iPod Touch/iPhone as a Wireless Mouse with Snatch
While trolling for stylish and useful apps on the App Store this morning, I ran across several different takes on using the iPod Touch or iPhone as a mouse. Being somewhat skeptical and strapped for cash, I chose to try out the free version of “Snatch” from Hoofien. Now, the general idea behind any of these applications is using your portable device to control your computer. In the weeks following the OS 2 update I found myself trying out VNC Mocha Lite-a remote, well, VNC client. MochaLite, though, tried to display the whole of my MBP desktop on the 3.5 inch iPod Touch screen, which was not what I needed. What I wanted to do with it was control my MacBook. I didn’t necessarily want to be in the othe room, just away from it. There’s really not a good way to display the whole thing on that screen, and if I really wanted to bring it with me, I’d bring it with me. That’s why it’s called a ‘laptop’. But I digress. What SnatchTest and other mouse applications allow me to do is take remote control of my cursor in a touchpad like manner.
Basics
SnatchTest is very rudimentary. Basically, all I can do is move my cursor around and click. If I want to right click, I can option-click, but other than that, my only other ability is to hold down the “button” and drag stuff around, like I would on the normal touchpad. What I would like to do with it is scroll and right click, and I think I would be set. However, there’s no in between Snatch Test and full out Snatch (link opens iTunes). According to the App store, Snatch offers the ability to right click, a scroll mode, a complete keyboard, and a customizable set of screens to allow you to set your own shorcuts. The full version also supports zooming (as in multi-touch). I would like to see swiping available to it, as it’s a huge part of my Firefox workflow, thanks to Multi-Clutch.
Fake Physics Get in the Way
One of the biggest problems with the iPhone as a mouse is that it’s not a touchpad. The screen interacts with a certain amount of “physics” built in. Especially obnoxious is when I move my finger, then stop, and the cursor keeps on moving-just as if you were scrolling through a list or panning around a picture. This requires me to course-correct and takes much longer than is practical. Edit: By tapping on the “tracking” section in the lower left hand corner, you have the option to a) relocate the button, b) turn off “intertia”, c) adjust the speed and friction of the cursor. This ability really makes the app worthwhile: it’s essentially a fully functioning MacBook touchpad (before multi-touch). Of course, you’re also not going to want to use it as a fine-tuning device, as it is still in essence a touchpad-the novelty comes from the fact that it’s wireless (and has a pretty significant range as it’s Wi-Fi based) and runs on your iPod, which you’re likely to have near your Mac already, perfect if you just need to launch iTunes so you can use your regular Apple Remote, but you don’t want to get off the couch.
Wireless but a Little Sleepy
Snatch uses a server client on the computer proper to interface (much like FileMagnet required a desktop client), which 
is annoying to some extent (everyone likes zero-config) but it’s not hard to understand, although unpolished. You set up a server client side then connect to it on your iPhone/iPod Touch much the same as you would to connect to the standard WiFi. Once connected, if the iPhone goes to sleep, you will have to wait for it to reconnect. This can be a hassle if you’re looking to use the mouse often. The menu icon for the desktop app will gray out to let you know that you’re not connected, but only if you enable the icon in the Menu Bar. Reconnecting doesn’t take too long but just long enough to break the workflow. You may want to disable the auto-lock feature on your device if you’re looking to use Snatch for extended periods of time (although I don’t think that’s super necessary, if you’re using it, it won’t go to sleep. If you’re not, you won’t mind reconnecting). It’d be nice if the app could do this automatically, and then reset when you close out, but I’m not sure what access to the system settings is like when using an app such as this.
You’ll want to watch your battery life though, because the familiar status bar at the top of your iPhone is noticeable absent from the Snatch UI. Those kind of updates are very important to me, especially to let me know that my WiFi is on (so I’m not yelling at the Snatch server screen) that my battery is charged, and what time it is (unusual but useful information to have on a mouse). The screen itself uses up most of the space with the touch pad (for good reason) and if you rotate your iPhone/iPod Touch, the touchpad orients along with it, providing a wider area to utilize. I’d also appreciate scrolling and right click functionality, but they have to turn a profit somehow, I suppose.
You can use Snatch with your home WiFi network or an ad-hoc setup as necessary, and there was no lag for me. You may want to think twice about ditching your G5 for Snatch, but as a simple remote control and at a tenth the price, it’s worth checking out.
Bonus: you can now move your touchpad around so that you’re not always putting your arm on it while you type. Then, when you’re ready to use it, it’s back in the game.
Snatch is $5.99 from the Apple App Store.
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