Movie Remote Kids App Reviews

I was hoping this Movie Remote Kids (MRK) would be the answer to my wishes: an app that would allow me to control my iPad 2 video (running ios 4.3) in the back seat using my iPhone 4 (running verizon iOS 4.2.8) in the front seat. Unfortunately, this app is not good enough for my needs, but it is only $3 and it may be good enough for others so please see below for my full thoughts. Pros: using bluetooth, the iPhone easily syncd to my iPad without any effort on my part. The iPhone also easily controlled the player on my iPad. You can also minimize the controller app and do other things with your phone, and the player app on the ipad keeps going with no problems. And when you pull the controller app back up on your phone it connects right back in without a hitch. Another pro is that while MKR doesnt list mv4 files as compatible, it controlled them very well. It was very smooth, and at this point I thought I had found exactly what I was looking for. But unfortunately there are a few cons that outweigh the pros for me. Known cons: Have to use your computer and manually add your movies to the MRK program. These files are not accessible from the built in iOS videos app and conversely the videos in your regular iOS videos app are not accessible to the MRK app. This is an unfortunate apple imposed limitation for which nothing can be done. Another known con is that you cant control the video from the player - only the controller. In other words, if you want to pause what is on the iPad you cant do it with the iPad - you have to use your phone. I understand this is to keep kids from messing with it, but it would be nice to enable the option. Previously Unknown Cons: when I pair my iPad to my Toyota Sienna 2011 stock radio via Bluetooth and am playing the video file through MRK , the sound will intermittently drop out at irregular intervals for less than a second. Also, the controller will sometimes not respond. Again, this happens only when playing in my Sienna, never when just the iPad and iPhone are using the Bluetooth. But the bigger con is that whenever you minimize (hit the home button) on your player on the iPad, when you pull MKR back up it doesnt remember your spot in the movie! It starts back over. You can minimize the controller on your phone without problems, but the minute you minimize the player you have lost your spot. Luckily the scrubber is pretty easy to use. Another con is that if you attach your iPad to your tv via the apple hdmi cable, when you play back your movies in MKR they dont play full screen like the native video app does. You instead get only the size that the video is encoded in (which is usually much smaller than 1080p; such as 720p or less depending on how you encoded them) and so you get little movies inside a big black box (like running iphone apps on an iPad). Misc thoughts: hitting all four corners to reset the player is not intuitive. If you accidentally set up your iPad as a controller rather than a player, many folks will not know how to ever switch it to the correct setting of being a player. Also, this was something that wouldnt affect many, but if you install the controller app on two separate phones and the player app on one iPad, the controller from either phone will work just fine. But dont try to use both controller apps at once - it will cause some confusion to the program :) In summary: app seems to be great if youre not feeding your audio through Bluetooth, and if you dont mind that it doesnt fill the screen using the hdmi connector (I know widescreen isnt supposed to fill it vertically, but this doesnt fill it vertically or horizontally if it is encoded below 1080p). Maybe Bluetooth audio will work on your system, but it didnt on my 2011 Sienna. To the developer - good job, hope to try it again after a revision or two.

The app cannot find videos in the "videos" app of the iPad (where they go by default when downloading from iTunes). Makes it pretty much useless for me.

Just purchased this app, and Ive not found any documentation - on the app, on iTunes, or on their website as to how to use it. Ive installed it on my iPhone and iPad, with the intention of using my iPhone to control videos on my iPad; both instances of the app acknowledge that they are communicating, but theres no list of videos, nor any mechanism that Ive found (setup/etc) that would allow me to indicate where my videos are located, nor any method for adding videos to the app. In other words, I just paid for an app that doesnt appear to do anything.

This is a wonderful app for those of us who having been seeking for a remote app for video to use with our iPads! And best of all, I have to give five stars to the EXCELLENT TECH SUPPORT the developers are providing for this app. My sincerest appreciation and gratitude!!!

This app does exactly what it says on the tin. Im able to load my sons shows using the data sharing feature of iTunes (not ideal, but blame apple, not the developer of this app) and then Im able to control the playback of the show on my iPad in the back seat with my phone in the front seat. Perfect solution for the 3 hour car ride with a 15-month-old tomorrow. Thank you for helping me keep my sanity!

The app is great and does everything they said it would. The huge problem is if you hook your iPad to the tv with the hdmi connector it plays on the tv very small. The native video app makes the video fill the tv screen. This app makes it look like an iPhone app on an iPad. A video inside a black box. I hate this and makes the app a waist of 3 bucks for me. If this is fixed then its perfect..

I downloaded this app after seeing a link to it in a forum trying to find a way to control an iPad from an iPhone. The company posted they created this app specifically for this purpose. However, once I downloaded it and went to help on my iPhone (player) it said that it cant support iTunes protected movies. So it did not do what I was looking for. If the product could control movies that are purchased through iTunes, I think it would be perfect.

The app works perfectly as described. It is a shame that people dont read descriptions, buy apps, and then complain because they were too lazy or feeble minded to read before they purchased. This is a great app - and, no, I am not a friend of the developers - just tired of ignorant people rating apps based on their personal inadequacies and not the merits of the apps.

Worked as they claimed. I had one small problem in setting it up, but support got back to me immediately and resolved the problem. The problem was a corrupted install on my iPad and a delete and reinstall fixed the problem. Unique App seems to be open to suggestions for new features to be added in the future.

Solid app, works as described (people do need to check the issues before purchasing, but those are all Apple caused, so its not the developers fault). I do want to highlight that there is away to control the video from the Player side: swipe right then left-there is a startup note when you set the device to be the player. So its useful just to keep kids who like to poke at the screen or dont quite get the "hold it by the edges" concept yet.

This is a great app for parents on the road with their kids! I purchased an iPad headrest mount for my truck, and am able to control it from the front of the truck. Loading movies is easy, though would be better if this app could access the movies "synced" with my iPad, but that isnt an issue of the developer. I do have a few of suggestions that will get this app 5 stars - I have recently purchased a Seagate Satellite Go-Flex WiFi hard drive which is designed to work with the iPad and store hundreds of movies. I would love to see this app provide support of movies loaded on that! This would eliminate the issue of space on the iPad - Multiple remotes and iPad compatibility. I currently have 3 iPhones and 1 iPad. I would love to be able to switch between remotes and control devices (1 iPhone controls and iPad and 2 iPhones) or (2 iPhones control 1 iPad) - Movie Art display. The user interface is great, but the movies show up by name only and from an iPhone, not always easy to select while on the road. It would be great if you could allow the movie art to show and select by art. - The ability to stop a movie once you have begun playing it while controlling the app directly from the playing device. I think this may be a bug, but I selected a movie right from the playing device (iPad 2) and the playback feature worked great however, when I went to stop the movie, no dice. I had to shut down the app.

Sure-its not 100% perfect for every user but it does what I need. I can now have my iPad playing in the backseat of my car and control via my iPhone in the front! Thank you! The only thing I would love is if all the videos in the list would play automatically one after the other. I have to start new videos everytime one ends... Its easy to do, just wish I didnt have to.

I learned of this app on an iPad forum on which the developer posted that this was created exactly for what I wante it for...to control my iPad movies with my iPhone in the car. As it turns out, it cannot control iTune movies. What a waste! It does not say that on lay term on the app store page. $2.99 down the drain bc I only use movies purchased on iTunes.

Does exactly what it says! Great for driving with a toddler in the back watching a iPad! I loaded a video via iTunes and it appeared on the remote device and I was able to play and control it. I just which volume control did not freeze the app. Well worth $3 for any parent!

Waste of $. Will not play movies you buy on iTunes!! Will not work!! I hope this helps you not to buy!

Works exactly as described. Love it. Just wish Apple allowed playback from video library. Hope that changes...

I never understand people who dont bother to read the description of an app, download it, and then get upset because of some imagined flaw in the app that surprised them even though its i the description! Case in point - this app. Its awesome. It does exactly what I need it to do, which is allow remote control of movies I copy to this app in iTunes. I am not upset or surprised that it wont play movies downloaded with iTunes. Why not? Maybe because I read the description and it says clear as day that it will not play DRM material, including iTunes movies. To blast an app and give one star because it doesnt do something that the developers are telling you upfront it doesnt do is just stupid, and an abuse of the review system. That said, Im giving this app five stars because it does everything the description says it can do, and it does it well. What would make it even better? Add playback for .avi files, that would be very helpful. And I dont know of this is possible, but it would be nice if the auto-shutdown of the iPad would kick in if no movie is playing. On long trips my daughter watches movies in the car and she usually falls asleep at some point. Even if I stop the movie playback the iPad wont turn itself off. Those features would make a great app even better.

Way too much trouble to setup and frequently disconnects.

Bought this for a road trip but none of our DRM free movies have sound. Everything else works as expected. Ive tested the movies in iTunes, FLV player, on Mac, on Windows media player and all had sound. The iPad plays the movies fine when not loaded in the app. But once in the player, they go silent (and I triple checked AirPlay etc).

Dear people IT DOES NOT SUPPORT DRM. Therefore you have to load the movies from iTunes in to THE APP itself. The iTunes content is protected and will not be played. Otherwise works flawlessly. Play, pause, volume, etc..... It works on wifi or Bluetooth.