Control Your iDevice's Music With Tunes Remote, Plus A Chance To Win A Copy!
Tunes Remote ($0.99) by De Voorkant is an app that turns your iDevice into a remote control for playing music on another iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad.
Before I go any further, if you're looking for an app to control your computer's music with your iPhone or iPad, then you'll want Apple's own Remote app. Because the app I'm going to talk about now does the opposite of that - you control what is playing on a device with another device (or even your computer). Tunes Remote does just this.
Do you play music in the house using your iPhone docked on a speaker system, or something of that nature? Then Tunes Remote will definitely come in handy for you.
When you launch Tunes Remote, you'll be prompted to either set the current device as the player or the remote. You can also look for other devices via Bluetooth, or clear the cache (all songs will be indexed), and set a theme (wooden, black, or light gray).
If you pick it as the Player, then you'll be able to play your music as you normally would, with it playing out of the device itself or from some nice Bluetooth speakers - whatever floats your boat. You'll be able to pause/play songs and even jump back or skip a song. On either device, you'll be able to browse through All Songs, or search by Albums, Playlists, or Artists. Shuffle and Repeat options are there as well. A volume slider is along the bottom for easy adjustment.
If you choose to use the device to control another device with Tunes Remote (both devices will need the app), you get the same controls as the Player, but whatever you choose will occur on the paired device. It's great if you have the iPhone or iPad docked in a speaker across the room and don't want to get up to change the song.
But what if you want to control that iPhone from across the room with your computer that you're sitting in front of? The developers have a free desktop application that gives you just that - a remote for your Mac or PC.
If you want to make sure that only you can control the music, a passcode can be set on the playing device that will need to be entered on the other iDevice or desktop to allow it to be the remote.
Tunes Remote also allows you to add Internet radio stations in the Playlists as well, which is great if you're looking for something new to listen to. Podcasts, Audiobooks, and Movies can be added too, via iTunes File Sharing.
The interface is pretty slick when you're in the Player or Remote controls. On the iPhone, you get album art in the middle along with a translucent bar in the middle with the song and album information, track listing, as well as the Repeat and Shuffle options. Tapping on the screen once will make these UI elements disappear or come back.
Due to the larger screen space on the iPad, the interface is less cramped. You get what looks like an opened CD in the middle, with the album art on the left and a song list on the right. The top will have album and song information, shuffle and repeat controls, and the track listing. Playback controls will appear in a themed panel beneath this album case. The volume adjuster will be found along the bottom, much like the iPhone version.
The only thing missing is the ability to search by genre. Plenty of people out there listen to a certain type of music when they're in the mood. So with the other searching methods (Artist, Playlist, etc), I think that there should be an option for Genre as well.
I find Tunes Remote to be a very nifty tool to have now that I have a quality Bluetooth speaker to use around the house. If you're the type to use external peripherals to play music around the house, and have more than one iDevice, then definitely give Tunes Remote a try.
GIVEAWAY: I have 5 copies of both versions: Tunes Remote for iPhone and Tunes Remote for iPad. That makes 10 total copies to give away to some awesome AppAdvice readers! If you want a shot at getting a copy, leave a comment on this post by Sunday, May 1 at 9 PM PST. Make sure to let me know which version you want. Leave a valid email so that I can contact you if you win.
Good luck!
