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Filed under: Software, iPhone, iPod touch, First Look, App Review

First Look: Keymote for iPhone / iPod touch takes control of your Mac

There are some applications out there that never cease to amaze me. We're always looking for shortcuts and ways to make our lives (and our computer use) much easier. Iced Cocoa's new Keymote [iTunes Link] for iPhone and iPod touch is sure to do just that!

With Keymote, you'll never again have to remember a shortcut. Keymote creates single buttons out of complicated shortcuts and groups them by application, speeding up your productivity and boosting your workflow. Basically, Keymote acts as a remote for your Mac and can control almost any application.

The developer notes that you can "Easily control Front Row from across the room, refresh your Twitter stream wirelessly, or play a song from iTunes without even touching your computer, the possibilities are endless."

Some highlights of Keymote include:
  • Simple and intuitive user interface that makes using Keymote easy and fun.
  • Easy to connect and operate over a Wi-Fi connection.
  • Organizes your keystrokes, keeping the ones you use close at hand.
  • Highly customizable with different key colors, the ability to add tactile feedback with vibrations and more.
  • Built-in store for purchasing keystroke sets for almost any Mac application. Don't worry, most of these are free.
  • Customize and share your keystrokes and layouts with other users easily.
I found the Keymote interface to be simple to use, and the commands are snappy, happening almost instantly. The in-app store is great too; I was able to download keystroke sets for Tweetie, Coda, iTunes, Safari, Firefox, Photoshop and so much more. I'm also a sucker for a beautiful user interface and Keymote certainly has that. The menus are easy to use and the keystroke pages are downright gorgeous.

The application is available in the iTunes App Store for $3.99 and is well worth the price. In addition to the app, you'll need to head over to Iced Cocoa's website, download the free Keymote receiver, and then pair your iPhone or iPod touch with the receiver application on your Mac.

Here are a few shots of the application in action:

Gallery: Keymote

Pair with your deviceKeystroke MenuA keystroke exampleEdit keystrokesIn-app store

Filed under: Accessories, Hardware, Tips and tricks, Odds and ends, iMac, Apple, Mac mini, Macbook Pro, TUAW Tips, MacBook

TUAW Tip: Pair your Apple Remote to your Mac

Now that almost every Mac (expect for that odd duck, the Power Mac) sports Front Row and an Apple Remote many more people will find them in a situation I just experienced. I am typing this post on a brand new MacBook (I'll share my opinion about that later today) and I am listening to some music on my iMac through the magic of Front Row.

The song playing (Paint it Black) was a little too loud, so I picked up my trusty Apple Remote and turned down the volume. Both the iMac and the MacBook picked up on the signal and the volume on both was adjusted. Oh, the horror!

There is a simple way around this though, just pair your Mac and your Apple Remote following these instructions. This way a prankish Mac user (I'm looking at you, Woz) can't go around putting your Mac to sleep with the remote and all the Macs in your room won't respond to the same remote.

Tip of the Day

Use Spotlight as a reference tool. Type any word in the Spotlight box and one of the top entries will be a definition. Click on it, and it will bring up the dictionary application to check the word in either the dictionary, thesaurus, Apple database, or Wikipedia.


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