Filed under: Internet Tools, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look
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.
Gallery: iStat for iPhone
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.
Gallery: iStat for iPhone
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Steve said 2:12PM on 1-15-2009
A friendly note: You can still make out what the mac address is in the photo. A colored bar is much more effective than a blurring. And unlike a blur impossible to restore.
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Christina Warren said 2:33PM on 1-15-2009
Thanks, I didn't have the blur level where it should have been but I went ahead and changed it.
Thanks again.
Jayson said 2:13PM on 1-15-2009
That's incredibly sick! I WANT IT!!!
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Majormauser said 2:32PM on 1-15-2009
The Star Trek Tricorder.
FOR REAL!
This looks pretty awesome. This really benefits the iPhone
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doug said 2:48PM on 1-15-2009
Linux version PLEASE!
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Christina Warren said 2:51PM on 1-15-2009
They are seriously looking into it. The Mac version needs to get off the ground first, but it is definitely something they are considering.
ByronFortescue said 4:51PM on 1-15-2009
Would be awesome indeed.. It could plug into top or something (which runs everywhere)
@Christina, great to know they are looking into it..
brian said 2:50PM on 1-15-2009
Or, you could install one of a million free web-based server monitoring tools written in Perl, PHP, etc. and run that instead with OS X's included Apache.
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doug said 2:54PM on 1-15-2009
Did you look at the gallery? This thing is way cooler than any web-app.
Randy said 2:55PM on 1-15-2009
I use the dashboard widget. I love it. I'd like to see something similar for the Windows Sidebar in Vista. Any chance of that happening?
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Greenie said 2:57PM on 1-15-2009
I was reading this article thinking I"ll totally buy it.
Then I looked at the screenshots and saw that Macminicolo customers get free copies, so I guess I don't have to buy it. (I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned in the article.)
Anyhow, it's little surprises like this that can brighten up a day for an otherwise bored IT admin. Thanks bjango!!
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Jash Sayani said 3:02PM on 1-15-2009
Wow! iStat for the iPhone. Hadn't thought about that.... Will get it now.
Thanks Christina.
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Squid7085 said 3:32PM on 1-15-2009
Grr, I hate articles on cool Apps I can't have yet! Has it been submitted to the store yet?
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Christina Warren said 3:44PM on 1-15-2009
Yes, it has been submitted. Hopefully it'll be up soon. It is seriously awesome.
Marc Edwards said 6:21PM on 1-15-2009
As Christina's said, we've submitted. So all going well it should appear soon (fingers crossed!).
Squid7085 said 8:09PM on 1-15-2009
I sure hope so, there are few Apps that I pounce for the second they are available. This is one of them though. Sling being the other recent one. :-) The only thing I am worried about is setting up the remote monitoring since I am on a Campus network. Either way, still worth it just for the device features
Tom said 10:36PM on 1-15-2009
I'm quite sure this won't hit the store. It's got the ability to 'free memory' on the iPhone, which is much more than Apple will let an app do.
Squid7085 said 4:20PM on 1-16-2009
I thought the same thing, but apparently Apple is letting those types of apps in. Take a look at the top ten paid Apps, and app that does that and only that has fluctuated around that list for a few days now.
lazyj said 3:49PM on 1-15-2009
just two questions :P
Can it continually ping at a fixed interval while the phone is not asleep?
can it notify you (via SMS/email/app) that a server is down (when pings time out)?
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Marc Edwards said 6:30PM on 1-15-2009
"Can it continually ping at a fixed interval while the phone is not asleep?"
Ping can continuously ping, if that's what you want to do.
Full help docs are live now: http://bjango.com/help/
And help with ping is here: http://bjango.com/help/istat/ping/
It can optionally pause when the screen is locked, or keep on pinging, if that's what you'd like.
"can it notify you (via SMS/email/app) that a server is down (when pings time out)?"
Nup. But hey, this is version 1.0 and we like aggressively developing our apps, so who knows where this little guy will be in 6 months' time.
The notification service from Apple might help with what you're after...