iPhone App: HippoRemote

January 1st, 2010

= 4 stars

Control your Mac with your iPhone.

The Good

• No helper app constantly running on your Mac, connects through your Mac’s built-in Screen Sharing VNC access instead.
• The track pad screen has left and right click buttons plus a unique, rotational scrolling button at bottom: tap and run your finger clockwise or counterclockwise to scroll up or down. If that’s too much, scroll using a two-finger swipe.
• A “keyboard” button in the upper left corner calls up a touch screen keyboard.
• Contains app-specific profiles, meant to control particular apps. I was personally looking for Hulu, Boxee, DVD Player, iTunes, Plex, and FrontRow, and they’re all here. Also included are Gmail, Keynote, Windows Media Center, and XBMC. Yes, this app can control a Windows PC.
• While in a particular app, a button bar at screen bottom displays common, appropriate commands (like “back” and “reload” for Safari). Tap “more” to find even more commands, plus the ability to record your own.

The Bad

• The app launcher is one level too deep; you must tap on the currently-active application at top center, then tap All Profiles. App launching uses Spotlight, so you’ll see the Spotlight search field pop open and typing appear, which personally looks a bit awkward.

Conclusion

Despite my relatively minor gripes, Hippo Remote is a solid remote control app, with the biggest plus the lack of a constantly running helper app. Recommended.

iTunes App Store Link (HippoRemote):
iTunes App Store Link (HippoRemote Basic):