Apple Updates 'Remote' iOS App to Support AirPlay, Internet Radio Control

[MacRumors]

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Apple today released an update to its universal Remote application for iOS devices, bringing support for several new features including controlling AirPlay content pushed from iTunes on a user's computer to an Apple TV, as well as controlling Internet radio in iTunes.

What's New in Version 2.1

- AirPlay video support to control iTunes on your computer to stream videos to an Apple TV
- Internet radio control to play thousands of internet radio streams in iTunes on your computer
- The ability to control iTunes on your computer to play Movies and TV shows that are rented from the iTunes Store
- Addresses issues connecting to an iTunes library or Apple TV
- Includes stability and performance improvements

AirPlay streaming for audio, video, and photos, has been a major feature promoted by Apple in iTunes 10 and iOS 4.2, and the company has released several updates for its various applications and operating systems to support the functionality in a number of ways.

Article Link: Apple Updates 'Remote' iOS App to Support AirPlay, Internet Radio Control

 

[pukifloyd]

Brilliant!
I wish they make an app or something that will allow us to control the iPod in the same way from the computer...that would be awesome...

 

[darienendy]

That's my gurl!

As a huge Kylie fan I was overjoyed to see her new album artwork. And yes I do love the new features in the remote app, I use it for everything apple throughout my house!

 

[MacFly123]

Why do the screen shots in this post have the OLD AirPlay icon instead of the new one???

Did Apple just make a mistake in their own app???

 

[caoxiang]

Why do the screen shots in this post have the OLD AirPlay icon instead of the new one???

The screen shot is not right, it's still the old version.

 

[re2st]

Did I miss something? I have been able to do this with whatever current remote version that I have..

 

[napabar]

Did I miss something? I have been able to do this with whatever current remote version that I have..

We've been able to control the Apple TV's interface and pull video content from iTunes. Now we can stream it directly to the Apple TV from iTunes, without scrolling through the Apple TV's interface.

 

[Sminman86]

Being able to control the iTunes Internet Radio is a very cool feature.

Especially when you stream it to an Airport Express or an Apple TV for your iPhone or iPad, anywhere in the house. Nice.

It's one more alternative to Pandora or your own music, at your fingertips.

 

[Icaras]

Did I miss something? I have been able to do this with whatever current remote version that I have..

I thought so too.

 

[Cyacene]

Did I miss something? I have been able to do this with whatever current remote version that I have..

Heres my take on what I THINK this fixes:
My wifes laptop is not connected to the apple TV at all, and home sharing is turned off. With airplay, she is however still able to start playing her music, from her iTunes library, on her Macbook to the Apple TV. I can then start up the remote app on the iPad and see what is playing, but i was not able to control it (ie skip songs). Hopefully, this adds support for that.

 

[critter13]

I was thinking the same

Did I miss something? I have been able to do this with whatever current remote version that I have..

I used remote my ipod touch this weekend to control music on my friends laptop and serving it to my tv ...

 

[Theclamshell]

This is really a cool thing to have.

 

[caoxiang]

Did I miss something? I have been able to do this with whatever current remote version that I have..

It was just airtunes speakers, now it's airplay including videos

 

[re2st]

We've been able to control the Apple TV's interface and pull video content from iTunes. Now we can stream it directly to the Apple TV from iTunes, without scrolling through the Apple TV's interface.

I'm currently able to control iTunes from Remote app, and pick "AppleTV" as the speaker. How is it different?

I'm also able to control AppleTV from Remote App, and pick my iTunes library from my computer to be played on AppleTV.

I'm still confused as what this "new feature" brings..

 

[rorschach]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Audio always worked. This allows you to turn on AirPlay for VIDEOS from the Remote app. Was that possible before?

 

[napabar]

I used remote my ipod touch this weekend to control music on my friends laptop and serving it to my tv ...

Music yes, video no. This update adds the ability to pull up video from iTunes and stream it right to Apple TV.

 

[Wheeler]

So I think this allows you to connect to your mac, then airplay out to devices. I think you could do this before with audio, but not video.

So instead of selecting the appleTV for the library, you select your iTunes computer, then can select which appleTv to airplay to.

Seems redundant but actually might make it nicer to control multiple appleTv's, so if you are watching a movie in the living room and want to pause it and continue in the bedroom, much easier this way as you just have to change the airplay device.

Hope it fixes connection time too when switching libraries.

 

[re2st]

It was just airtunes speakers, now it's airplay including videos

Hmm.. gotta check this when I get home. I thought I have been able to stream videos as well. Although I might confused it with controlling AppleTV and connect to iTunes library to play video instead of controlling iTunes and connect to AppleTV to stream video.

Sounds like just another way of accomplishing what we have been able to do so far with current remote..

 

[tripjammer]

Nice! I will have to download and test...I need to go get an apple Tv 2 for my sister for Xmas...

 

[re2st]

Nice! I will have to download and test...I need to go get an apple Tv 2 for my sister for Xmas...

Hopefully your sister doesn't read MacRumors, otherwise you've just spoiled the surprise..

 

[thevofl]

This topic could be all about Apple shutting down, and I wouldn't care . . . Kylie!

 

[pacohaas]

Being able to control the iTunes Internet Radio is a very cool feature.

Yeah, I can finally get rid of my "Internet Radio" playlist that just contains a single radio station that I listen to using Remote...that was my workaround for being able to play internet radio before this update. Actually that's probably how I'll still do it so I don't have to wade through a bunch of stations I don't care about.

What they still need to do is integrate this app into the iPod so you can be listening to something on the iOS and come into range of your home wifi network and have a popup asking if you'd like to continue playing on iTunes/AppleTV, etc. Would be great for podcasts that you almost finish on the drive home but want to hear the rest of it at home without having to scrub to the spot in iTunes or sync your device just to cue it up.

 

[rgarjr]

cool, now if only they can allow the music to be streamed to the idevice would be great.

 

[geerlingguy]

I just bought an AirPort Express yesterday, and it is amazing. I've always had 1/8" jacks hanging out around the house so anyone there can 'jack in' and start listening to audio from their iPhones/iPods... however, with AirPlay, everything is 10x easier. As long as the amp/speakers are on, just tap tap tap, and the audio (with volume control) is on the living room surround system, the bedroom, or the kitchen!

This is awesome, and now that video support is getting to be as good as audio support, I can finally look forward to not having to worry so much about 5 different ways to transport streams to/from iDevices and TVs/speakers.

 

[Bevz]

I still think it would be better if it also acted as an airplay receiver... And yes, i do have airvideo.