how to connect my keynote remote

Your MacBook Pro should show up in the Keynote Remote app as long as Keynote is launched and both are connected to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

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Hello,

to those unable to get Wi-Fi syncing working at your work or institution, it is not the fault of the App, rather it is the fault of the network that you are connecting to.

It is most likely that the reason that it doesn't work is because the network administrators have closed access to the port that you need for the linking between your iOS device and your Mac. The reason that it works fine at home is because you have those ports that you need locked down. The other reason may be that your iOS device is talking to another base station than your Mac is and some networks also segregate base stations from each other.

On the Bluetooth side, it might not be working because you are trying it use something like an iPod Touch 2nd generation (or iPhone 3) these devices can only use their Bluetooth headset, nothing else. So if you are trying to connect your Mac and iPod Touch 2nd Gen, you might get them to pair, but you'll never get them to connect. So don't bother.

So what do you do? Did you just waste your money? Let me assure you that no you didn't.

This is what you do.

1. Go to your Wi-Fi/Airport menu and select "Create Network…" then give it a network name, such as yours or the name of your computer. I would strongly recommend adding 128-WEP encryption so that your classmates/co-workers/viewers can't connect to your computer and start sniffing around. Once you've created a network your Wi-Fi/Airport menu should turn into a grey arc with a computer in the centre.
2. Go to your iOS device and under the General -> Network settings select your newly created network
3. Enter in the password you just gave your network.
4. Once your iOS device is connected to your Mac, you are good to go! Fire up Keynote on your Mac and Keynote Remote on your device.
5. Do the linking in the Keynote Settings on your Mac. You should now have control of your presentation!

A couple of notes: what you are doing is effectively removing yourself from the infrastructure network and creating your own. With that in mind note that you won't have access to the Internet on your iOS device nor your Mac. But unless your presentation includes links to websites, you should be okay. The way around this is to connect your Mac to a wired Ethernet connection and perhaps sharing that Internet connection to your Wi-Fi/Airport port to give to your iOS device as well.

A tip: If you do the initial set up at home/office with the network and linking and use the same network name and password, you should only have to do step 1, 2 & 4 as your iOS device will have your password stored and the linking already done.

Hope that helps! 😎

And yes, I would like to have the ability to jump to a specific page, and also have the ability to black out the screen.

Cheers, Andrew Jung.

The Keynote Remote app is still not working with BlueTooth as advertised and yet Apple do not clarify this on the website. Of course mistakes happen (though many months later this is still not fixed), but to keep advertising the Keynote/Remote pairing on the website is dishonest.

Phenomenal workaround Andrew! Don't need no stinking network! 😀

Glad it was of help to you Tal.

Good luck in your presentations.

Cheers, Andrew.

Thanks for the work-around, Andrew, but I think there is a bigger point here.

I have a new(ish) macbook pro and an iPhone 4. Bluetooth doesn't work.

Here is what Apple says in the promo for the App:

"Keynote Remote can use wi-fi or Bluetooth when connecting to your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch."

I know it's just a 99 cent app, but i'm ticked off because Irealized bluetooth didn't work just as I was about to give a presentation. Wifi was not an option, so I found myself with no notes for the presentation - embarassing.

Obviously bluetooth connectivity is a crucial requirement. Who in their right mind would by a product that relies on someone else's wifi for their presentation anyway?! Outside of a University campus, that just isn't practical.

Sorry to sound like a crank, but I think that whoever made this app at Apple new that, so they promoted the bluetooth aspect even though they knew it wouldn't work because they knew that no one would buy it otherwise.

Bryce

For what it's worth: Using the MBP to establish your own network is a great idea but it defeats the purpose of using an IPad for a keynote presentation with IPhone remote, which is why I wanted it to work. It does on our home network but not at the university's. So using the same idea but with a little less hassle I took my Airport Express with my IPad and IPhone and made the network with it instead of with the MBP. That worked fine.

I did have to reset the Airport Express first though as it was set up on our home network only to connect to our stereo and network and not function as a router, but once it was reset it worked.

Hi, larix...im really interested on how you were able to connect an ipad using remote for keynote..I have an Ipad 2 3G and ipod touch 4G..i have been trying to connect them using wifi..the keynote on the ipad can detect the remote on the ipod touch but it takes so long to verify the passcode settings...i would really like to use this setup

In my classroom setting..hope you can halp me..thankx

You need something to make the network- Airport Express, Airport Extreme, or a laptop. I set up the network first with Airport Utility on the MacBook Pro. Hope that helps

Hi larix..tried an experiment..open the keynote app on ipad touch and use the keynote remote on the ipad 2..it instantly connected.. But if its the other way around,.keynote on ipad and remote on ipod touch the verifying takes a long time and never connects.. im really confused..i cant use the ipad as a remote in my class it will be quite heavy to carry it while interacting with my students..

Thanks for that workaround, Andrew! I had downloaded the Keynote Remote app at the end of last school year, but gave up trying to get it to work with my iPad 2 and my Mac. I was able to connect my iPhone 4 and iPad 2 using Bluetooth without any issues, but I thought the Mac was a lost cause. Your suggestions really helped. Thanks again!

Glad it helped you!

Andrew's workaround works great for other problems with connecting two devices on a work or public network. For instance, I independently came up with the same technique to sync my Papers library on the Mac (http://www.mekentosj.com/papers/) with the iPad app. At work, the ports must be blocked, so it won't sync. When I create the ad-hoc network as Andrew describes, it works like a charm.

Again, glad this continues to help people!

aj

I had set up my iPhone 4S to control my MacBook Pro (running Mountain Lion) at home whilst without a WiFi network and all worked well. As expected the iPhone Keynote Remote worked perfectly. UNTIL, I went to give my lecture in a hall also without Wifi and I couldn't access the link on my MacBook Pro - nothing worked! Losing all my notes etc, very embarressing and frustrating.

Having had other experiences of this intermittant fault, is there a Fix by Apple, or is it only going to work in a Wifi environment?