iPhone as a Touchpad

Published on January 9, 2009

I always wanted to use my iPhone/iPod Touch as my MacBook’s touchpad, but did not attempt to setup one despite knowing about such apps since iPhone 1.x apps days.

But I felt my wrist pretty aching this morning, and decided to make better use of my iPhone, once again. I downloaded RemotePad, which is free. There are other paid apps such as WiFi Touchpad and Touchpad Elite.

After running the app, I realized that I need to download a server for my Mac for it to work. The full instructions can be found on their website. After downloading the RemotePad Server and running it on my Mac, I tried again.

The Bonjour connection between Mac and iPhone did not work well. I tried a few times before my Mac appears in the iPhone’s list of servers. If anyone experienced the same problem, try running the app first, then the server.

But when the connection is established, the experience is good (but many improvements are possible). I am happy as long as I get to control my Mac with my hands under the table! This is an anti-RSI app!