iGuyReviews

Pre-iPhone, I carried an iPod nano, a cell phone, and an IBM ThinkPad T43. Post-iPhone? None of the above. These days, the only device I carry around with me is my iPhone, because it seems to do it all. There are times though, when I wish I had my trusty old T43 (actually, a MacBook Air would be even better!) … Usually it’s because I need access to a document back home on my Mac. And then I discovered RemoteTap (App Store, $6.99) and I haven’t looked back.

RemoteTap is a “remote desktop management solution for Macs.” Put simply, it allows you to remotely control your Mac. When you use the app to connect to your Mac, you’re presented with a view of your desktop. You can pinch and drag to bring different areas of the desktop into view (remember, the iPhone’s display is a mere 480×320, whereas your desktop is much larger), click/right-click, and bring up a keyboard to enter text and other commands, etc. With the latest version of RemoteTap you can even bring up a FrontRow control interface, allowing you to use the iPhone in place of the sometimes elusive Apple remote.

The list of features is extensive, but some of my personal favorites (which are shown in the video review, below) are the new Spaces integration, the app launching system (open/Dock/All), and Wake on LAN. The developers seem to keep adding really cool functionality (Spaces, streaming audio, and the FrontRow control system are all relatively new, for example) and according to their site, the next version is going to add even more stuff. When I first bought RemoteTap in Oct/Nov 2008, I found it to be very useful - now, with all of the new features, even more so!

Here are a few different usage situations I use RemoteTap for on a regular basis:

1. Remote document access. I’m at work, and realize I left an important document at home. Or I’m talking with a colleague, an old project comes up, and I want to share it with him/her. With RemoteTap all I have to do is connect to my Mac, find the document in question, open it up in Pages, and export as a PDF to Mail.app. I email the PDF to myself or my colleague, and within just a minute or two we’ve got the document printed out and in hand.

2. Checking on/starting HandBrake queues. I’m dying to see the latest episode of Lost, but with my iTunes Season Pass there’s a delay from when the show airs to when I can actually download it. Of course, the show is available through other means more quickly, so using RemoteTap I launch FireFox, find the show at my favorite file sharing site, download it, and then open it up in HandBrake to convert to an AppleTV format. On my way home from the train station I launch RemoteTap a second time, transfer the converted file to iTunes and then sync with my AppleTV. By the time I walk in the door, the show is synced and ready to watch.

3. Lazy Sunday mornings! It’s Sunday morning and I’ve just woken up. I’m lying in bed, just enjoying the rare moment of calm. I’d like to check all my email accounts without having to open each one on my iPhone (unified inbox, anyone?) so rather than spend several minutes doing it that way, I use RemoteTap. I tap the “Spaces” icon in the toolbar, tap on Space 4 (where Mail.app resides) and at a glance can see if there are any messages waiting in any of my email accounts. When I’m done, I turn my display off (using the SleepDisplay app in my dock) and go back to sleep.

As you can probably tell, I use RemoteTap often. I find it to be an invaluable tool which allows me to travel light, yet have my desktop Mac right at my fingertips, no matter where I am. If you’re looking for a way to do the same, or are ever in situations like those described above, RemoteTap would probably be an excellent choice.