AirMote Remote Control
AirMote is an application for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch that lets you control a Macintosh computer remotely. This is the general description page. The online help for AirMote is here.
Sit down and enjoy video or music!
Control media players like Front Row, iTunes, QuickTime Player, VNC, Plex, and others.
Stand up and show a presentation!
Use Keynote, PowerPoint or any other application.
Customize to your heart’s content!
If it can be controlled with the computer keyboard, it can be controlled by AirMote. You can create any number of custom remote control screens, each with up to 12 buttons that can be set up to do anything a computer keyboard can do. Any button can have any label and send any sequence of keystrokes. Details on setting up custom buttons are in the online help.
AirMote connects to a computer and displays a remote control screen. Touch the “Next” button to switch to another screen layout. Quickly switch among any number of button layouts, in any order you like.
A number of remote control screen layouts are built-in, making it very easy to control media players, presentation applications, iTunes, iPhoto, QuickTime Player, Keynote, and Apple’s Mouse Key, Full Keyboard Access, and VoiceOver features.
AirMote uses VNC protocols to make a connection. This ability is built-in and easy to set up on any Macintosh running OS X 10.4 or above. Information on doing it is here.
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[...] WiFi LAN, or even across the Internet using WiFi or the cellular data network. Here are some links: Leptonic Systems AirMote site Leptonic Systems AirMote Forum AirMote in the iTunes App [...]
[...] http://myallo.com/leptonic/airmote Support Website: http://myallo.com/leptonic/airmote Download Via [...]
I have a mac mini to run my tv. Will this app work with that?
Yes, it will work with a Mac Mini. One of my friends uses it to control a Mac Mini running Front Row and VLC (a video player application). -Mike (author)
Could your product be programed to control a Dish Network channel control box and a Gene Garage Door opener?
[...] like, and switch between them quickly, round-robin style. For more information, click these links: Leptonic Systems AirMote site AirMote in the iTunes App [...]
Joe, no. The iPhone does not have an infrared signal like most device remote controls. Instead, it uses the WiFi radio to communicate with the computer. So only the computer itself, and anything the computer can control, can be controlled with AirMote. -Mike
There any way we can send an action code in which is HOLD down the arrow keys to advance or rewind in the front row with the movie, and no skip to the next chapter?
(Sorry for my English)
Rodrigo: There is no code sequence in AirMote that will let you hold down an arrow key. However, it is true that holding down the arrow key on a regular keyboard (which is what AirMote would be virtually doing) is different than holding down the arrow key on Apple’s own infrared remote. Apple’s remote sends its own unique codes for “hold down arrow” that aren’t available on the keyboard. So there isn’t really a keyboard equivalent for “fast forward”.
[...] Price: $2.99 App Store Link: Developer Link [...]
Will this work with Apple TV? or are there any plans to take it there?
Mike, I don’t think AirMote will work with Apple TV short of a little hacking. AirMote will work with any computer that will do screen sharing via VNC, but Apple TV doesn’t do that out of the box.
I’m looking for an app which will allow me to switch from Keynote to Safari, and control Safari, then return to Keynote (i.e. using ‘Command-Tab’). Can AirMote be scripted to do this easily, and will app-switching actually work? The ability to control a web browser would be awesome, but I assume that this would be handled by VNC. I’ve yet to find an app which can properly utilise the command-tab switching that I need to use.
Ivanovitch, I think it can, with a little customization. The app-launching examples I have in AirMote are based on using Spotlight as a launcher, and are a little iffy. But lately I’ve taken to using a free app called FastScripts Lite, which will run an AppleScript when you press a key combo you define. I made a few simple scripts in Script Editor (one-liners like ‘tell application “Keynote” to activate’) and hooked them to keystrokes like Command-Option-K. Then I made a button in AirMote to give that keystroke. This made the AirMote button into a solid, reliable app launcher - and of course AppleScripts can do a TON of things so it’s good for a lot of stuff. I’m writing an article about using FastScripts with AirMote. You can get FastScripts at http://www.red-sweater.com/fastscripts/ and a link at the bottom of that page gets the free lite version.
Just a quick one here,
This app interfaces with normal VNC protocols port 5900?
So it could be even used to do arrows and such on a Linux machine with VNC server installed?
Also I would add plus and minus keys to the keyboard library. A number of Media Center applications use plus and minus for volume control.
I think thats \xFF6B and \xFF6D ?
Rob, correct. VNC on port 5900. It should work on any computer that supports that. For the keypad plus and minus keys, my X-terminal chart says \xFFAB and \xFFAD are the codes.
I just bought AirMote and am trying to get it to work with Plex. Is there a readymade template for Plex? There seems to be one for FrontRow but I’ve been unable to adapt things for Plex (and can’t get it to launch Plex even though the Apple remote does).
It\s a really nice remote utility and I can see how it could be very useful for Plex.
philip
OMG,
This thing is perfect!
I just got it all setup and wrote a little piece in my blog:
http://www.goingson.be/2008/12/airmote-iphone-ubuntu-xbmc.html
Airmote Ubuntu Xbmc and the Iphone what a fun combo.
For plus and minus I just used “+” and “-”
I have listed in the blog article the other key commands that may be useful for XBMC.
Lepton: You really have made a great app. Congrats!
pmcd, there isn’t a built in screen for Plex, but I have been having lots of fun using AirMote with Plex myself! I made up my own screen for Plex. On that screen I have the four arrow keys as usual, and the “Space” key in the middle, which will pause and play when a movie is running. I also put the “Return” key, which you need for selecting menu items, and the “Escape” key which you need to go back a step in the menus. Then I made a couple of simple buttons for “Aspect”, “Info” and “Menu” which simply send “z”, “i”, and “c” respectively. Aspect changes the proportions of a running movie to best fill the screen, Info brings up information in several places, and Menu brings up a contextual menu in several places, especially when browsing through movie titles. This all works so well I want to put it in a future version. I really enjoy Plex as a media player, for those who want to check this free open source player out go to http://www.plexapp.com
Lepton,
Got it. Pretty snazzy. Why doesn’t the Escape key quit Plex when you are at the main screen. It works fine otherwise (when one is inside Plex)? I have to arrow down to Power Off and hit return twice.
philip
It used to be that way, but the latest version of Plex does not quit with the Escape key. It needs Command-Q to quit. Or you can quit from the On/Off part of the main menu.
does i work if there is no wifi connection? eg in scholl etc..
lolo, yes. AirMote uses WiFi to connect to a computer over the local area network, but if WiFi is not available, it can use the cellular network to make a connection, as long as the computer is on the Internet.
I’m trying to set up airmote to run a powerpoint presentation, but need a key to start the slideshow. The shortcut is CONTROL+SHIFT+S
What is the code for this? Can’t find control characters in the special characters menu.
Andrew, the action code for Control-Shift-S is “\xffe3\xffe1s”. FFE3 is for Control, FFE1 is for Shift, and “s” is for “S”. So for any Control character, it’s \xFFE3 followed by the character in lowercase (the case of hex digits don’t matter).
Following up on my comment about Plex, I’ve also been enjoying Boxee, another app that, like Plex is based on XBMC, a swell open source Media Center type of app. Boxee plays your media, and hooks it into online synopsys, artwork and such, but it also integrates Internet media services like Hulu, NetFlix,last.fm, Flickr, and lots more, so you can play from those as well. It’s all full screen and pretty nice, though it’s a public alpha. The site for it is at http://boxee.tv and is aiming to be on Mac, Windows, Linux and AppleTV. It’ll work great with AirMote - I’m working on AirMote 1.1 right now..
So far the app seems to work well. Setup documentation on the site is good and clear. I want to use it for the many short cuts involved with Adobe Lightroom. Unfortunately, I can’t figure out how to get “Shift”, “Tab”, and “Command” which are used in key combinations often. Any help here would be great. Also, if there is a place where all of the codes for these buttons are defined, could you please share. I’m sorry if you already have this info posted some where, I just couldn’t find it.
Bryan, for info on making custom buttons, take a look at http://myallo.com/leptonic/airmote-help/action-codes/
Sorry about that. I found the link awhile after sending you my message. But thanks for the quick reply to the question.
So far Airmote has been working great. I’m happy that I chose this program .
That said, there are a few things that would be nice:
1. Allow longer button titles to wrap on to a second line on the buttons
2. Maybe include a spinning dial in the button editor that would allow you to choose odd ball control commands (like control, shift, tab, etc..) and have them automatically inserted
3. Have the text on the keys rotate when you rotate the phone.
4. Maybe give the option to change button colors.
The app is more or less fine as is, but some additions would make it more user friendly, especially for users who don’t want to look up special codes to use for custom buttons.
All in all, I’m happy with it.
Bryan
Thanks for this great app!
I would love to see a built in Plex screen on the next release. I created one similar to one you mentioned above and it works great!
Is it possible to launch Plex from the AirMote? Is it possible to wake the computer from AirMote?
I have my iMac hooked up to an LCD TV, so if could come home, sit on my couch, wake up my iMac via AirMote, launch Plex via AirMote, and control Plex via AirMote; I would be one happy camper!
Also, I agree with Bryan about the interface changes… a few nudges would make this app really shine. But I also agree with Bryan in that I’m completely satisfied with the app and you guys did a great job. Thank you.
Bryan, I like 2 and 3, and 1 and 4 are planned for a big brother app I call AirControl that has custom buttons - any number of them, different sizes, new kinds of functions such as typing and being able to see the remote screen, stuff like that. In AirMote, I purposely only have the 12 button layout and no rotation to sorta-kinda help you use the thing without looking… sorta.
Jonathan, check out my comment a little farther up on “FastScripts” which I’ve been using to launch apps with AirMote. AirMote needs a little help to do reliable launching since the VNC protocol we use doesn’t have launching built into it.
I used Apple Script & FastScriptsLite to create a simple “Launch Plex” script and assigned it the keyboard shortcut Control-Alt-P. I used “\xFFE3\xFFE9P” for the Action of the new button in AirMote but it doesn’t launch Plex. The keyboard shortcut launches Plex when I enter it via the keyboard but not when I press my newly created “Launch Plex” button in AirMote. Did I mess something up in writing the “Action” for the new button?
Thanks for your help!
Jonathan you might try a lowercase “P”. The button might be sending Control-Command-Shift-P instead of Control-Command-p.
This page is getting long, here is a reminder to everyone there is a forum for AirMote at http://www.myallo.com/community/viewforum.php?f=20
Maybe I am missing something…is there any way to control the system volume with Airmote?
Andrew, on Mac the global volume is hardwired to the keys and can’t seem to be controlled using AirMote’s remote protocol. However, most apps have their own volume control commands, for example Front Row lets you raise and lower the volume with the up and down arrows.
First off: everything works as described. I was able to create custom buttons and control my software accurately. But, I have a problem. I am using Airmote to control a presentation at church. I create a local network on my Macbook, but if I don’t enter any commands for 15-20 minutes, as will happen during the sermon, I lose my Wifi connection. If I go to the “Settings” in Airmote, it says there is no Wifi available. If I then quit Airmote, open the “Settings” app and click on Wifi, it says I am connected. Upon relaunching Airmote, everything works fine. Is this a problem with my Macbook, my IPhone or with Airmote? Any ideas for fixing it? Thanks. Chris
Chris, I have recently discovered that 30 seconds after the device auto-locks, it turns off WiFi and disconnects all the connections. So if the device has been asleep for that long, it won’t be connected when it wakes up. A temporary workaround is to set the auto-lock to “Never” in the Settings app of the device. What I did to address this is add a setting in AirMote 1.1 called “Don’t Sleep” which will keep the device from auto-locking while AirMote’s remote control screen is showing.
Another thing I put into 1.1 is the abilty to switch remote control screens just by swiping left or right, instead of having to use the “Next” button. I’m testing 1.1 and will submit the update for release in just a few days.
Hey there Lepton,
I finally realized why I couldn’t launch Plex via action codes, I was using the wrong action codes for my buttons.
Just FYI you might want to update your info at http://myallo.com/leptonic/airmote-help/action-codes/ under the Example Command Strings:
“\xFFE9\xFF1B” sends Command-ESC (invokes Front Row on a Mac)
“\xFFE3\xFFE9\xFFFF” Control-Alt-DEL
You’ve got “xFFE9″ as both Command and Alt, when in fact it is Command. I was basing my codes off of the Control-Alt-DEL example.
Thanks for all your help and I look forward to seeing some cool updates for this app!
Greetings!
I am working in a recording studio environment, and am looking for a way to remotely start and stop (among other things) my DAW’s.
i.e. - I am recording keyboards over here; I can reach the Mac. But now, I go over to my drums and I can’t reach the keyboard anymore. I need to be able to arm a record track, start, go into record, stop, rewind - all basic key commands. I am using Ableton LIVE the most, but also digital performer (MOTU) which has a lot of custom buttons on the screen when open. Almost all the functions of these DAW’s can be controlled with the keyboard, ergo - airmote! Yes?
Just wanted to check with you first…
Many thanks in advance.
-Nail
As long as the computer is on WiFi or the Internet and there is a keyboard command for the thing you want to do, you will be able to make a button for it. AirMote buttons work by sending keystrokes to the computer, and you can make custom buttons to send any keystroke - Command, Option, Shift whatever. So you should be good to go!
A couple of things, though. WiFi is fast but can have a tiny bit of latency, so its great for switching setups and effects but perhaps not for triggering notes. Also, AirMote only has twelve buttons on the screen and you might want more than that, but in version 1.1 (free update is waiting for approval and coming out any second now) you can switch among any number of 12-button screens with a swipe of the finger, so it lessens that problem considerably.
Has anyone used this with Boxee running on Ubuntu? I’m curious to know how well it works…
One feature I’d like to see, in addition to button colors, is for a button to perform its action and then switch the screen to a different one. Or in the alternative, let the host computer tell the controller to switch.
Is there possibility to use this iPhone app for control apps under m$ windows?
in Appstore are many remotes, but only this one are accept almost fully customisation (sorry for my english)
If you’re looking to ONLY CONTROL PLEX you should look at http://remote.collect3.com.au/
It has tighter integration with plex (or xbmc, maybe boxee never tried it)
Eg. Allows browsing of sources: movies/tv shows (with art) on the phone.
Also has a fully featured remote, and a gesture based mode so you dont need to look at the iPhone to move up/down/left/right and click.
I’m not affiliated with remote, just love using it for plex.
Will look at AirMote for controlling other apps.
Keep up the great work.
[...] $3.99 from Leptonic Systems, Inc. [...]