Bringing the Remote app shine back to the iPod app Sachin Agarwal, co-founder and CEO of Posterous, wrote a blog post yesterday calling Apple a "huge start-up." Fair enough description, but what really interested me about the post was Agarwal had some info on one of my favorite iPhone apps - the Apple Remote. The app, if you aren't familiar with it, allows you to turn any iPhone or iPod touch into a remote for your computer's iTunes library. It's a terrific little app that hasn't been updated in over eight months -- even while most of Apple's in-house apps have been. Why? Agarwal says that the Remote app is written by a single person at Apple and he is busy with other projects at the moment.
All that's interesting, but the real reason I'm writing this is so that Apple will listen again and give this coder a big fat raise and put him to work on the actual iPod app for iPhone and Music app for iPod touch. As you can see above, the layout of the two apps are fairly similar. However, the Apple Remote app is much easier to navigate thanks to the big, colorful playlist icons that mimic the ones you see in iTunes. Those icons make your playlists more distinguishable -- something that is always welcomed on a small screen.
It's a small difference, yes, but one that makes the user experience that much better. I always had wondered why Apple would add the colorful icon features in the Remote app, but not in the main music player apps on the iPhone and iPod touch. Now I know -- because it wasn't Apple, but a single developer on staff that put a little extra love into his project. For that, I hope Apple takes notice, gives the guy a raise, puts him back on the Remote app project so he can update it for the iPad, and most of all use his excellent ideas to make the regular music player apps that much better.TUAWBringing the Remote app shine back to the iPod app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/08/03/bringing-the-apple-remote-shine-back-to-the-ipod-app/
