[lh99]

What: SignalClient is a web browser made specifically for Ambrosia's Signal, a pretty cool iPhone-compatible iTunes remote control. The idea is based on the OS X concept of site-specific web browsers, Fluid, for example.

Why: Since Signal has a web app interface for the iPhone, you would normally have to use Safari to access it. That means you need to navigate to it, use a bookmark to find it, locate it in your already open pages, or use one of the Native Apps out there to launch it from Springboard. The last option seems like a great solution, but once you start using it, a major flaw becomes evident -- every time you use the launcher, a new Safari window is opened to load the site whether or not it was already open in the first place. Since Signal does not need an address bar, navigation bar, etc., why not open it in its own app and leave Safari alone?

This is exactly what SignalClient does. It's an application that opens Signal on your iPhone, not by launching Safari, but by opening the page within itself (like Installer.app does for the More Info pages).



How (to use): I am assuming that you're on a Mac for these directions, Windows users, you're on your own.

1. Download and extract SignalClient_0.1.zip (see attachments below).

2. You'll need to edit url.txt to match the IP address of the computer you're running Signal on. To do this, right click on SignalClient.app and select "Show Package Contents". Double click on url.txt, edit it appropriately, then save it.

3. Now load SignalClient.app onto your iPhone in the usual way. Make sure that the permissions are set correctly.

Sorry, it's not on Installer.

It should work fine from this point, but you'll notice some black space at the bottom of the screen (where the Signal expects Safari's navigation bar to be). I found an easy way to fix this, however. It just requires patching Signal's CSS for the iPhone:

Open a Terminal window (on your Mac, not the iPhone). Type the following commands:

cd Downloads/SignalClient_0.1/ [or whatever directory you unpacked the SignalClient ZIP file into]

cp iphone.css.patch /Applications/Signal.app/Contents/Resources/web/iphone/

cd /Applications/Signal.app/Contents/Resources/web/iphone/

patch -b < iphone.css.patch

You should be all set. Reopen SignalClient if necessary to see the changes. If you want to revert to the Safari settings, the patch command saved a backup in the same directory.

Notes: I can't really take credit for this app, it's just a cobbling together of some demo apps from kbdallas and Erica. The icon is just the Mac version of Signal's icon pasted on top of the MobileTerminal icon.

Search does not work due to an issue with the keyboard implementation.

Although I tested it specifically for Signal, there's not really anything too Signal specific about it. You could change the URL to any other frequently used site that does not require navigation bars. There's nothing to say that navigation bars couldn't be added (the code actually has the basis for navigation built in, it's just commented out). I've also included the source code below so you can make it into whatever you want....

This software is provided with NO warranty or anything else.

[Broomhead]

nice work Going to try it now

[DaveiPhone]

This is a fantastic little hack, thank you. It works perfectly and makes Signal even better! Once the author of Signal adds Airport Express Speaker switching, I'll be in music remote heaven. Remote Buddy can do that, but I vastly prefer Signal for controlling iTunes.

BTW, this technique works great for Remote Buddy as well, but it has the same issue in leaving a gap at the bottom of the screen. Any css wizards who can fix that?

[ajl917]

I'm not exactly sure what this, but does it work with Windows? If I does, I'll give it a try asap.

[lh99]

Originally Posted by DaveiPhone

This is a fantastic little hack, thank you. It works perfectly and makes Signal even better! Once the author of Signal adds Airport Express Speaker switching, I'll be in music remote heaven. Remote Buddy can do that, but I vastly prefer Signal for controlling iTunes.

BTW, this technique works great for Remote Buddy as well, but it has the same issue in leaving a gap at the bottom of the screen. Any css wizards who can fix that?

Yeah, Signal is somewhat limited because it doesn't allow you switch Airport speakers. Is he working on adding that? Updates have been pretty scarce lately. Remote Buddy has some interesting features, but the iTunes controller interface is a little quirky; I prefer Signal as well.

I took a quick look at Remote Buddy, and sure enough, it has a similar CSS file that should allow you to change the heights to fill in the extra space. The file isn't as well commented as Signal's, but it looks fairly straightforward. In Signal, I basically changed any height tag that was 416 to 460 (the navigation bar is 44 pixels). I moved the buttons around and resized the bottom bar a bit too, but just by experimentation.

Originally Posted by ajl917

I'm not exactly sure what this, but does it work with Windows? If I does, I'll give it a try asap.

Yes, there is a Windows version of Signal, and this app should work perfectly with it.

If you want to fix the "black space at the bottom of the screen" issue, you'll need to modify or patch the CSS as described in my original post. The procedure should be similar, but I don't know where the CSS file resides in the Windows installation of Signal or how to use "patch" on anything but OS X. I'm sure someone with more experience can provide some better guidance, though.

[DaveiPhone]

Originally Posted by lh99

Yeah, Signal is somewhat limited because it doesn't allow you switch Airport speakers. Is he working on adding that? Updates have been pretty scarce lately. Remote Buddy has some interesting features, but the iTunes controller interface is a little quirky; I prefer Signal as well.

I took a quick look at Remote Buddy, and sure enough, it has a similar CSS file that should allow you to change the heights to fill in the extra space. The file isn't as well commented as Signal's, but it looks fairly straightforward. In Signal, I basically changed any height tag that was 416 to 460 (the navigation bar is 44 pixels). I moved the buttons around and resized the bottom bar a bit too, but just by experimentation.

Thanks, I think that's enough info for me to hack the CSS on Remote Buddy.

The author of Signal has promised that the next version will include Airport Express speaker switching. For now, I just use Remote Buddy when I need that feature, but it will be great to have it in Signal as it's a far more streamlined iTunes controller.

Thanks again.

[at004]

how can u fix the keyboard issue as it is not appearing...it is behind the browser

[DaveiPhone]

Originally Posted by at004

how can u fix the keyboard issue as it is not appearing...it is behind the browser

As far as I know, you can't. But since that's a feature I rarely use, I don't care. When I do need it (which is only to do a search), I just use a regular Safari bookmark to launch it, which allows the keyboard to work.

Normally I just use Signal to pick a playlist, put it on Shuffle, adjust the volume, pause, and skip songs I don't feel like hearing. All those functions work fine with this hack and it's so much cleaner.

[lh99]

There is a fix. I tried it the last time I compiled this, but it did not seem to work. I haven't had much motivation to work on it since I also don't use the search feature. I do plan to get it taken care of eventually, but had sort of hoped that a more experienced programmer would pick this up and run with it.

[at004]

could u share the fix so i would try it and give u guys a feedback .thanks

[lh99]

See reply from Stock Mopar here:

http://idevdocs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=233&page=2

[at004]

any keyboard fix...i really need a site specific browser