Category Archives: iPhone

Mac users: Fullscreen issue

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Update: VLC 2.0.3 has been released for Mac OS now – please update to this if you are getting fullscreen control problems.
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Mac users: If you updated to VLC 2.0.2, then you’ll notice that there is a bug with the fullscreen control.

The http interface (which VLC Remote uses) simply isn’t working for fullscreen. I have contacted the VLC Mac developers and they have fixed this (Thank you!). They are planning a mini-release in the next few days, or you can download the nightly version from

http://nightlies.videolan.org

I have tested the build dated 2012 07 14

you can download directly with these links (they’re also on the VLC Remote facebook page which is probably easier to get to from your computer)

32bit version: http://nightlies.videolan.org/build/macosx-intel/vlc-2.0.2-i686-20120714-0218.zip

64bit version: http://nightlies.videolan.org/build/macosx-intel/vlc-2.0.2-x86_64-20120714-0318.zip

thanks again to the VLC team for such a swift fix.

NB: these links are to a non-released version of VLC, so the standard use-at-your-own-risk warnings apply!

Those missing controls…

vlc-free-iphone, vlc-iphone

so, new VLC Remote, new design.

inevitably, there were some decisions to be made about what controls should be there, and how to present them. My goal was to make VLC Remote easy to use, but with powerful features readily accessible.

Or in the wonderful words of Einstein – ‘As simple as possible, but no simpler’

One thing that went was the separate stop and pause buttons. Stop mostly exists from the days of VHS when it mattered whether your movie was stopped (the head stopped spinning against the tape), or paused (the head was spinning, and your tape was wearing out).
With digital media, it doesn’t really matter whether the player is paused. That’s why a lot of players save the space and get rid of it completely.

Having said that – some people like the finality of a stop command which says ‘I’m never coming back to this track!’

At the moment, you can double-tap on the play/pause button to stop. If I get a lot of requests to bring back the stop control as a separate button – I will.

Another thing we got rid of was the separate playlist view – we figured we could just use the playlist in the main display.

The downside of this is that the delete-track controls are kinda hidden. They’re still there – but you have to know what you are looking for.

If you swipe left on any item in the playlist, then you’ll see a delete control for that item. You will also see the ‘delete all’ button at the top left of the screen.
I’ll probably add a tutorial element so that people learn about this. I will also add a delete option to the ‘share’ menu in the next revision. I’m open to suggestions on how to make it more obvious.

I hope this makes sense – you can email me from within the app if you have any comments, or you can post at the forum or on facebook.

Major VLC Remote Update

vlc-free-iphone, vlc-iphone

VLC Remote 6.00 is a major new release with lots of new features. It just went live in the App Store.

It does require VLC 2.00 to work, and it requires a device running iOS 4.00 or higher.

With such a major update, there will probably be some minor issues that need to be fixed despite a lot of beta testing – hold tight for 6.01 if you don’t want to take any chances.

Major features include
-Completely redesigned beautiful new interface
-Album art support (make sure you set VLC to automatically download album art)
-Graphical equaliser
-Lots more

I hope you enjoy it!

Multiple Monitors on Mac…

gtd2min-iphone, off-free-iphone, off-iphone, Uncategorized, vlc-android, vlc-free-android, vlc-free-iphone, vlc-iphone, vlc-streamer-free-iphone, vlc-streamer-iphone, watchover-iphone

If you have multiple monitors connected to a mac, then this might interest you.

I just launched my first app in the Mac Appstore. It’s called Multi Monitor Wallpaper.
It lets you take one large image and apply it across your monitors.

You can move and scale the image, and even tweak the exact layout of your monitors.

My app cuts up the image and applies it across your screens.

Let me know what you think!

You can get it at the Mac Appstore

VLC 2.00 is live…

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VLC 2.00 has been approved for release, so the new version should be hitting the front page of Videolan.org very soon.

Update: It’s live now.

Please remember a few things when you upgrade:

1) Make sure you have the latest version of my setup helper. The older versions won’t correctly configure VLC 2.00
2) You will need to run the setup helper again when you upgrade – this is because some of the configuration settings get wiped with each upgrade.

On Windows, you need setup helper version 4.20, on Mac version version 3.30.
Click ‘Check for updates’ in your current setup helper or get ’em here.
http://HobbyistSoftware.com/vlc

If your browser is giving you an old version, then clear the cache or try in a different browser!

Perhaps more exciting is the completely new design that I’m working on for VLC Remote. It will take advantage of some new features available in VLC 2.00

You can get some sneak peaks at the VLC Remote facebook page http://www.facebook.com/VLCRemote

Open links in the background – iBrowse

gtd2min-iphone, off-free-iphone, off-iphone, Uncategorized, vlc-free-iphone, vlc-iphone, vlc-streamer-free-iphone, vlc-streamer-iphone, watchover-iphone

I just released an update for iBrowse which does two things.

  1. Brings it up to date with iOS5
  2. Brings the feature I have wanted for ages – you can now open links in a background tab

I use this when I’m browsing a news site. I go to news.bbc.co.uk, and I can now click and hold on a link, then select ‘open in background tab’. That story starts loading, and I pick a few other stories to load in the background.

Now I switch to coverflow view and swipe to one of the stories (which has probably already loaded by now).

It’s only $1, and there is a free version to try!

iBrowse is available as ever at the App Store.
 

Off Remote – Now with messages…

gtd2min-iphone, off-free-iphone, off-iphone, vlc-free-iphone, vlc-iphone, vlc-streamer-free-iphone, vlc-streamer-iphone, watchover-iphone

When I released Off Remote, I thought people would use it to turn off their media centre computers, and their home-office computer without having to get out of bed or leaving the sofa.

I’m sure it is used for that – but I found from my emails that people also use it to switch off their kids’ computers.

The new release makes Off Remote even better for this. You can now send a short message to the computer before you shut it down

‘It’s past your bedtime – save your work before I turn off your computer!’

You can also disable the ‘countdown’ message that used to appear as the computer was about to shut down. This gives you the upper hand if your kids were used to just clicking the ‘cancel’ button.

Of course – with great power comes great responsibility! Use with care…

Off Remote is available as ever at the App Store.

If you’d like to give Off Remote a try, you can get it right here:

 

 

New App : Monitor your kid’s computer use

gtd2min-iphone, off-free-iphone, off-iphone, vlc-free-iphone, vlc-iphone, vlc-streamer-free-iphone, vlc-streamer-iphone

My new app Watchover just went live.

Watchover lets you monitor what your kids are doing on their computers. It takes a screenshot every minute which you can browse from your iPhone iPad or iTouch.

You can also see what applications have been open, and when the computer has been running.

Just like watching your kids in the park, Watchover lets you keep an eye on them from a distance. So while the children are in their bedrooms, you can connect from your iPhone, iPod or iPad and view what they’ve been doing for the last few days – or see what is on their screens right now.

Watchover is available now in the appstore, and I’d love to hear your feedback.