Some time ago I set my home up with a couple of Airport Express units. These enable the wireless transfer of music from iTunes on my Mac computer to another room where the Airport Express is plugged into a stereo. This provides a nice seamless experience as you move from one room to another, with the audio from several different stereos all in sync.

With the popular Remote app for iPhone, it is also possible to control iTunes directly from the phone. All the features you need are there, such as the ability to search, browse by artists and of course play, pause, and navigate from one track to the next.

However, the luxury of controlling iTunes from your phone is only possible if iTunes itself is already open on your computer. A real hassle if you're relaxing in another room and get the urge to put some music on without iTunes already open!

There are many solutions to this, with varying levels of additional functionality, cost, and complexity to set up. One simple solution I discovered recently is the free and easy Desktop Controller app. Once setup, this iPhone app lets you launch any app on your Mac via your phone - perfectly solving the issue of being too lazy to leave the couch to go and launch iTunes!

But I had an additional hurdle. When not actively being used, my Mac will go to sleep, needing a password to be entered to wake it up. While this is the case, the Desktop Controller app will not be able to launch iTunes.

The solution - another free app called NetAwake. This very simple app lets you wake your computer remotely via iPhone. Problem solved!

So in summary, if you have the same indulgent need as me to be able to put music on remotely using your phone, even if your computer is asleep, you can do this by installing these three simple FREE apps.

Happy listening!