebar under Devices. Click on it, and it will ask for the four-digit code. Enter it, and you’re finished.

Setup With Apple TV

Setup is much the same for the Apple TV. Tap Add Library in the Remote app, and it will give your a four-digit code. Go to the Settings menu on your Apple TV, click on Remotes, and enter the four-digit code. You’re good to go.

iTunes

Album view with iPhone Remote App

Remote can be used to operate iTunes wirelessly on your computer and play any content available inside iTunes, including music, music videos, TV shows, movies, and podcasts. (To play radio stations, you’ll have to put the stations in a playlist. You can’t browse iTunes radio stations in the Remote app.) Using Remote, you can play, pause, and skip around to different sections of audio and video files using the slider bar.

In my experience, there is almost no delay between pressing play on the iPhone/iPod, and the song playing on the computer.

The app also lets you browse your iTunes library by artist, album, audiobook, composer, genre, movies, music videos, TV sow, podcasts, and song name. Browsing is exactly like the iPod functionality on the iPhone/iPod Touch. There are also controls for volume, and the ability to rate each song.

Album art from your library appears in Remote, but in my experience there is sometimes a delay of a second or two. There is no cover flow mode, so tilting the iPhone into landscape does nothing.

In Remote‘s playlist view, the Edit feature lets you edit the name of any playlist in iTunes. You can also delete playlists while in edit mode by tapping the red circles. When not in edit mode, you can delete playlists by swiping your finger left to right across the playlist’s name. Any changes you make will appear almost instantaneously on the computer or Apple TV.

You can create new playlists by tapping New in playlist view. Creating a playlist works exactly like creating an On-The-Go playlist , except the playlist can have a unique name.

Remote App and Genius Playlists

Remote also works with Genius playlists. You can create edit the current Genius playlist, refresh it with new songs, or create an entirely new list by selecting a new song.

Search

Searching iTunes Library Using Remote App

The search feature works like the search bar in iTunes. Tap the Search tab at the bottom of the app, and a keyboard pops up. Type in a few letters or a word, and it will show only the items that match the letters/word. Tap any of the items to play.

Settings

Remote‘s settings menu lets you add more than one library if you have more than one computer in the house. There’s also a setting for switching to different speakers (see the paragraph on iTunes above).

There’s also an option to Stay Connected. Turning this on will keep Remote constantly connected to iTunes. It saves a few seconds when the iPhone/iPod is brought out of sleep mode, as it won’t have to establish a new connection. Be warned that this feature will drain your battery faster, but in my experience, it’s not a very noticeable increase.

Apple TV

Remote‘s controls and functionality for the Apple TV is much the same as for iTunes. There is one nice feature involving YouTube on the Apple TV. Typing in text to search for videos on YouTube is a pain using the Apple TV’s default remote. However, if you have Remote open, anytime a text field appears on the Apple TV, a keyboard will appear on Remote. Whatever you type on Remote will instantly appear on the Apple TV.

Conclusion

Although I still mostly use my computer to control iTunes, Remote has been useful enough to stay on my iPhone since the app was introduced in July 08. If you use iTunes to play music during parties, like to listen to music while in a different room, or if you stream music to multiple rooms in your house, Remote can be a powerful and useful tool for keeping things thumpin’.

Remote is a free download in the iTunes App Store.

*Update 3/17/09* A new feature called iTunes DJ has been added to iTunes and the Remote app. You can find the description here.