Tip of the Week: This App Allows Your Phone and Computer to Work Together

Think about how many of your electronics have a remote. Isn’t it odd that your desktop (arguably your primary device) lacks a remote? Well, if you’ve got a smartphone, then you can easily turn it into a remote for your computer!

You can accomplish this trick easily enough by downloading a free app called Unified Remote, available on all major mobile platforms and compatible with all major operating systems.

Before we show you how to do this, let’s explore a few scenarios where this would come in handy.

• You're showing a slideshow and wish to enhance your presentation by walking around the room, away from your keyboard.
• You’re listening to music or watching a movie on your PC and wish to adjust the volume without getting up.
• You’re not at your PC but need to find a file.
• You’re experiencing issues with your PC’s mouse or keyboard.

The possibilities go on, limited only by your ability to think of clever ways to utilize this tool.

To get started, you’ll want to download the mobile app onto your phone from one of these app stores:

• Google Play
• Apple Store
• Windows Phone Store ($3.99)
• Galaxy App Store

With the app on your mobile device, you’ll next want to go to the Unified Remote website on your PC. On the front page, you will see a Download button. Click it, then click the Latest Server button on the next page, and then install the software.

Once installed, you should be all set and your smartphone and PC will start communicating via your wireless Internet connection, giving you complete control of your PC on your smartphone.

The advantage of using the Unified Remote is that it’s more than remote software that displays your desktop on your phone. After all, shrinking your desktop down to such a small screen wouldn’t be all that user friendly, and would end up negating the usefulness of the app. To improve functionality, Unified Remote has specifically built remotes for popular apps, like iTunes, VLC Media Play, Spotify, YouTube, and 90+ more.

Can you think of ways this app will come in handy? Are you going to try it out for yourself? Let us know in the comments!