I ‘ve heard good things about Songbird “ the open-source media player and alternative to iTunes “ for quite a while now.  As is often the case, an iPhone app has pushed me over the line, and got me giving it a try today “ so that I could also have a look at […]
" />

New iPhone Apps: Songbird Remote

Mar 13th 2009 by

 Songbird Remote for iPhone

I ‘ve heard good things about Songbird “ the open-source media player and alternative to iTunes “ for quite a while now.  As is often the case, an iPhone app has pushed me over the line, and got me giving it a try today “ so that I could also have a look at Songbird Remote on the iPhone.

I ‘m a 1st-day Songbird rookie, but so far I like it and I can already see it ‘s got quite a few very nice features, things like:

  • SHOUTcast Radio integration “ streaming music from SHOUTcast ‘s directory
  • Last.fm Scrobbling support “ scrobble, love, hate and ban tracks
  • Media Importing “ import from the file system or from iTunes
  • 7digital music store “ haven ‘t checked it out yet, so no idea how it compares to iTunes / Amazon on pricing etc

Songbird has a bunch of other features as well “ I won ‘t begin to do them justice as I ‘m just learning my way round the program.  See here for all the details and free downloads for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

While I am only just starting to discover Songbird, I am already pretty familiar with the new Songbird Remote for the iPhone “ partly because it ‘s a simple app that does just what it says it will do, which is

you can control your music running on the Songbird media player from your iPod Touch or iPhone Play, pause, skip, previous, next and volume control

Songbird Remote has a simple interface.  It shows you song, album, and artist information at the top of its screen, and has all its action buttons at the bottom.  It also shows ‘connecting ‘ or ‘connected ‘ status when first launched.

Two requirements that you need to be aware of with Songbird Remote are: your iPhone and computer need to be on the same WiFi network, and you need to install a free add-on / extension for Songbird on the desktop. To do so:

  • go to: http://addons.songbirdnest.com/addon/1467
  • Download the add-on
  • Go to Songbird > Preferences > Add-ons “ then hit the ‘Install ‘ button on that screen and tell Songbird where to find the add-on you just downloaded

There is also a ‘Pro ‘ version of Songbird Remote, that adds things like: the ability to choose songs by Playlist, Album, Artist, Genre; and to rate your songs; and shows an artist photos slideshow while music is playing.

I have to say, I like all these remote control apps for the iPhone “ that let you control iTunes, and Last.fm, and a bunch of others, from anywhere within your WiFi network ‘s range. 

Both versions of Songbird Remote are available now in the App Store.  Songbird Remote is free, Songbird Remote Pro costs $3.99.

Any of you Songbird fans?

Continue reading:

TAGS: