Need a non-sequential iDevice remote control app

November 8, 2011 10:58 AM

I'm looking for an iPad app that will allow me to control a Powerpoint or Keynote presentation running on a computer connected to a large display. That catch? I need to be able to select slides at will and not just sequentially.

I hate blowing a question on work, but I can't seem to find anything that will do what we need. This is for a live election coverage tv show this evening. The presenter needs to be able to select slides at will for display on a large monitor. Keynote Remote appears to only allow images to be presented sequentially. Non-Powerpoint/Keynote solutions welcome. The key is that the presenter needs to be able to preview the image/slide on the iDevice and select it for display on the main screen. Help?

posted by Cat Pie Hurts to Technology (4 answers total)

I do not have an iPad or know if this would work, but my first thought would be to use the iPad as a second display and kludge something together that way.

i.e. in OS X, you might be able to do a full screen 'preview' on your main monitor of documents selected in the finder folder displayed on the iPad (press space on the keyboard when highlighting a document to go into preview mode, then click the arrows for full screen).

You might even be able to use powerpoint, and have the navigation view on the iPad monitor...really not sure about any of this though.

Looks like there's software that might be able to help accomplish this, for windows and mac:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-31747_7-20010646-243.html
posted by soy bean at 11:11 AM on November 8, 2011

I don't have it installed right now, but I tried out Splashtop Remote Desktop and thought it was pretty nifty. IIRC you need a Mac. It mirrors the computer screen onto your iPad and you can control the presentation just as you would with a mouse.
posted by bonobothegreat at 12:31 PM on November 8, 2011

Response by poster: While Splashtop is a great remote desktop app, it doesn't do what I'm looking to do. I want a series of selectable slides and/or images shown on the iDevice. When selected, it should display fullscreen on the remote system. Keynote Remote -almost- does it, but it only allows you to see the slide that comes immediately after the current one. We need the ability to select and display any images in any order.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 1:17 PM on November 8, 2011

The only nonlinear presentation software (that I know of) on one screen is Prezi. It is not Keynote/Powerpoint. I've been reluctant to try it- because of the (slight) learning curve and (initially) the reliance on a network connection. Here's the iPad version
posted by filmgeek at 2:30 AM on November 9, 2011