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Using Apple Keynote Remote without wifi
So, as you know I kinda bagged a bit on Apple Keynote Remote the other day. I wasn’t happy with it, and said it was next to useless.
Well I decided I’d try it again, only this time I had a big problem – the venue that I’d be presenting in didn’t have wifi. As we know Keynote Remote ONLY works over wifi (why it doesn’t support Bluetooth is … well … actually a reflection on the CRAP implementation of Bluetooth on the iPhone), so what to do.
Allow me to introduce Ad-Hoc Networking. Most computers are able to create a “just for now” network, meaning your computer can make a small wifi network around it.
To do this on the Mac, click on the wifi icon in top bar and click create network.
Create Network to start creating an Ad-Hoc wifi network
A new window will pop up asking you to name your network and select a channel – you probably won’t have to change anything here.
Set up Ad-Hoc network
If you wish you can select create password – I didn’t bother today. Click okay and wait a moment while the computer sets up your network – you’ll know it’s done by the wifi icon changing to a solid gray with an arrow. At this point your Ad-Hoc (or as the Mac calls it Computer-to-Computer) network is setup and running.
On your iPhone, flip on wifi, and you should now see your Ad-Hoc network (in my case Mr K Laptop) in the wifi list. Select this (enter password if you set that up) and return to the home screen. Launch Keynote Remote and Keynote 09 on your Mac. Your iPhone should now see Keynote on the Mac & you can launch your presentation.
I was able to present – and there was no wifi present 
Summary
Last time I thought Keynote Remote was a bit of a joke – and I stand by that. Yes I managed to get it to work, but in a complicated way.
Flicking the screen to change slides, is still a bit hard to do – I found I had to keep looking at the iPhone & yes it can be to easy to skip a slide.
And yes I still think at $0.99 it’s too expensive – but now that I have it, I won’t delete it.
Oh and one more thing: this might have been because it was an Ad-Hoc network, but I noticed that the iPhone would (if you flipped through slides too fast) start polling the network & would do nothing until it finished – meaning I was caught at one stage waiting on the phone. Thankfully I’d finished and had raced back through the slides to address a question, so it wasn’t a big issue.
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12 Responses to “Using Apple Keynote Remote without wifi”
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Excellent. Great work around.
I tried it, but the keynote remote app gets stuck trying to make a connection after I set up the network. I can’t figure out how to get the Keynote remote to connect. I’m using Keynote 09 on a MacBook Pro – trying to connect to a Computer-to-Computer set up as above with no password. It lets me add the iPhone remote app with the PIN number and that resolves fine, but when it tries to connect to keynote I have no luck trying to connect.
hmm haven’t tried it with Keynote 09 sorry …
John,
i have tried on same pattern as you did, and it works perfectly.
Just one question: have you type iPhone ID in Keynote 09 Preferences beforehand?
Good luck
Typical of the Microsoftification of Apple, they sell you an app, then want $.99 for one feature to work.
Just like the crap that is Mobile Me, Apple once again displays a new found arrogance in place of a culture that built the brand.
Just like having no option but a high glare screen on all new computers, Apple is losing touch with it’s computer base just because it now sells iPods and iPhones. They need to take the word “Pro” off all those high-glare screen computers as no Pro will use those pieces of sh*t.
nice work….my wifi i use doesnt allow me to connect with my phone so i used your method and created a small network… but i was wondering if its possible to keep my computer connected to my wifi and still use the small network i created to connected for my phone at the same time???
At my university, creating an AD-HOC network threw the IT system into a tizzy. The IT folks sought me out and told me that RIGHT NOW my machine was being targeted with a high concentration of RF waves to CRIPPLE my ad-hoc network. They said this was perhaps the BIGGEST ‘no no’ I could do. You might want to check with your IT folks before using the adhoc option. A great idea that did not work at my university
THANX!
Works great.
One more thing
While testing my presentation I found out that it’d be clever to keep your iphone switched on all the time since the connection breaks otherwise.
In a professional presentation this is the worst nightmare! So please don’t forget adjusting your iPhone’s settings!
Cheers
Peter
PS I wonder when will there be a blank screen button?
Great work around and it also works with logitech remote mouse as well…so you can do more than just run Keynote.
Great stuff!!
@mdelcour misschien betje laat, maar ik wist dat er een oplossing voor was http://bit.ly/08iDfkT/
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Overigens: keynoteremote oplossing voor geen wifi: http://bit.ly/08iDfkT/
This comment was originally posted on Twitter