How to Remotely Control a Mac From an iPhone
Now, you may be asking, why would you want to remote control your Mac from an iPhone? The answer is simple: the Mac Mini. The Mac Mini has become a popular addition to the home theater. In some cases, even more popular than the Apple TV. It's attractive, compact, light and powerful! But if your goal is to use more than just Front Row for your media entertainment, you're going to notice that its biggest weakness is lack of complex remote control. Sure, you could get a bluetooth keyboard and mouse, but how is that really going to fit into your home theater conveniently? Do you want your coffee table to look like a desk? I think not, so it's R.P.A. Tech to the rescue with their handy iPhone app "Air Mouse Pro." Air Mouse Pro allows you to control a Mac directly from your iPhone, acting as both a trackpad and keyboard. This tutorial will teach you how to get Air Mouse set up in minutes.
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Instructions
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Download Air Mouse Pro from the iPhone App Store. As of this writing it costs $5.99.
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Download and install the Air Mouse server application. These steps are for Macs, but there's a Windows server too. Save the dmg file to your hard drive.
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Install the server by opening the dmg file you downloaded. Drag the Air Mouse Server application to your Applications folder.
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Click on the application to run the Air Mouse Server. No windows will pop up, but you will see a new Air Mouse Server icon on the bar at the top right of your screen.
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Start the Air Mouse application on your iPhone. It should automatically find the computers that are running the Air Mouse Server software. You can double-check to see if it found your server by tapping on the green icon in the top left of the screen. This will show you a list of the servers it found. If it cannot find them, you may need to turn off or configure you computer's firewall.
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You can now control your Mac directly from your iPhone. The most basic functions of the Air Mouse are as a trackpad and keyboard.
You can switch between an "In Air" mouse mode that uses the iPhone's accelerometer and a regular track pad mode by clicking the icon in the upper right-hand corner.
You can also hide the keyboard by flicking your iPhone downward and then turn the iPhone sideways for full blown, Power Book style, multi-gesture trackpad control. And that is only the tip of the iceberg for what the Air Mouse can do. There's media controls too! For more information on all the features of the Air Mouse, visit the MobileAirMouse website (see Resources section below) and watch the demo video.
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Tips & Warnings
You can access the advanced configurations for Air Mouse Pro using the Air Mouse Server icon on the bar at the top right of your computer screen. You can even set up four hot keys that can open applications you specify instantly. If you're controlling multiple computers, the hot keys can be different for each computer.
