AirPhones
iPhone App
FREE! Buy now!

AirPhones

Our Review by Chris Hall on March 19th, 2009
Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar :: AVERAGE
Share This:

If you have a super speedy router and need some wireless headphones to watch movies on a computer plugged into a TV that is across the room, this is the app for you. It would be hard to recommend this app otherwise, given the quality of some other apps th

Developer: Smashart
Price: $4.99
Version Reviewed: 0.1

Functionality [rating:2.5/5]
User Interface [rating:3.5/5]
Re-use / Replay Value [rating:3/5]

Overall Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar

I'd like to begin this review by saying that this is a very niche market app. Not everyone, or even almost everyone will need this app. The best way to explain to someone what Airphones does is to compare it to a pair of wireless headphones. that attach to your computer. Once the app is running, all that your iPhone does is act like a pair of wireless headphones. That's it. Your iPhone will now play whatever the target computer in your wifi area is playing. No, you can't control the song in any way, nor can you see what is playing if you don't know... but you can sure hear it, and that is the point of this app.

"Why would I need this app?" you may ask. Let's say that you have a hard drive with 70GB of music on it and you want to listen to your music in your kitchen because your family is watching the Michael Jackson night of American Idol. Not only would it be cool to cook while listening to Italian food music (my own made up genre!), but you can also spare your ears from the noise coming out of the TV. It would also be quite handy if you have a Mac Mini plugged into a computer and you are in desperate need of some wireless headphones. Brainstorm a bit and you'll come up with some more practical uses.

[caption id="attachment_6483" align="alignright" width="199" caption="This is the one and only screen. You\'ll learn to love it."]

[/caption]Using the app is quite simple, with only a few options to choose from stemming from one main screen. Right off the bat, the system tells you to go to www.airphonesapp.com to download the program to let you interface with the iPhone. The download is painless and the connection is automatic, but for the most part, that is where the fun stops. So far, I have used the app in two different locations, one being at home, with an array of old (wireless G) Airport Expresses and at work, with what I believe is a quite extensive array of Airport Extremes and Airport Expresses (wireless N). At t t h hh hom mm e tttheeeeee prrog- g gram is a bbbbbbit jumppppy, but at work it runs pretty smoothly, with only the occasional jump. I would definitely not recommend this app for those of you with older routers because the jumpiness is unbearable.

Here's the deal, if you need a pair of wireless headphones to watch a movie on your computer and you have a speedy new wireless network, buy this app. In this instance I would give it at least 4 stars. If you are looking to listen to the music on your computer from across your house, buy Simplify... it gives you the similar music quality but it lets you see and change songs that are playing. Do not, I repeat, do not buy this app if you would call your home internet slow.

iPhone Screenshots

(click to enlarge)

AirPhones screenshot 1
Share This: