App creates a bridge between Safari and iTunes via an embedded web server

Jun 19, 2008 10:25 GMT  ·  By

wifiTunes is a very cool free app developed by Urs Kofmel for iPhone and iTouch users. It enables you to control iTunes via Safari (other browsers are supported, too) on your portable device, by building a "bridge" between iTunes and the web browser, through an embedded web server. This way you can even switch between remote (AirTunes) speakers and toggle shuffled playback on/off, as your device suddenly becomes a media remote.

Users will be able to control iTunes with almost any modern browser on every computer that can reach your iTunes-running Mac on the network. Based on wireless LAN technology, wifiTunes is not limited by walls, and will work throughout the house. The user interface looks and feels a lot like Apple's iPod.

The app provides access to all your playlists including Smart Playlists, Podcasts, Movies and TV Shows. You can select any track for playback within the selected playlist, while wifiTunes will even show the same artwork iTunes does when selecting a track. wifiTunes displays elapsed and remaining time of the current track, and allows you to set the volume using a "two finger gesture," the developer claims.

Uninstalling the app is quite a pain in the neck, however. You need to make sure wifiTunes is stopped by opening the wifiTunes preference pane in system preferences and pressing the "Stop" button, if wifiTunes is running. Then, you have to hit "Show all" and right click (or ctrl click) on the wifiTunes icon. Select the option to "Remove 'wifiTunes' Preference Pane," open a Finder window, press ??G and enter ~/Library/LaunchAgents/. Lastly, delete the File groovework.wifiTunes.plist. This method is supposed to be the proper way to uninstall the app.

Limitations imposed by the developer concern the number of tracks that will be shown in the track list and using multiple browsers at a time (really now, isn't one browser enough?).

wifiTunes is limited to 500 tracks for two reasons. One - processing a large iTunes playlist in Apple Script takes very long, and two, 500 is already too high a number of songs if you try to scroll through them on your iPhone.

The developer claims future releases might incorporate a search feature. We'll let you know if any new versions hit. In the meanwhile, play with the currently available one.

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