Rowmote is an iPhone/iPod touch application that mimics the operation of the Apple Remote, complete with Plus, Minus, Back, Forward, Play/Pause, and Menu buttons. It works in tandem with the free , which you install on your Mac. Once that application is installed it's automatically added to your account's list of login applications so that it's ready to do your iPhone or iPod touch's bidding even after you've restarted your Mac.
What makes Rowmote particularly special--other than that you don't need line-of-sight access or you computer because it works over Wi-Fi--is that it supports far more applications than Apple's hardware Remote Control. The list of supported applications includes Front Row, Boxee, DVD Player, EyeTV, Finder, iTunes, iTunes Visualizer, iPhoto, Keynote, PowerPoint, QuickTime, Plex, Skim, Spotify, VLC, Airfoil Video Player, PandoraJam, XBMC, and Last.fm. You choose an application by tapping an Applications button at the bottom of the screen. A Settings button to the left of that Applications button lets you choose the computer you want to control (you can control as many computers as have Rowmote Helper running on them).
When you choose most applications, those applications will launch on your Mac (I say because Rowmote wouldn't launch PowerPoint on my MacBook Pro). Once they're launched, you can control some or all of their functions, depending on the kind of application you're working with. Regrettably, you can't also quit an application with Rowmote unless the application has a specific quit command available via arrow-key navigation (as is the case with some media center applications).
Speaking of media center applications, Rowmote is great with Front Row, , , and , each of which is normally controlled with a keyboard's Arrow, Return/Enter, and Escape keys. For this reason, it's a useful tool for something like a .
Rowmote is less functional with applications such as iTunes, where you need greater control. For instance, although you can start and stop iTunes playback as well as adjust volume within iTunes, you can't use Rowmote to navigate to another playlist or a different kind of media. Also, as with Apple's hardware Remote Control, there's no visual feedback within Rowmote to indicate what's taking place on your Mac. If you want to navigate your iTunes library in this way, you're better off with ( Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice .)