Remote Buddy for Mac1.33.1

I got the Remote Buddy Express and use it together with Ajax Remote app on iPhone 4S. Running iMac 27" late 2009 with latest OSX. This really is an elegant way to remotely control your Mac. I especially like the feature of showing the desktop of the connected computer on my phone. I miss the option for horizontal view, making the desktop survey/camera picture even bigger. And sound transfer would be awesome. But when playing on iPhone with the options for controlling e. g. music/iTunes + camera (which works great, also here sound?!) the program is not responding any more when choosing movies or EyeTV. I could understand that this is something not supported/implemented, but that the app is completely shot down is taking some of the air out of this otherwise promising project. Not sure if it is the Remote Buddy Express part or the Ajax app that is the problem.

My Wiimote cursor stops to work after the update... Is it a coincidence, or my Wiimote is defective?

SIMPLY THE BEST ! This is the app I use EVERYDAY! I strongly recommend it to everyone !!! It can use iPhone as a remote for your mac ! :)

This is, without any doubt, the best remote utility program on the mac. The way this neat little utility brings functionality to my Apple remote almost astonishing. It's very intuitive to use with a clear and intuitive interface and best of all, simulation of mouse and keyboard. A lot of presets actions for the most common programs and have full capability do add your own. This procedure might be the trickiest part of Remote Buddy, but it is doable and after a while you get the hang of it.

I wrote a review 2 years ago and expressed my praise and hopes that an iphone version of the iphone AJAX remote would come soon. The AJAX remote is a joke, and no one does any serious iphone app in AJAX. Why does the iPhone AJAX remote keep being advertised like it's the best thing since sliced bread? Anyway, the developer didn't make promises but he said an iphone native version was in the works. I've sent feedback several times on forums, and there seemed to be progress. But after 2 years, my question and frustration is: where is it? I've also been very unhappy with some quirks in functionality that make it a pain to use. For example, when using Plex, or XBMC or Boxee, why can't Remote Buddy auto-detect them and automatically enable the right mapping? In other words, if I launch XBMC with my mouse, auto-detect it and enable the right mapping. At least make it an option. Then, battery management of remotes like the PS3 remote is very poor. Originally the remote is reported to last 4-6 months when used with a Playstation 3. But with Remote Buddy batteries only last about 1-2 weeks. This is unacceptable. Even if justified by whatever technical limitation, it should stated on the website so users know what to expect. Also, RB doesn't seem to remember the last used behavior, so I always need to reselect the behavior. No matter what I do, no matter which preferences I set, if I use mostly use XBMC, it doesn't seem to be remembered, and I always need to reset the right behavior. There are also a few GUI quirks as well that hasn't been fixed even after feedback was sent. For example the Mapping edit window contains several hundred button mapping lists, but the window can't be resized. So the user has to do a lot of scrolling even if he has a 27-inch iMac that would allow a bigger window. Also it's not possible to edit Mappings if the remote isn't activated. This is inconvenient. Suppose that my remote isn't activated or that the batteries are dead but I wanna edit the mapping anyway, I can't do so with RB. There are quirks with XBMC and possibly Plex. While I understand that this may be a XBMC limitation, Remote Buddy should not include something that doesn't work. For example in the PS3 remote, the button "Display OSD" will display the Music OSD instead of the Video OSD during video playback. Items that don't work should be excluded. And, a workaround should be used, for example include a keyboard shortcut instead. Also talking to the XBMC devs would be nice to arrive at a possible solution. Bottom line: while Remote Buddy has some viable uses, usage in real life may be frustrating and inconvenient. With no iPhone native app after 2 years of wait and no feedback from the developer, Remote Buddy is no longer cutting edge as it once was. The lack of context-aware mapping switching is painful in real life. I keep resorting to using the true and tested Apple remote because of these issues.

Why does dev still charge 19% VAT for non EU customers?

Perfect application, my MacMini with Snow Leopard and RemoteBuddy it's now back to life! Tested in trial mode for few days and then purchased. Thanks to the developer for the good work.

This software is seriously impressive. And it's as thorough as it is intuitive, so the more you dig into it the more you'll get out of it. Although it's built upon a complete, alternate driver for your Mac's infrared/remote control services, it's hardly limited to the Apple Remote. Suddenly, the remote for my EyeTV (250 Plus) controls any application I like, however I like. And don't get me started on the AJAX Remote -- simply ridiculous. The speed, features and control literally at your fingertips when using your iPhone/iPod Touch should probably embarrass other developers in the same field; they are clearly not in the same league. Remote Buddy is the first and perfect example I've seen of our digital junk really, truly getting along. P.S. Be sure to check out the supported hardware, including Bluetooth devices -- it is no small list.

Thanks for a great app so far too!

Excellent application. I have tried at least 2 other apps that extend the functionality of the apple remote. This one is by far the best. Get Girlfriend

I recently plunged into the world of the iPhone. Having had a bluetooth phone before that was not crippled in the way the iPhone is, I was quite content with Remote Buddy. After getting the iPhone, I tried out the AJAX remote capabilities of Remote Buddy. I was pleased, but recognized that a lot of progress was needed to make it usable. That is no longer the case with the latest update. All the problems I was experiencing appear, under brief testing, to be a thing of the past. I am excited to have a dependable remote for presentations or other uses. Great work on fixing the issues in the last version. This is a great product and entirely a good value in my book. Now I have to take the time to learn how to use Remote Buddy to its fullest potential as there is a lot of functionality that I have yet to explore.

I'd purchase a code for this, but $30USD seems a bit steep for what I'd use it for. Call me cheap, but I only really use it to watch DVD's on my LCD tv every few days or so (which it is great for, with the "change to main display" remote function) Nice program, just wish there was a "by donation" aspect to it, as I'd gladly paypal $15 for what I use it for, but I guess that's another whole story..

This program is simply ahead of its time. The attention to detail, the simplicity, the feature set and quality of Remote Buddy is nothing short of amazing. The most impressive feature is iPhone AJAX. I can't wait to see what the developer will do with the iPhone SDK.

Even if this application only included the iPod touch/iPhone AJAX Remote, I would have shelled out the cash for it. I was in complete awe at how slick and well-implemented the iTunes controller was - I've never enjoyed using an application this much. I recently was DJ'ing for a party through iTunes, and Remote Buddy freed me from sitting in front of the computer; I could walk around, talk to people, and wirelessly change the songs from anywhere in the room. Great conversation starter too. :) This application is well worth its price tag.

Wow. Just set up Remote Buddy on my iPhone. Works as described. After fiddling with BlueTooth on my iPhone (is that feature functional yet?) I read the FAQs (!) and found the bonjour setup. After that, it was a snap. Now I can select and move my music all over my house using my iPhone, remote buddy and several airport expresses. Very cool. if only I could use RB to direct movies from my iTunes library to my iPhone for viewing there I'd be in remote heaven. Overall, good job and well thought out.

I love this program. The ability to create your own actions is perfect, I just set up actions for Digital Performer so I can record myself using just the Wiimote to control the program. Great work developer!

Just a comment to the developer based on their reply below. My main computer will never be connected to the internet, yet I manage to have more than 100GB worth of programs (not documents) on it. Many things were downloaded, tested and scanned at a library/university computer. Things that insist on attempting to make unpermitted external contact are deleted rather rapidly, as all calls to the internet (or any communication route, including USB and FW) are instantly notified to the user. Anybody who really wants a secure computer will operate this way, as it really is the only foolproof method. That's why a second computer is used for internet operation, and anything created on the main computer is moved with a portable drive whose drive contents are wiped before re-attachment to the main computer. Thinking everybody with a computer absolutely has to have an internet connectionat all times is at best selfish, and a bit presumptuous.

hi! haven´t had the chance to try this out yet, but i´m wondering have fast things react since it´s "just a very advanced" web-like app (or did i it read wrong)? e.g. i want to use my iPhone for iTunes-controller on my MBP, how fast will iTunes react when i push a button on my phone? and, will you make RB into a native app now that SDKs soon are out? anyways, it have the looks like a killer-app :-)

Gosh, the new iPhone / iPod touch features are just **hypnotic** I think RB should receive an incentive from Apple for helping selling them :D Honest, I own RB, but I never considered buying a touch thing from Apple... up to now!!

Dan, there's no heavy networking or secret "calling home" here. Remote Buddy verifies a license code once - and only once - when you enter the license code with our website. I know other software vendors don't implement online verification features in a consumer friendly way. Remote Buddy, however, is different: - it does not send any personal information - it does not send any details of your hardware - it informs you about exactly what is being sent and it asks for your explicit permission - it will not keep you from reinstalling and using your Remote Buddy license 1000 times on your Mac each and every day, if you so wish - it will not lock you to a single machine - it will not get in your way if you reinstalled your machine and have no internet access (as Remote Buddy has a 30 day trial period without any feature limitations - within which you most certainly get across an internet connection) And most importantly: it has, and I can't stress this enough - not in a single case - prevented the usage of Remote Buddy by legitimate users. All of this info is, btw, also available in our FAQ. I understand your general concerns, seeing that other companys are incapable of implementing a scheme that is both user friendly and respects your privacy. However, these concerns are not justified in Remote Buddy's case. It is both user friendly, always requests your permission and informs you - in detail - about what is transfered, and it fully respects your privacy. Remote Buddy did start without online verification in the first place. It is only the rampant piracy that followed and had almost killed the project, that made me decide to go - and not light heartedly - for online verification. This decision was made for - not against - customers as (sadly) only this way enough revenue can be generated to support the steady growth of Remote Buddy and the implementation of innovative, new features. Best regards, Felix Schwarz

I was going to purchase today. However, reading here that RB calls home to verify license information has changed my mind. I have way to many issues with programs calling home during machine startups to willingly add another one. Remove calling home, guarantee it won't be back, and I'll buy. I understand piracy as a software developer myself. However, ruining my Macintosh experience, by heavy network activity while everyone calls home, isn't the solution.

i'm intigued with the addition of iphone support. remote controlling itunes over wifi instead of bluetooth provides me the range i require.

Sweet, I need to try this, I have been looking for a remote software.

I've been meaning to invest in one of the remote apps and this one looks like it has all the bells

I can't find anything that indicates what features reports supports. For example, what can you do with a Wiimote?

This is a great idea! My MacBook Pro came with a remote, but I hardly use it beyond the functions that are built in. Things like THIS should be built into the very OS in my opinion, but what makes this so appealing is the pre-configured options...most remote software I've seen before is difficult to set up, with too many key combinations. Good program concept. All the positive comments so far give me great faith in this program.

I have been looking for a Remote solution and I have only tried out Sofa Control. Mira is another contender, but Remote Buddy is getting glowing reviews. Could this be The One?

Really looks like a cool app. I'll at least give this one a download!

I've had my eye on this app for a while, but couldn't see myself using it enough to justify paying the price. But now...it's a bargain price AND it supports using the iPhone as a remote; that's a way cool application for my iPhone. I'm happy to have gotten this program at a discount!

This is an app that I've been watching and even thought about purchasing. I have an old iBook G4 that doesn't have a remote, but plan on getting a new Intel MacBook and will probably go ahead and purchase this now for the future.

This looks excellent. I can not wait to download and try with my iPhone.

@ pumpkinwhite: Thanks for your comment, but the points you bring up do only apply to totally outdated versions of Remote Buddy and do no longer apply to the current version, which offers everything you are asking for: 1) You can map the Menu button's hold state to an action to open Remote Buddy's menu directly at the root level. It actually takes only one click in the global mapping table to change that. 2) You can freely configure which items you want to have in that root level. Be it universally used commands, file browsers, folders containing groups of items, etc. 3) In the mapping table, it takes you one click to choose "Custom actions…", where you can then enter AppleScript code and get fine-grained control over when it is executed. You can then also reuse that action for other buttons, temporarily assign another action to the button without losing your code, you have a central place to find, label, name and map your actions, etc. You also don't have to understand AppleScript handlers for this. 4) In addition to 3): issuing keystrokes (which you'll find you'll mostly want to use), mouse wheel events or similiar is even easier and doesn't require AppleScript at all. It's also much faster, has a smaller resource footprint, offers fine-grained options for maximum comfort and is much more reliable than AppleScript-based solutions, that can easily freak out if the name of the targeted application changes. Best regards, Felix

Oh my word- I had no idea that the wii remote was supported so well. You need to check out the demo videos on their website. This is way more than I thought.

will this make it easy for me to use the apple remote with the slingbox viewer/front row?

They might want to update the bundled help so that a search for iPhone doesn't give zero results.

The form cut off my comment. It would be nice if they let us know there was a character count. In any event, try http://tinyurl.com/ype6gg for iPhone setup instructions

iPhone users: when they say that you can use an iPhone as a remote, what they mean is that you can setup a web interface on your Mac and access that via Mobile Safari. Full details are here: http://www.iospirit.com/index.php?mode=view

I'm really tempted to buy this. I plan on upgrading to a new mac soon and this application would really be useful for listening to music, watching movies, etc. What a great price!

I`ve been using Sofa Control for a while now, a really great app. But Remote Buddy seems to be better. I am very impressed by the wide range of functions and apps supported by Remote Buddy. The interface is also fantastic. Simply a MUST HAVE!

Geat promo! This is great for a Mac mini in the living room...

It will be a winner with my new MacBook. Thanks for the promo

looks awesome

@ luomat: There is no pairing involved here. The iPhone support in Remote Buddy does not work through Bluetooth, but through WLAN. First connect your iPhone to your local WLAN, then follow the instructions from http://www.iospirit.com/remotebuddy/ajaxremote/ and you're set up in no time. If you have the OS X firewall set up, you may have to open a port for Remote Buddy, so your iPhone can connect. You can find instructions - with images - on that in the iPhone part of the Remote Buddy FAQ. Best regards, Felix Schwarz

I am in the process of building a whole house audio server for iTunes using multiple AirPort Expresses. The control head will be an iMac wall mounted in the kitchen. To get past the aesthetics committee, the keyboard

I can't get it to pair with my iPhone, can anyone else?

I'm much more likely to remember to bring my iPhone with me than my MacBook remote (where is that thing, btw?)

Good ! Application ! i Buy it !

Looks like a great idea! I have been testing the trial version for about 3 weeks and just before I decided to buy, now the price is better! Thank you folks!

I'll have to give this a try when I get home from work. Looks promising...

How does this compare with Mira?

I've been looking for one of these, perfect...

Great app, very useful for mac mini's and macbooks hooked up to a TV. I've been hoping this would make it here one day.

Way cool! But I don't have any remotes that are supported at this point, I don't think. Guess I'll file this away for another time...

I like these remote control software. Gives me so much power from the chair. This one appears to have much more that what I currently have. Will try it. Thanks.

Is there anything on your mac that this software cannot control? Watch the demonstration videos and you will be impressed.

first mira, second sofa and now i gonna test remote buddy ... who'gonna be the winner?'

Wiimote and iPhone support opens up the possibilities on this one.

Yeah, I have been playing with this software and I would love to have it, and today I can save some money on it.

I've been trying this out since I got my iPhone and finally purchased it last week. It has a really great interface and it is amazing how many things it controls.

great, now all I need is the new MacBook to replace my failing powerbook

I've been trying to decide between this program and some of the other remote applications. The iPhone support and the Promo have pushed this one over the edge!

I bought this when it was in beta, for 50% off. I'd definately recommend it, it's very useful when you're just lying back on the couch, and don't want to have to get up for a simple thing like checking email, iTunes, etc. Still, if you haven't got it yet, it's worth the full price, and to get it for 40% off is even better.

Looks like a solid app. Definately something we've needed for a while...

I can't wait to try this with my MacBook Pro!

Great. :-) Thanks for clearing the issue. I checked out the FAQ and now I know how it works, maybe there should be a FAQ weblink in the registration dialogue?. But I still do not like these "call home" schemes (even if you could argue around that). But I´m a happy customer.

@ Pablo2K: The license is not bound to a single piece of hardware. You could buy a new Mac every two weeks and the online verification would still not get in your way. Please read the Remote Buddy FAQ for more info.

Yeah! I projected to buy it!

Ordering via credit card didn´t work. I ordered via PayPal and that worked. Hope I don´t get double billed. Comment: Do the software become hardwarebound? I hate this if this is the case. I plan on changing my MacBooc and that would render the license invalid. I get this when registering: "... validity of your kicense code online, once... - checksum on an ambiguous machine identifier...."

Just what I was looking for to control my media software on my Mac Mini!

This is great. I also remember IOSpirit from the Amiga (I still have a Amiga and use their IBrowse browser) and they are a great company. Sold. :-)

I bought this application one year ago and I have been very pleased with its functionality and the support for various remotes. I am still discovering new features here and there. The autoupdater informs about the available updates and installs them without any problems. I haven't had any issues regarding stability. A feature request to add the new Keyspan Presentation Remote Pro has just been sent to the IOSPIRIT support team.

Looks great! Shame I just bought SofaControl 8-(

Great idea - it has always been a bit odd to have a remote sold with every mac but only have limited functionality with it.

Answer Skype, control presentations, and control your media from across the room? Cool!

i really love this app. i bought it before 1.0 release and im very happy with it. I use it everyday for VLC and DVD Player. include an autoupdater that update the app itself and add new behaviours.

Looks great!

Great.. Just bought Sofa Control. Anyone knows how this compares to Sailing Clicker?

Never thought about using this. Looks great!

Just what I as looking for - something to support multiple remotes (and wireless comms protocols). I do a lot of technical presentations and this looks perfect for controlling Keynote and then switching between that and other apps without having to continually return to my machine. Very cool

cool. I need to find more use for that little remote...

considering my mac is a macbook pro, i don't use the remote for much... but controlling it with my iphone or wii remote... that's just plain cool.

Too bad I allready own it :(

Great Stuff i like it.

I've been using iRed Lite but this one seems much better.

It's software like RemoteBuddy that makes me visit mupromo.com everyday.

I've been a long-time Salling Clicker user, but for my needs, Remote Buddy seems to be a better fit. I'm really impressed by the RB interface.

Wow! You can do a lot of things with this app!

I might get this, I'm sure it would work great with my MacBook. Let me try and demo first.

Sounds pretty interesting, I might give it a try. I lways found the apple remore a little lacking

I already own Mira, but this one looks like a really powerful competitor. Let's give it a try...

I've been using this since the beta and it is by far the best remote software out there. Highly recommend.

On my sofa, I'll sleep... so it's not for me ;-)

The demo videos are worth checking out.

I had to find a good solution for a series of presentations that I had to give. Keynote control was simple, but the ability to control my video/audio apps with the Apple remote was just too cool. I'll have to get the updated version of this application!

I own both Sofa Control and Remote Buddy. Personally I think Sofa Control is much better. Sofa Control has this 'global menu' that comes up on a longer menu button press. It is just a common place for universally used commands, and is very convenient. Also adding your own scripts in Sofa Control is very easy. Remote Buddy offers all the same functions. Functionality wise its not lacking. It's just not as intuitive at times. But a lot of people prefer Remote Buddy. Remote Buddy has bluetooth remote pairing extra i think, but i don't need that, and so I stick with Sofa Control. I guess it boils down to personal preference. I would advice everyone to use both and see what works for them.

I may buy this just because I'm planning on getting a new computer in the near future and I will probablyu use my Wiimote.

Works right out of the box!

Will test this out to see if I like it better than Mira. In any case, an app which gives even more functionality to my apple remote, which I otherwise wouldn't use much.

Remote Buddy works great with my iPhone. At this price, it's hard to beat.

It is really a great application for everyone would like to use it with your Mac as a HTPC. Especially for those with Wii. You know, my mom always complains mouse is difficult to use.