It's no surprise that Apple's Remote application headed up the App Store's list of Top Free Apps immediately after the iPhone application store launched. After installing Remote on an iPhone or iPod touch, the portable's touchscreen becomes the best remote control I've yet seen for controlling an Apple TV--or iTunes running on a computer--located on the same local network. (Your iPhone or iPod touch must be connected to that network via WiFi.)

When you first launch the Remote application on your iPhone or iPod touch, you need to complete a one-time pairing procedure in order to choose which iPhone or iPod touch controls which Apple TV or which copy of iTunes. In the Remote program, you tap on Add Library, which displays a four-digit passcode on the screen. Then you select your iPhone or iPod touch on the Apple TV's new Remotes screen (in Settings -> General), or in iTunes' Devices list, and enter the passcode. You have to perform this simple procedure only once for each device with which you want to pair; launching the Remote program in the future automatically connects the iPhone or iPod touch to your Apple TV or to iTunes as long as you're connected to the local WiFi network. (When you first connect to a source device--Apple TV or iTunes--there's sometimes a few-second delay while Remote retrieves the library contents.) You can even pair with multiple devices and then choose which you want to control when you launch Remote.

When controlling an Apple TV or iTunes using Remote, your iPhone or iPod touch's screen looks much like the mobile version of iTunes. At the bottom of the screen are Playlist, Artists, Albums, Search, and More buttons; the latter displays a screen with Audiobooks, Composers, Genres, Movies, Music Videos, Podcasts, Songs, and TV Shows--you actually get more options here than you do in mobile iTunes.

After choosing a category, you browse your iTunes or Apple TV library just as if you were browsing the media contents of your iPhone or iPod touch--by flicking your finger up or down and tapping to make a selection. You get an alphabetical index down the right-hand side of the screen, and you see album art and poster frames when viewing album and video listings, respectively. Choosing an album, track, podcast, or video begins playback; cover art is displayed on a Now Playing screen, just as if you were listening to audio on the iPod or iPod touch. You can even rate tracks when using Remote with iTunes.

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