First Look: iStat for the iPhone

My very favorite Dashboard widget is iSlayer's iStat Pro. It is invaluable for figuring out how fast Internet connection is moving, tracking down what processes are hanging up the system and monitoring CPU usage.

But what if you want to monitor your systems performance remotely? What if you have a Mac server and you want to keep track of the memory and network usage? This is exactly what iStat for the iPhone was designed to address. Bjango (the new venture from part of the iSlayer team) was nice enough to let me try the app before it hits the App Store, and put it through the paces.

This is how it works:

You install the lightweight iStat Server deskop app (you need to be running Mac OS X 10.4 or higher) and then you run the iStat app for the iPhone to connect it to your Mac.

If you are on the same local network, Bonjour will take care of everything, you'll see your computer name on a list and you just need to enter in the passcode displayed in the iStat Server app to access your data.

If you are connecting to a remote server, just enter in the IP address and port number (the default is port 5109) and your passcode and you're good to go.

The iStat program will show you information on your iPhone or iPod touch and any computers or servers that you've configured with your device.

Take a look at the gallery and read on (the next page) for more details.




Desktop Stats

The information that iStat for iPhone displays will be familiar to anyone who has used either iStat Pro or iStat menus. CPU usage, RAM stats, how much free space exists on your hard drive (or drives), network traffic and heat and fan speeds are all available. Especially useful for server administrators is the Uptime and Load reports.

You won't get details on stuff like battery usage or cycle number, nor can you view the individual processes, but you do get a nice overview of the status of your system.

iPhone Stats

In the iPhone/iPod information section, you can see the state of the memory on your device and how much free space you have on your handheld. There's a "Free Memory" button that will clear out your iPhone or iPod touch's memory, which can be useful if your handheld is acting sluggish. The app also displays the IP addresses from your device, as well as the Unique Identifier (UDID) and your device's MAC address. You can even e-mail the UDID and MAC address to someone in your address book, directly from the app.

Additional Tools

My favorite part of iStat for the iPhone is the built in Ping and Traceroute tools. With Ping, you can enter in a domain or IP address and test to see the status of that server. Assuming the server has not disabled ping access (Apple.com, TUAW.com and other site often have the ping functionality disabled from the router), you can send pings to the server and see how long it takes to respond.

Additionally, there is a Traceroute tool that will let you view the traceroute to a domain or IP. This can be especially useful if you need to try to pinpoint a router or connection problem.


iStat for the iPhone should be availale in the App Store soon. It will be $2.99, though it is set to debut at $1.99 for a limited time. The iStat Server app is free, but requires iStat for the IPhone to do anything of use.


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