iTunes Remote

Remote

Developer(s)	Apple Inc.
Initial release	October 7, 2008
Stable release	2.3 / March 7, 2012; 4 months ago
Development status	Active
Operating system	iOS 3.1.2 and later
Size	21.0 MB
License	Freeware
Website	http://www.apple.com/itunes/remote/

iTunes Remote (also known simply as Remote) is a software application developed by Apple Inc. for iOS that allows for remote control of any Apple TV or iTunes (version 9.2.1 or later) library in an area with Wi-Fi connectivity using the proprietary Digital Audio Control Protocol (DACP).^[1] It is currently available as a free download from the App Store for users of iOS 3.1.2 or higher on the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad.

History

Patent filing

Unofficial software modifications for including this functionality in both iOS and the Apple TV OS had existed previously, but rumors of Apple giving remote control capabilities between iOS and Apple TV had existed since early 2007, when the U.S. Patent Office published a patent filed by Apple on September 11, 2006 that depicted a "media-player with remote control capabilities" alongside a "multi-media center for computing systems".^[2]

Releases

The embedded lists in this section may contain items that are not encyclopedic. Please help out by removing such elements and incorporating appropriate items into the main body of the article. (February 2011)

On July 10, 2008, Apple released Remote on the App Store.^[3] That same day, Apple released the Apple TV 2.1 software update that added recognition for the iPhone and iPod Touch as remote control devices.^[4]
Version 1.1 was released on September 16, 2008, and brought the following improvements:

• Create Genius playlists
• Create and edit playlists in iTunes

Version 1.2 was released on March 11, 2009, and brought the following improvements:

• Control the music on iTunes or Apple TV
• See the album artwork on your Remote
• Search your whole iTunes library
• Control your AirTunes speakers

Version 2.0 was released on September 28, 2010, and brought the following improvements:

• Designed for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
• Optimized for Retina displays and large screen real estate on iPad
• Support for Shared Libraries on iTunes and new Apple TV
• Bug fixes and compatibility with iTunes 10 and the new Apple TV
• Control iTunes and Apple TV, from anywhere in your home
• Pause, rewind, fast forward, shuffle, and adjust the volume from your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad
• View album, movie, and TV show artwork
• Create and update Genius playlists
• Create and edit playlists in iTunes
• Search your entire iTunes library
• Control iTunes to send music to AirPlay speakers
• Control the volume on each speaker independently
• Control Apple TV with simple finger gestures
• Enter text with the keyboard
• Even control Shared Libraries on iTunes and the new Apple TV

Version 2.0.1 was released on October 15, 2010, and brought the following improvements:

• Includes stability and performance improvements
• Improves performance using Remote on an iPhone when Bluetooth is enabled
• Addresses a problem browsing artists with a large number of albums
• Addresses some issues waking up computers when using Home Sharing
• Addresses some issues with connecting to an iTunes library or Apple TV when using Home Sharing or a Passcode
• Addresses some issues with connecting to a Wi-Fi network

Version 2.1 was released on December 22, 2010, and brought the following improvements:

• 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

Version 2.1.1 was released on March 15, 2011, and brought the following improvements:

• Improvements when connecting to iTunes or Apple TV
• Addition of a "skip back" button when playing video
• Additional stability and performance improvements

Version 2.2 was released on October 12, 2011, and brought the following improvements:

• Provides compatibility with iOS 5
• Provides additional stability and performance improvements

Version 2.3 was released on March 7, 2012, and brought the following improvements:

• Support for iTunes Match on Apple TV
• Support for Retina display on iPad

Features

Remote, similar to the Apple Remote, allows for one to adjust iTunes volume, play, pause, skip or shuffle media playback on an iTunes library on either Mac OS X, Windows or the Apple TV OS through the AirPlay capability. The metadata from an iTunes library is streamed to the iPhone or iPod Touch, which then renders a graphic of the currently playing media (usually album art) from the particular iTunes library.
Remote has a menu of items to choose from:

• Playlists (including Genius)
• Artists
• Albums
• Search
• More (which gives access to Audiobooks, Composers, Genres, Movies, Music Videos, Podcasts, Songs, and TV Shows)^[5]

On iPad, the increased screen size allows Remote to display an interface similar to that of iTunes, with a list of playlists and other media sources on the left and music content shown on the right. A bar at the top of the screen, very similar to the one present in iTunes, gives pause/play and volume controls. A bar at the bottom of the screen has menus for creating playlists, Genius control and multiple views for the media display.
Remote also features additional support for the iTunes DJ feature of iTunes. Guests with an iOS device can use the Remote app to request a song in the DJ mix and vote on songs in the queue.