Filed under: iPod Family, iTunes, iPhone
Signal: turn your iPhone into an iTunes remote
Just because installing third party apps voids your iPhone warranty doesn't mean you shouldn't have fun with it! Signal is a cool little app that won't void your warranty and lets you control your iTunes library right from the screen of your iPod touch or iPhone.Signal installs on your Mac, and starts up a little server that is accessible via the browser on your iPhone/iPod touch (or other device with a browser and internet access). Go to your special Signal URL and suddenly you have an iTunes remote control in your hands.
It is important to note that this doesn't stream your iTunes music to a remote device, it simply allows you to control iTunes (start, stop, and skip songs) from afar.
Signal costs $24.95, though a demo is available.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
nickganga said 7:09PM on 9-25-2007
I've been using this app with my iPod touch and I have to say, its the missing link for iTunes + Airport Express (Airtunes) :)
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Tim said 7:10PM on 9-25-2007
Or, for the free, feature-rich version: http://code.google.com/p/telekinesis/
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mr. Obsession said 7:13PM on 9-25-2007
Remote Buddy smokes Signal for the same price.
I'm continually surprised by how few people know it rocks as an iPhone remote for iTunes...in addition to a grip of home theatre features that have nothing to do with the iPhone!
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WillGonz said 7:18PM on 9-25-2007
Weak. I wouldn't pay for that. I could write the same thing in 30 Minutes.
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amiga_tone said 7:30PM on 9-25-2007
This would be so good for parties! Mount the touch in some bracket and let people select the songs while my MacBook streams through my iTunes Express nodes and my iPod HiFi! :)
What we need now is a way to Jukebox the songs so they can be queued without the need of stopping the current song, "On the go" perhaps?
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Mctink said 7:32PM on 9-25-2007
Tim, thanks!
Telekinesis is amassing.
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Andrew Harrison said 7:59PM on 9-25-2007
I'm using zTunes [well, I've set it up in anticipation for my iPod touch which should arrive tomorrow] to do the same thing.
The default skin isn't particularly good to look at, so I added some iTunes style improvements in there to pretty it up.
http://brothercake.com/site/resources/scripts/ztunes/
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Martin said 8:07PM on 9-25-2007
Smart app.
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Zisho said 8:14PM on 9-25-2007
*yawn* .. old news ;-)
Remote Buddy has been able to do this - and so much more - for quite some time now:
http://www.iospirit.com/remotebuddy/ajaxremote/
and it can do much more than just control iTunes! It also features nice transitions in the Now Playing screen.
Signal looks totally overpriced for the little it can do in comparison..
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selcouth said 8:42PM on 9-25-2007
For the love of Steve! Third party apps DO NOT void your warranty! *UNLOCKING* your phone voids the warranty. There is a huge difference. *Please* stop spreading this horrible confusion. Don't add to the problem!
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Neil Daniels said 9:00PM on 9-25-2007
Display the current song, skip to a different song, etc. All for free. "Now Playing" and telekinesis.
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Anthony said 9:12PM on 9-25-2007
@ 11 - Exactly. I thought I was reading another of Erica's retard-O posts and then I realized it was Scott apparently channeling Erica.
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Kai Cherry said 9:26PM on 9-25-2007
Actually, 10 and 12, "3rd party apps" that are not Web 2.0 apps are unauthorized modifications the the phone, and as such qualify as warranty voiding. To install and run most of them, the phone must *MUST* be chaned from the factory configuration, written to, and run from a LOCKED part of the phone with no normal end-user access.
This Means You.
:)
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selcouth said 9:32PM on 9-25-2007
@13: It is not considered "unlocking" to install third party apps. Apple has stated that they are neutral on that: http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/11/dont-worry-iphone-hackers-apple-doesnt-hate-you/
They have also stated that they are AGAINST unlocking. There is a difference.
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brian said 9:32PM on 9-25-2007
Did someone say 'streaming'? :-) If you want to stream your iTunes library to your iPhone/iPod touch, either at home or from anywhere on the Internet, go here:
http://pixelcity.com/iphone-streaming-music/
OK, so it's not quite streaming, it's more like click-around-until-you-find-a-song-then-play-it, but it *is* a way to have access to every song in your collection from your shiny new toy. Very simple, works pretty well. (Gags folders with a '&' in them, but I'm working on that.)
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Kai Cherry said 9:38PM on 9-25-2007
Look...I don't care what your romantic notion is, selcouth...the fact of the matter is that anything on the phone that apple puts there breaks it...its not covered by the warranty...regardless of your opinion on the matter.
Incidentally, the VERY NEXT DAY after that statement was released, Apple backpedaled on it. There is only one sanctioned, warranty covered way of running third party apps on an iPhone and you are doing a disservice by trying to "quash" any talk to the contrary.
To install a phone native-app on the iPhone requires changing the way it ships in very specific ways that change the way parts of the phone work from the factory. It is *by design* not meant for ANYTHING to be on it apple didn't put there; no 3rd party apps are secured, they have full control over *everything on the phone*...
Its not MacOS X...and any app that causes any "damage" to the phone would not be covered by Apple's warranty.
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Kai Cherry said 9:41PM on 9-25-2007
Rather..."anything on the phone that apple didn't put there"...
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Matt said 10:51PM on 9-25-2007
I like Signal a whole lot and have been using it since it first came out. I've used Remote Buddy too, and that is nice for controlling a whole lot of things besides just iTunes, but for straight up controlling your tunes from anywhere, Signal is much more slick. If you have parties and use multiple Airport Express stations to bring the noise, Signal is well worth it. The interface is very much like native iPod (for iPhone/Touch) controls. Because it is a simpler UI than Remote Buddy, it works a little better for you if you've had a few pops- know what I'm saying? A nifty feature that isn't mentioned here is that Signal will retrieve album art for songs streaming over internet radio, which is alarmingly accurate. I have dedicated album art retrieving apps that aren't nearly as good at it.
I have been meaning to try Telekinesis too.
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gortman said 12:13AM on 9-26-2007
i agree on the telekinesis iphone remote project. the quick way to turn your iphone into an apple remote: http://macrecon.com/five-steps-to-an-iremote/
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mr. Obsession said 1:11AM on 9-26-2007
@Matt: Signal may be "much more slick" than Remote Buddy in your opinion, but there's NOTHING it can do that RB doesn't.
Just wanted to make sure there was a clear understanding of what constitutes "better" in the context of this discussion.
Signal's crazy-confident price point profiles their thinking that the two are similarly-equipped products. They simply are not.
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