I reviewed Tunes Remote for iPhone ($0.99) a while ago and I was very happy with it (in fact, in the months since that piece it has never left my iPhone). The iPad version of the app, which a separate $0.99 purchase, does many of the same things, but with a much better interface thanks […]
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Quick Look and Giveaway: Tunes Remote for iPad

Apr 25th 2011 by

I reviewed Tunes Remote for iPhone ($0.99) a while ago and I was very happy with it (in fact, in the months since that piece it has never left my iPhone). The iPad version of the app, which a separate $0.99 purchase, does many of the same things, but with a much better interface thanks to all of the extra screen space.

I won’t go into the app in too much detail since my previous review covered the basics, but in case you don’t know about Tunes Remote already, it’s basically the reverse of Apple’s official Remote app. Apple’s version lets an iOS device control iTunes playback on the Mac, and Tunes Remote is about letting you control iPod playback on an iOS device from any other Mac, iPad, iPod Touch, or iPhone (via Wi-fi or Bluetooth).

My Music-less iPad

Tunes Remote has been a particularly awesome addition to my iPad’s arsenal of apps because I have chosen not to sync any music to the iPad. All of my tunes reside on either my MacBook Pro or my iPhone 3GS. This is partly because I want the iPad to be a device with fewer distractions on it, but also because mounting the iPad on my speaker dock instead of my iPhone would just be silly. So, as it stands, Tunes Remote has become key to how I enjoy music at home. I’ll dock the iPhone on the living room stereo speaker dock, recline on the couch with  the iPad, and control what the iPhone plays right from the tablet. The iPad version of Tunes Remote supports both portrait and landscape, but I find landscape infinitely better because it can show the music library, current album’s track list, and the album art all at once.

Ideally, Tunes Remote Would be Universal

I won’t beat around the bush here: as great as I think think the Tunes Remote system is now, I think it could be a whole lot better as a single $1.99 universal app. I believe this would save customers the trouble of having buy two different $0.99 apps to unlock the whole system, and it would make app updates a little easier to manage as well. I realize that charging an extra $0.99 for functionality that people may not use is a risk, but I also do believe that Tunes Remote is good enough to warrant a $1.99 purchase with either version, so a universal app doesn’t seem like it has any down sides to me (said the wise-cracking non-developer iOS writer).

Ideally, Tunes Remote Would Learn My Habits

If my suggestion above seems a bit too outlandish, then consider it as a setup for this far more reasonable demand. My proposition is as follows: I always use Tunes Remote on my iPhone in “Tunes” mode and always use the iPad app in”Remote” mode, so why do I have to manually select “Tunes” and “Remote” every single time I want to play music?  It would be fantastic if there was a setting to order Tunes Remote to default to a certain mode right from the device, so that tapping on the home screen icon would load the app up just the way I like it.

You Missed a Spot

There are a few features of Tunes Remote, namely movie and podcast support, that I haven’t covered in this review. That’s because I use the now-defunct VLC iPad app for playing videos without conversion and Instacast for podcasts.

Conclusion & Giveaway Details

So that’s the iPad version of Tunes Remote in a nut shell, and despite the length of the two paragraphs above, I love the app and think of it as the best example of what Tunes Remote can do for ridiculously easy playback at home.

If you’re interested in picking up a free copy of the iPad version of Tunes Remote, we just so happen to have five promo codes to give away, thanks to the developers at De Voorkant.

All you need to do to enter our giveaway is leave a comment below and make sure to fill out all the fields (especially the e-mail address – because that’s how you’ll be contacted). Five winners will be drawn at random and announced this Thursday, April 28 at around 5 PM EST.

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Tunes Remote was provided by De Voorkant for review on iSource. For further information regarding our site’s review policies, please see the “About” page.

 

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