iPhone As A Remote: 20 Things You Can Control Remotely with iPhone

The iPhone can be used as a remote control for a ton of purposes. From iTunes to home alarm and thermostats, your iPhone can be a powerful remote control for a lot of things around you.

While it’s true that the iPhone as a remote is popular for smart TVs and PC (or Mac), a lot of people use the iPhone to control their blu-ray players, Boxee, some security cams etc. Here’s a list of 20 things that you can do with the iPhone, remotely over Wi-fi.

Don’t forget to check out how to use the iPhone as a remote control for your PC or Mac (through amazingly powerful apps!)

20 Things You Can Control Remotely using iPhone:

1. iTunes Library
Got a Mac/PC playing songs from your iTunes library? The Remote app from Apple will let you connect your iPhone wirelessly to your iTunes library and then magic! You can control playback, volume and playlists in your iTunes library from your iPhone.

2. Apple TV
Remote lets you control your Apple TV too (via iTunes, though). If you have an app called Rowmote, you can control Apple TV directly (or via Mac). Browse through all content, menus and settings and play your selections all with just a few taps on your iPhone instead of the Apple TV remote.

3. PC
With suitable VNC viewers like TeamViewer, you can set up your iPhone to control the PC remotely. Open applications, type out documents and pretty much do anything that you usually do on a PC – from an iPhone.

4. Mac
Be it VNC viewers like MachoVNC or remote apps like Rowmote, there are quite a lot of ready options for you to control your Mac remotely via an iPhone. Some of the apps like Rowmote come with customizable shortcuts that access the apps from your dock.

5. Smart TV
Got a smart TV at home? Samsung, Panasonic, Sony, LG and several other smart TV manufacturers have their own iPhone apps which let you control the smart TV wirelessly. You don’t have to fret about the lost TV remote again. The iPhone is all you need.

6. Home Theater
Home theater systems – notably those of Sony and the likes – come with default apps which let you control them from your iPhone.

7. Blu-ray / DVD Players
Chances are, your Sony or Panasonic or Samsung or several other Blu-ray players are controllable remotely via iPhone. Apps like BD Touch make it happen ever so seamlessly that you’ll almost forget the last time you thought of that Blu-ray remote.

8. Home Lights
Well, home automation has been a popular technology and continues to be so but things like Philips Hue have actually changed several things when it comes to controlling lighting. iPhones can remotely control not just the on/off/intensity but also the color!

9. The Car
Heard of Chevy Volt’s dedicated app? Well that’s not the only car to have an app that turns the iPhone into a remote control. There are several more cars – both today and slated for the immediate future – that feature rich apps for remote control.

10. Thermostat
The Nest is a very popular thermostat that is actually ubiquitous and adaptive. But what makes it even more interesting is that you can control it via your iPhone. There are also several other Wi-Fi thermostats in the market.

11. Roku
If you use the Roku player, you can control that with your iPhone using the official Roku app.

12. Burglar Alarm System
If you happen to take a look at the App Store, you’ll find several apps that let you control the burglar system in your home/office via your iPhone. The apps make sure you can always check the status of these systems and alerted instantly if anything suspicious goes on.

13. System Security
Large-scale systems deployed by companies often have their own remote apps for the iPhone. This helps system engineers keep a track of system traffic and monitor the systems and network for malicious code. Interestingly, some of these are also configured for home computers so a regular user can keep track of the security of his/her personal computer.

14. Security Cameras
There are apps like IP Camera that turns your iPhone into a security camera. And then there are also apps like iCamViewer which send live feeds of a connected camera to your iPhone for surveillance.

15. VLC Media
This one’s my favorite. It’s like you got a remote control (VLC Remote) for your VLC media player (well, it is, right?) and you can control a lot of things on your VLC player from the couch.

16. XBMC
If you use X-box Media Center, you’ll find that the XBMC Remote is a handy app that turns your iPhone into a remote for the XBMC. Handy and simple to use.

17. Presentations
Making that important PowerPoint or Keynote presentation? How about controlling it from your iPhone? Apps like MyPoint and the official Keynote Remote can help you control your slides wirelessly and smoothly.

18. Boxee
Using the Boxee player? You’ll probably find that the iPhone remote app for Boxee is quite powerful! With an easy accessibility, the iPhone remote app is quite enticing with its set of features.

19. Digital SLR Cameras
Apps can let you control digital SLRs like Canon EOS and Nikon through specifically designed apps. Some of these also live feed the EVF view of what your camera is seeing.

20. Other iPads (partially)
Optionally, with apps like Tango Remote you can also connect your iPhone to another iDevice like the iPad or iPod Touch to control music on these devices. Apple hasn’t developed the protocols (or opened them) so much that you can use iPhone as a remote to control another iPad/iPhone, but with limitations, there are things you can certainly do.

So what are you using your iPhone as a remote for?

How to Install IPA Files on Your iPhone without Installous or iTunes

With Installous gone, you are probably trying to look for Installous substitutes that can help you install IPA files onto your iPhone or iPad without messing around with the non-working Installous, AppSync etc.

Interestingly, there are a few methods to get this working.

Note that we never recommend using cracked apps or those downloaded .ipa files other than for testing, or trying out before you purchase them from the App Store. We know that devs put a lot of effort in creating these apps. If you are unsure if the app would be worth the expense, you try it out but if you find that you are using it, make sure you pay the developer.

Let’s dive right in with that graceful mindset.

SSH: Winscp/CyberDuck

SSH-ing into your iPhone can also be done via tools like Winscp/Cyberduck.
SSH is a long process but it’s one of the surest ways of installing apps on your iPhone without Installous or iTunes. Briefly, the steps involved are:

Step 1: Open your SSH program (Winscp/Cyberduck etc.)

Step 2: Enter the IP address of your iPhone/iDevice into the “host” field (Settings -> Wifi -> Tap the blue icon next to the network you are on and you will get your IP address)

Step 3: Now, enter ‘root’ for username and ‘alpine’ for password (if alpine does not work, use ‘dottie’)

Step 4: After this is done, you will have to extra the “.app” folder from your IPA file. To do this:

• Rename the IPA file to “somename.app.zip” (note the .app.zip part) -> open the zip file -> open Payload folder -> extract the .app folder to your desktop

Step 5: After extracting the folder, drag and drop that into your iPhone’s /stash/Application folder (which you can access from the SSH client)

Step 6: Once copied, right-click the .app folder and change permissions to 0777 (all checked).

Step 7: After that’s done, respring your iPhone and you’ll get the app on your device!

For a more detailed review of how this works, go right here to find out how you can install IPA files on your iPhone without needing Installous or iTunes.

i-Funbox

iFunbox is a simple and interactive way to SSH into your iPhone. This allows you to explore the device’s file system (files and folders) and then edit or modify the contents. Effectively, you’ll use iFunbox to transfer music, photos, ringtones etc. But then you can also use iFunbox to install IPA files.

To do this, you have to:

• Install and open iFunbox
• Connect your iPhone/iPad via USB to your computer
• Select your iDevice from within iFunbox
• Click on “Install IPA” in iFunbox
• Choose the .ipa file that you want to install
• iFunbox will do the rest and notify
• Respring iPhone to start using the app

Note: It’s said that you need AppSync to sync/use the app but we’ve seen that iFunbox works just fine without it either. In case you need AppSync, try getting it from Roberto’s repo. (our post on Hackulo.us Alternative Repo for AppSync)

Deb File + iFile

Perhaps, the simplest method is to get a .deb file and use iFile to install apps to your iPhone directly.

For this method though, you’ll need to get the .deb files instead of .ipa files. You can use services like iDeb to convert them.

• In Cydia, search and install iFile
• In Safari, search for .deb file of the app you are looking for and download it to your iPhone
• Tap on the downloaded file and then select ‘Open in iFile’
• When iFile opens the .deb file, tap on “Installer”
• iFile will install the file. Respring your device.
• The app should be up there on your iPhone

How to Update Cracked Apps in Installous on Your iPhone

Updating cracked iPhone apps on Installous is actually easy. However, with iOS 6 jailbreaks and Installous 5 not yet supporting iOS 6 (Update: Installous 5.0.4 is now compatible with iOS 6), you might face some issues while you try to update the apps. One of the most common issues we’ve heard of is the Installous invalid IPA error for which there are a few alternative workarounds and fixes you can try.

We’ve tried to answer three important questions that people often ask us regarding updating cracked apps on Installous. Here they are:

1. How to update cracked apps at once?

At the moment, Installous does not come with an option where you can update all the apps at once. You will need to individually update all the apps that are shown in the update tab. Yes, this gets tough if you’ve got a lot of cracked apps but this is the only way for the moment.

2. How to find and install updates on Installous?

Installing updates to apps is almost like downloading a new app from the sources within Installous. The thing Installous takes care of during an update is:

• It finds out the apps that need an update
• It removes the old app and replaces it with the new app without losing data in between

So, in order to update the app, you do this:

• Open Installous
• Tap on ‘Updates’
• Choose the app you want to update
• Click on ‘Download’
• Choose the source from where you want to download the app
• Enter the CAPTCHA (and follow the process similar to downloading an app on Installous)
• Once your app is downloaded, the old one gets replaced with the new one effecting an update thereby

But often users tell us that iTunes prompts them for an update for the cracked app. You should never let iTunes update the app because it won’t since the cracked apps are actually “sold.” Unless you’re willing to pay for the app right now, it would be of no use letting iTunes update the app as it will bill you.So how to turn it off?

3. iTunes Asks for an update. How to turn this off?

To do this:

• Open Installous
• Go to Options -> Remove MetaData -> switch this (ON)

iTunes should stop asking you to update the cracked apps now. But even otherwise, if it shows up on the updates, just ignore it.

Mophie Juice Pack: Keep Your iPhone Going For Days

If there was one accessory you’d need as a backpacker – a frequent one at that – that would be called “Juice Pack Powerstation” and would put a dent in your purse with its $99.95 price tag.

But it’s worth every dollar.

Weekends are getaways and if you’re adventurous, you might be off to some distant hill, a forest, a lake or some other exotic location which is far away from the maddening ritual of the city. You know, a tent in the night, fresh water out of the lake or river, some really amazing spectacle of the night-sky riddled with stars: if that’s your idea of a weekend trip, there could be one thing holding you back. How do you recharge your phone?

iPhone battery life drains out fairly in average 8 hours. Most won’t last a day if you’re going to be using them a lot and none would last a little more than a day even if you don’t use them a lot.

So when there’s a 6000 mAh (remember that number) juice pack which can recharge your iPhone – many times – your numero uno reason for shying away from that adventure out of the city disappears.

The “Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation” brings about two days worth of charging capacity. It’s not an extra battery. It’s a charged device which you can use to charge your smartphone, tablet and a few other USB devices.

The way it works is simple: you charge the powerstation at home through a computer (and USB connection). Later, you use the powerstation to charge your iPhone (or iPad).

You can view the full compatibility of the juice pack here.

And you can get the device here.

If you’re going on a trip – say on the weekends – and are not sure if you’d get to charge your iPhone somewhere along the way or during the trip, this powerstation will help you stop worrying about it all.