Category: Mote.io

Got some cool feedback on Mote.io today:

Hello, I just wanted to recommend making it so when you are on your phone you can better navigate what’s on your computer if you are not actually looking at your computer. I use it mostly to power pandora to listen to music over a PA system, and when i need to run it I just have to remember where all the buttons are without looking at the computer.

I actually work for a Minor League Baseball team, and I use this app to control pandora in our stadium so I don’t have to keep going all the way up to the press box to change the channel, skip, thumbs up or down. I would just recommend making it easier to switch stations from the app without being at the computer.

Support for 3 new sites

It’s been an exciting few weeks in the world of Mote.io. I recently open sourced the Google Chrome extension for the HackNYhackathon that happened at NYU on September 28th.

In just 24 hours, hackers at HackNY built remotes for Google Play, Plex, and TuneIn. After some code review and a couple pull requests, they were merged in and pushed live. Homebase has also been updated to reflect the newly supported sites.

If you’d like to fork the repository and take a stab at making a remote of your own, you can find the code on github here: https://github.com/ianjennings/mote.io-extension

Some words from the hackers themselves

I asked each of the hackers to tell me about their school, major, team, and what their experience working with the Mote.io API was like. It turns out it was a couple of their first hackathons!

I’m currently a sophomore as an ITI (Info Tech & Informatics) major at Rutgers but I’ve taken CS courses back in high school. HackNY was my first hackathon and I went just for the learning experience. My team consisted of me and a friend (Jon Wong – a junior at SIT (Stevens Institute) – ECE major) who also came along for the learning experience. I initially read a post somewhere a few weeks back stating that their friend created mote.io and would be at the hackathon. I didn’t think too much of the app at first but once we got to hackNY and I sat down to play around with it, I realized the potential this intuitively designed app had. Our initial goal was to write a remote to work with the Spotify web player (play.spotify.com) however, we couldn’t seem to get it to work and I just suggested that we write a remote for Tunein.

Your API was extremely easy to understand and utilize. After some digging through the source pages of tunein, we were able to determine which classes would seek the playback info and playback controls. It was relatively easy to program after crossing the initial threshold of understanding how everything worked. Definitely going to look to complete that Spotify remote soon.

Josh Sheng – TuneIn Radio Remote

I’m from Columbia University and worked on this with Nathan Bendich. With this being our first hackathon, we tried to build something simple that has some real world application and had a straightforward API to work from. Personally, I chose to create a remote for Google Play as it is my primary music player. The two main scenarios I had in mind for the remote were

a) Studying/reading on my bed while my computer was playing music at my desk and b) Having my computer connected to speakers at some kind of large gathering and being able to control it from across the room.

It was definitely an interesting project, as we had no experience with js or jquery, but we were able to pick up enough based on the pre-existing remotes and limited experience with css selectors. The main issue we had trouble with was having the first song play automatically, as there was no button bound to select a song. We got some much needed last-minute help from Jesse from Clef with a workaround there.

Phillip Godzin – Google Play Remote

We, Shivam Mevawala and Sameer Chauhan, are senior electrical engineering students at the Cooper Union as well as roommates. We recently bought a Google Chromecast and plugged it in to the living room television. We have a Plex Media Server set up on a computer and are able to stream it to the television, but we had no way to control it without waking back to the computer, which was in another room. That’s when we decided to make a Plex remote for Mote.io.

Shivam Mevawala – Plex Remote

Find Mote.io at Music Hack Day NYC

I’ll be presenting the Mote.io API at Music Hack Day NYC tomorrow. This is your chance to make a remote for your favorite music site with help from me personally.

After a long weekend of filming last week, I have finally finished the Mote.io launch video.

This 40 second short only took me a weekend of filming and editing. I purchased music and voiceovers, and threw the whole thing together in iMovie. Another blog post about making the video to come later.

We’ve come a long way from the first video demo I released in February 2012 when I first claimed “Mote.io will be available in app stores soon.”

Mote.io will be available in the app store soon! 

Get Mote.io for Android

Hackathon hackers have brought you two new remotes for two great sites, Last.fm and Twitch.tv. That brings us to a total of 12 Mote.io remotes – DOUBLE the number of remotes the app launched with in September.

If you’re not keeping track at home, Mote.io now supports Youtube, Hype Machine, Vimeo, Pandora, Rdio, SoundCloud, Grooveshark, Plex, TuneIn Radio, Google Play , Twitch.tv, and Last.fm! Woo!

You can get a hold of the new remotes by updating your Chrome extension:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/moteio/okkhbojknlfdoooeghbkplihbjajpecc

The new kids: Last.fm & Twitch.tv

The Last.fm remote lets you take control of streaming radio stations while the Twtich remote gives you a full couch mode experience of all the video game streams Twitch.tv has to offer.

Thanks to the awesome organizers at HackRU and Music Hack Day NYC, I was given the opportunity to present the Mote.io API at their events. Awesome hackers from each event spent the weekend building remotes for their favorite sites.

Want Mote.io at your next hackathon? Send me an email at [email protected]

Here’s what the Twitch.tv and Last.fm hackers had to say about developing for Mote.io:

Bryant Satterfield – Twitch.tv Remote

I remember I was in the Cave here at Rutgers browsing HN went I discovered Mote.io. After checking it out, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to create a Twitch remote. I watch Twitch a lot and I figured others might find a use for it too. I talked to Vaibhav, who also had the same idea and we decided to collaborate. Our first attempt at the remote was at HackNY where I finished the main menu functionality, but nothing else as I wasted too much time watching Twitch. At HackRU, I met someone who also had the idea to do Twitch remote, Sam Sheikh. I took him on for finishing the project and helping cleaning up the old functionality. It was a very quick process and we finished the first complete version with all the necessary features. Working with Mote.io is very straightforward and thats why I like working with it. I plan to work on a remote for the Spotify Web Player soon. I started a couple of weeks ago, but haven’t had much time to work on it recently.

James Scott – Last.fm Remote

Hey. I added the remote during Music Hack Day in New York. I’m on the Last.fm webteam and thought that with the adding of video content to the Last.fm player coming up, a remote control would be the perfect compliment to the experience. Other stuff I’ve built includes the lastfm node library and boxsocialfm.com (the best domain name in the business).

Some other great news!

Before working on Mote.io I created a website called Hacker League (http://hackerleague.org) with some friends from school. We were in our senior year of college at Rutgers and hackathons were just taking off. We weren’t going to miss a single one.

We noticed that every event was using a different website for announcements, registration, and hack submission. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a site that did all of that especially for hackathons?

We launched the first version of the site at the Fall HackNY Hackathon in 2011. Just two years later Hacker League has powered hundreds of events.

Today I’m excited to announce that the company has sold to Intel.

Hacker League will operate under the Mashery brand. Mashery has been a huge supporter of the hackathon community for years and we don’t believe Hacker League could have gone to a better company.

You can read more about the acquisition here:

• http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/12/03/intel-embraces-hackathons-with-acquisition/
• http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/12/03/intels-mashery-acquires-hackathon-management-platform-hacker-league/
• http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/03/hacker-league-mashery-intel/

Thanks

I’m ecstatic that developers take their time to build remotes for Mote.io. That the hackathon community supports Hacker League. That you’re on the other end of this mailing list.

The only way to turn these projects from code into a community is with your support. I’m glad to have it.

Thanks, Ian

Mote.io now supports YouTube

YouTube was the number one requested site that Mote.io users wanted supported. It was difficult to imagine how Mote.io could work with the classic YouTube.com experience. In order to do it right, I had to write a custom web app.

The site can be found here:
http://moteioyoutube-9226.onmodulus.net/

Mote.io now supports Google Drive Presentations

I thought it would be awesome if I could demo Mote.io at HackNY this year using Mote.io (more on this soon). So I built a small remote to page through slides on a Google drive presentation.

It’s still a little rough, but you can find directions about how to control a Google drive presentation here:
https://mote.io/google-drive

Mote.io app update

An app update was released a few days ago that bring some awesome upgrades to Mote.io. The first thing you’ll notice is a new app icon.

Along with the new icon are some updates to the theme. The app will also now automatically sync if you have your credentials save, so you don’t have to tap the “login” button every time.

You may have also noticed that the launch video shows remotes with Twitter and Facebook icons, but that feature never appeared in the app store version.

I’m glad to say it’s back. You can now share what you’re currently listening to on Facebook and Twitter with many of the remotes.

Really cool stuff is on the way

I’m really excited for my next blog post. Some really cool stuff came out of HackNY, but there is still lots of work to be done so I can’t talk about it just yet. Stay tuned!

Mote.io is a mobile app that lets you control websites like Pandora, SoundCloud, Grooveshark, Rdio, Vimeo, Hype Machine and more with your phone. 

Be lazy! Control the music while walking around the house, in bed, or sit back and watch some Vimeo videos on the couch.

After more than a year of development, Mote.io is finally available in the App and Google Play stores.

Get Mote.io for iPhone:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mote.io/id686305047?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 

Get Mote.io for Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ianjennings.mote_io

Mote.io requires a Google Chrome extension to work.

Six sites supported out of the box!

• Hype Machine: Play, Pause, Previous, Next, Favorite, Now Playing, Navigate, Search
• Vimeo: Play, Pause, Previous, Scrub, Info, Favorite, Now Playing
• Pandora: Play, Pause, Thumb Up, Thumb Down, Next, Now Playing
• Rdio: Play, Pause, Previous, Next, Shuffle, Now Playing
• SoundCloud: Play, Pause, Previous, Next, Favorite, Now Playing, Next Genre, Previous Genre, Navigate, Search
• Grooveshark: Play, Pause, Previous, Next, Now Playing, Search

More Remotes to Come

These six sites are just the beginning. There are more than a dozen additional sites Mote.io will support in the future.
 
Have a site you want to see supported? Own a website you want supported?
Tweet at me: @sw1tch or let me know at http://mote.io/community 

Developer? Build Mote.io support for a site yourself. The Chrome extension will be open source soon.

Site Redesign, FAQ, and Blog!

The Mote.io website has undergone a heavy redesign. Check out the new homepage and FAQ.
 
https://mote.io
https://mote.io/faq
 
I’ve also started blogging about Mote.io news and development here:
https://sw1tch.com

A Labor of Love

People have called Mote.io everything from a pet project to a start-up. They want to know how big the team is and where they can find our office. The truth is I’ve been working on Mote.io alone in my apartment in my spare time.

I built the first prototype of Mote.io because I wanted to be able to favorite tracks on Hype Machine while having a drink with friends. The feeling when I first got everything working (even if the remote was just a gray checkerboard) was amazing.

I spent the last year trying to package that feeling up and bring it to you. I hope you feel the same way when you sync your phone for the first time.

Thanks!

It would not have been possible to get to this point without the support from my family and friends, as well as the thousands and thousands of open source contributors who built the foundation that powers Mote.io.  

Standing on the shoulders of giants,
Ian

Just sent this email out to all the users signed up for the Mote.io beta!

Sign up here:
https://mote.io/register

Thanks for being a part of the Mote.io beta

Mote.io is an app that turns your phone into a remote control for websites. You’re on this list because you signed up for the Mote.io beta. Learn more at https://mote.io.

Developer talk

I’ll be giving a talk about Mote.io, the technology stack behind it, and some interesting problems I came across while developing. The event is tomorrow May 1st, 7pm at Pivotal Labs in NYC.

http://stackuptalks.com/dev/

“A StackUp is an event where technology, design and sales leads of a pre-screened set of companies show off what they do and how they do it – from a tech point of view.”

Things I’m talking about

• Mote.io
• Nodejs
• Websockets and Socket.io
• Phonegap
• Ripple Emulator
• Chrome Extensions
• Front End APIs
• And much more, including a demo of the new Vimeo, Pandora, Hype Machine, and Rdio remotes

Other speakers

• Paul Degnan, Marvel
• Dave Stein, Behance
• David Huerta, Brooklyn Museum
• Daniel Doubrovkine, Artsy

RSVP

Only 21 hours and 25 minutes left to RSVP! Devs only!

http://stackuptalks.com/dev/

Talk to me

Let’s get coffee. Or breakfast tacos. Or chicken and waffles.

http://twitter.com/sw1tch

[email protected]