iTunes Remote Control from iPhone - "Signal"

[voicegy]

I did a quick search and didn't see a relevant topic to this particular web appliction (except for "Telekinesis",) so thought I'd post here. Mods, feel free to kill or move as appropriate.

I stumbled upon a fantastic web interface for running my iTunes library on my desktop iMac via the iPhone. Alloysoft's "Signal" touts itself as the ultimate media player remote, and once it's set up, the interface and interaction are things of beauty. Check it out here:

http://www.alloysoft.com/

This, combined with AirTunes, gives me total control of my computer's iTunes music in 5 rooms of my house, without having to run back to the computer to make adjustments. Playlists show up on my iPhone via wireless, and so does the album art. Friends' eyes simply bug out when they see it in action. I'm very, very pleased. Not exactly cheap at $29.95, but for a 1.0, it's a killer web app.

(I am not affiliated with Alloysoft in any way - just a very happy customer!)

 

[poppe]

Do you connect to your computer via WiFi and create a LAN or what?

 

[voicegy]

Do you connect to your computer via WiFi and create a LAN or what?

I have to admit, the documentation is somewhat lacking (non-existent!) and there is no built in Help. I tossed an email to the company, and was happily surprised to get a reply back an hour later - on a Saturday.

Once you run the program, it comes up with an IP that you enter in your iPhone's Safari browser. It didn't work at first, and when I wrote them, a guy named Matt wrote back that there may be an issue with communication being prevented by a software firewall. He told me "Open System Preference and click Sharing, then the Firewall tab. If the firewall is turned on, try clicking "New..." and select "Other" for the Port Name. Enter 3569 for TCP Port Numbers and Signal for the Description, then click OK and try connecting again."

After that (and a restart, just for the heck of it) it ran beautifully, although coming back to it later after a shutdown, I had to enter the actual IP address my computer was using to connect to the Internet, instead of the one that the program told me to enter, which was 10.0.1.4:3569 The lack of documentation and trouble-shooting information is a downside, IMO.

So, yes, I connected via WiFi to my AirPort, which is, of course, sharing the same IP as the computer - the Ethernet wire is looped from the wall, to the AirPort, then to the computer. I use the computers' AirPort Card to stream music to AirTunes moduals throughout the house.

 

[poppe]

I have to admit, the documentation is somewhat lacking (non-existent!) and there is no built in Help. I tossed an email to the company, and was happily surprised to get a reply back an hour later - on a Saturday.

Once you run the program, it comes up with an IP that you enter in your iPhone's Safari browser. It didn't work at first, and when I wrote them, a guy named Matt wrote back that there may be an issue with communication being prevented by a software firewall. He told me "Open System Preference and click Sharing, then the Firewall tab. If the firewall is turned on, try clicking "New..." and select "Other" for the Port Name. Enter 3569 for TCP Port Numbers and Signal for the Description, then click OK and try connecting again."

After that (and a restart, just for the heck of it) it ran beautifully, although coming back to it later after a shutdown, I had to enter the actual IP address my computer was using to connect to the Internet, instead of the one that the program told me to enter, which was 10.0.1.4:3569 The lack of documentation and trouble-shooting information is a downside, IMO.

So, yes, I connected via WiFi to my AirPort, which is, of course, sharing the same IP as the computer - the Ethernet wire is looped from the wall, to the AirPort, then to the computer. I use the computers' AirPort Card to stream music to AirTunes moduals throughout the house.

Very interesting. Thanks for the information. I may try this.

 

[[G5]Hydra]

Remote Buddy AJAX Remote Looks VERY impressive as well. It can do iTunes and a bunch of other stuff like playing movies, controlling your Mac and even typing text into the Mac. This thing has major potential.

-Jerry C.

 

[itsallinurhead]

I did a quick search and didn't see a relevant topic to this particular web appliction (except for "Telekinesis",) so thought I'd post here. Mods, feel free to kill or move as appropriate.

I stumbled upon a fantastic web interface for running my iTunes library on my desktop iMac via the iPhone. Alloysoft's "Signal" touts itself as the ultimate media player remote, and once it's set up, the interface and interaction are things of beauty. Check it out here:

http://www.alloysoft.com/

This, combined with AirTunes, gives me total control of my computer's iTunes music in 5 rooms of my house, without having to run back to the computer to make adjustments. Playlists show up on my iPhone via wireless, and so does the album art. Friends' eyes simply bug out when they see it in action. I'm very, very pleased. Not exactly cheap at $29.95, but for a 1.0, it's a killer web app.

(I am not affiliated with Alloysoft in any way - just a very happy customer!)

Oh wow, this is cool.

 

[voicegy]

Alloysoft Updates Signal

Back on the 18th Alloysoft updated Signal to ver. 1.0.1, which makes the volume control easier to use, and, wonderfully, reads title information from internet radio stations, pulling down album artwork on the iPhone's display.

 

[MBHockey]

I find Remote Buddy MUCH better. Signal is cool, but gets confused with what's going on in iTunes way too easily.

 

[voicegy]

I find Remote Buddy MUCH better. Signal is cool, but gets confused with what's going on in iTunes way too easily.

RB is amazing (just started playing with it) but I don't need or want the mulitple functionality - the iTunes interface lacks for me in RB in that it doesn't display full screen album art, and annoyingly loses screen real estate in keeping the URL section active. (Signal artifically moves it up and out of the way during operation). Also have to go back and forth from Music to Now Playing - Signal gives it all to me...remember, all I wanted was iTunes remote functions, and nothing else, so Signal's one-trick-pony app is perfect for my needs.

 

[MBHockey]

I would agree completely that Signal looks nicer, however, don't you find it doesn't work nearly as well as RB? I tried them both yesterday, and many times Signal failed and i actually had to come back to my Mac and close and restart the server for it to work again. They're both good ideas, but way too slow. I am kind of hoping for the slim chance that Apple will come up with something more elegant before i plop down $30-$40 bucks on a not so great solution.

 

[voicegy]

I would agree completely that Signal looks nicer <...> I am kind of hoping for the slim chance that Apple will come up with something more elegant...

Yeah, I'm kinda into the "looks" thing, so I can overlook the quirks. If I intend to play with Signal for a while (like during a dinner party) I'll tend to set the iPhone to never sleep - tends to keep the communication going better.

Yes, of course, if Apple came out with something......

BTW, I just stumbled upon this little gem today:
http://www.seeqpod.com/
Not an iTunes remote or anything, but a great way to search the web for music via iPhone!

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

I just came across this program and it is sooooo cool. I am thinking about different ways to control my music in my studio when I move in November, from an TV, to the new Keyspan TuneView remote, when I came across this app. It is, simply put, brilliant.

I will likely go this route, having an Airport Express attached to my stereo, and buying another one to attach to a set of speakers outside on the balcony.

 

[Malamutt]

While Signal isn't bad I have found Remote Buddy to be a better app given it controls more apps besides iTunes and has a better layout for iTunes. You can also rate the song from your iPhone.

I have 2 airport express's in my house so it's nice to be able to do that while i'm listening to my tunes.

Signal:

Pro: Better layout for the iPhone.
Pro: Button's are easier to hit.
Con: Doesn't do much else. Not able to rate songs or change genre's.

Remote Buddy:
Pro: Can control multiple apps.
Pro: Rate songs.
Con's: Can't change speakers in itunes remote speakers selection
Con's: Last and Next buttons very close to the bottom. Does not utilize full screen like Signal.

Your call. Your money.

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

Signal:
Con: Doesn't do much else. Not able to rate songs or change genre's.

You can actually rate songs. You must have been using a older version of the software. The version I downloaded last night allowed me to rate songs.

 

[GTiPhone]

How is the ability to rate songs even conceivable as a pro or con....................?

 

[billchase2]

Remote Buddy AJAX Remote Looks VERY impressive as well. It can do iTunes and a bunch of other stuff like playing movies, controlling your Mac and even typing text into the Mac. This thing has major potential.

-Jerry C.

whoa, VERY cool.

 

[jimjoebob]

Count me in as Impressed!

The first iPhone app worth the cost of the phone (if it wasnot so buggy).

Basic functionality is Awesome!!!!!!

It has crashed itunes and Safari each once in 15 minutes of playing.

Won't play purchased music at all. (posibly a limitation of Demo?)

WTF, no documentation/help/demo limitations

I would purchase this in a heartbeat if it wasnot for the above problems.
But, for a 1.01, I have to give it 4 stars out of 5.

I hope the guys/girls from alsoft find this thread, just to get some basic PR.

 

[voicegy]

I actually did send them the link to this thread a few weeks ago - he appreciated it.

Your described issues may be because of the demo download. I don't know, as I never used the demo, I just bought it upfront when I found out about it.

I also tend to put my iPhone to 'never' in Auto-Lock when I use Signal - I've discovered that helps stability.

The lack of "how to" docs and other Help docs is my bone of contention with them, and I hope they address this - in the meantime, I've discovered if you search the blogs and comments, you'll see most issues encountered are addressed there - and when I had my first issues, I emailed them direct and got an answer within a few hours.

 

[Matt Stevens]

Hi everyone, I'm the developer of Signal - wanted to jump in and answer a couple of questions here.

First off, yes I should be soundly beaten for not shipping documentation with the Mac server straight off and this is being addressed for the next update. The Mac verison has taken off much faster than I initially expected, although I supposed this really shouldn't surprise me having switched over to the Mac myself a couple of years ago.

The demo version is only limited by displaying a "please register" message for every third item in the playlist or media library. Signal should not distinguish between purchased music or regular media files, so I'd be very interested to work with you to track that one down. I'd also like to hear more about these crashes encountered, as that's the first I've heard of anything like that happening. Could you describe what you were doing when the crash occurred, or anything that might be different about your iTunes / media library setup?

Any details about where the iPhone fails to sync up with iTunes or seems slow would be of great value as this seems vary from setup to setup. Does the Wi-Fi connection come up immediately or is the iPhone trapped in EDGE mode for a while? The current version may be trying to be too smart about the EDGE on wake problem.

Regarding support for other applications, I am a big believer in building applications that do one thing and are easy to use a result. I am always open to new ideas though, so if there is something specific you'd really like to see from the app, fire away.

 

[jimjoebob]

Hey, ya made it to your thread!

Hey Matt,
Good to hear from you! And once again, damnnnn, what a great app. The only other time i was this blown away was with CoverFlow and we all know about the end of that story, & IMHO the ORIGINAL still kicks ass over apples knock off. Look forward to getting you a buch of feedback soon.

Jimjoebob

Hi everyone, I'm the developer of Signal - wanted to jump in and answer a couple of questions here.

First off, yes I should be soundly beaten for not shipping documentation with the Mac server straight off and this is being addressed for the next update. The Mac verison has taken off much faster than I initially expected, although I supposed this really shouldn't surprise me having switched over to the Mac myself a couple of years ago.

The demo version is only limited by displaying a "please register" message for every third item in the playlist or media library. Signal should not distinguish between purchased music or regular media files, so I'd be very interested to work with you to track that one down. I'd also like to hear more about these crashes encountered, as that's the first I've heard of anything like that happening. Could you describe what you were doing when the crash occurred, or anything that might be different about your iTunes / media library setup?

Any details about where the iPhone fails to sync up with iTunes or seems slow would be of great value as this seems vary from setup to setup. Does the Wi-Fi connection come up immediately or is the iPhone trapped in EDGE mode for a while? The current version may be trying to be too smart about the EDGE on wake problem.

Regarding support for other applications, I am a big believer in building applications that do one thing and are easy to use a result. I am always open to new ideas though, so if there is something specific you'd really like to see from the app, fire away.

 

[Telain]

First of all, I'd like to say that this is a great looking app, and I've found some use for it even though I don't have any media streaming like AirTunes (turn up the speakers XD). I'm using the demo and really glad it's not really crippled, because I also think the app is way overpriced. Maybe if it had media streaming to my phone or something far more worthwhile, I'd pay $25, but not just for a iTunes remote. (I might be willing to pay about $10 for this app as it is.)

As far as things I'd like to see from the app: ability to connect to shared libraries on other devices, sending tracks to the party shuffle instead of the playlist (by option, of course), and the media streaming (if possible).

Regarding support for other applications, I am a big believer in building applications that do one thing and are easy to use a result. I am always open to new ideas though, so if there is something specific you'd really like to see from the app, fire away.

 

[Matt Stevens]

Thanks for the feedback! You have some excellent suggestions here. Right now there are no plans to change the price, but Signal is under active development are there some exciting new features planned for the future. This is another reason the demo version does not have a time limit - if you're not completely happy with the app today you can always try an updated version in the future.