Ignore the title.

I've been using the Smartglass app on iOS all night tonight, to navigate through media apps, and finally a DVD. I'm liking it, but its not saving me much time. Pulling out the phone/iPad and opening the app takes about as long as finding/grabbing the controller and turning it on. I dunno, I like some of the quick remote shortcuts on the app. More functional than using a controller... but probably not moreso than a remote control that works with the xbox. But I don't have one of those, and this is working fine.

I'll probably continue using it. The only thing I had to consciously work my mind around was the direction moved when you swipe. It doesn't have that natural, opposite movement that most swipes have. Its more like a button press. Swiping right moves to the right one square, rather than scrolling around. Its not a problem, but it's also not how most things on iOS operate. But since ultimately its meant to control the xbox, writing this entire paragraph about the issue was completely out of proportion to the amount of thought it took to adjust.

#impressions

Ignore the title.

I've been using the Smartglass app on iOS all night tonight, to navigate through media apps, and finally a DVD. I'm liking it, but its not saving me much time. Pulling out the phone/iPad and opening the app takes about as long as finding/grabbing the controller and turning it on. I dunno, I like some of the quick remote shortcuts on the app. More functional than using a controller... but probably not moreso than a remote control that works with the xbox. But I don't have one of those, and this is working fine.

I'll probably continue using it. The only thing I had to consciously work my mind around was the direction moved when you swipe. It doesn't have that natural, opposite movement that most swipes have. Its more like a button press. Swiping right moves to the right one square, rather than scrolling around. Its not a problem, but it's also not how most things on iOS operate. But since ultimately its meant to control the xbox, writing this entire paragraph about the issue was completely out of proportion to the amount of thought it took to adjust.

#impressions

I didn't know there was an iPhone app for this. I will have to try it out soon.

All I have to say is Daria is awesome.

@believer258 said:

I didn't know there was an iPhone app for this. I will have to try it out soon.

It just turned my XBL app into Smartglass one day when I loaded it up.

@MideonNViscera said:

@believer258 said:

I didn't know there was an iPhone app for this. I will have to try it out soon.

It just turned my XBL app into Smartglass one day when I loaded it up.

I didn't know there was an XBL app either.

All I have to say is Daria is awesome.

I planned on using Smartglass with Halo 4. I loaded up smartglass on my Windows 8 laptop and was told that I needed touch to use it with Halo 4.

Fair enough, I'll use my Windows 7 phone instead.. load up the app on my phone and I get the same message. Wtf?

Agreed that the navigation takes some getting used to. Maybe a dpad would have worked better then a blank swipe screen cause it really is more like pressing direction buttons then any sorta swiping on screen. It's a cool app though, I like how it auto changes to the game you're playing when it starts up. I turned Halo 4 on and it brought up all my stats and what not.

I think the point of it is to have your phone siting out and not away in your pocket.

I don't think we will really see anything too cool out of it until the next console is out. I bet they have big plans for this.

I used it and it was, indeed, cool - but I still don't see the advantage over a controller. Maybe when I get a game that can take advantage of it.

I only have a gingerbread android phone, its only compatible with ice cream sandwich and up so looks like i wont be trying it until i get my new phone later in the year, shame really, just another reason to hate the upgrade schedule on android devices, i had one small update in the year since i got the phone, i may end up going with an iphone next time around.

It's different, but I honestly (at this time) haven't found much use for it. I never really use my iPad a pseudo controller, and have yet to find any material that adds the smart-glass experience to the fold. I can see it's potential though, and that's neat.

I do, however, love the "play to" feature on Windows 8 to play videos on my Xbox 360. That was a game-changer for me.

I'd be willing to bet that the way this app heads is to mirror the dashboard on the device so as to allow direct selection of stuff by touch, rather than by emulating a dpad.

I use smartglass a lot for browsing Netflix so I don't use up the battery on my controllers, plus I always have my phone on me so its mildly more convenient.

Overall cool app but not groundbreaking or anything.