This is neat: Mote.io, a new mobile-app-meets-Chrome-extension combination that turns your Android or iOS phone into a remote control for online video and audio streaming services. The app currently supports remote controls for Pandora, Vimeo, Soundcloud, Hypemachine, Rdio and Grooveshark, but Mote.io programmer Ian Jennings told me that he wants to add support for Spotify, Google Play Music, Slide Share and other sites over the coming weeks.
Here’s how Mote.io works: Users have to install a Chrome extension on their computer as well as an app on their phone and register for an account on Mote.io. After that, they just need to be logged in on both devices — and Mote.io automatically launches into remote control mode. Check out this video for a quick demo:
Asked about the motivation behind creating Mote.io, Jennings sent me this comment via email:
“I created the app because I’ve always been a huge Hype Machine listener and I wanted a way to control the music while I was playing Settlers of Catan with my friends in college. I prototyped the first version in a weekend and then realized that what I built could be used to control other sites too. It took me another year to work out a protocol, package everything into a mobile app, build the website, and make the video.”
He added that he plans to open source the code behind Mote.io later this week to allow others to build their own remote controls as well.
I played a bit with Mote.io this afternoon and found it a fun way to control your music, and actually a great companion to Google’s Chromecast. However, I suspect that many of these services will over time add native multiscreen features to their web apps, much like Rdio has already done.
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