iOS7 breaks (freezes) Keynote Remote when using Personal Hotspot

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iOS7 breaks (freezes) Keynote Remote when using Personal Hotspot

If you need a partial quick fix fast, go straight to the last paragraph. Otherwise, here are the details:

I present almost every day using Keynote on my iPad2 with Keynote Remote on my iPhone5 (to run the presentation). I link the two devices using Personal Hotspot (my phone’s WiFi network) so as not to be at the mercy of the WiFi network in whatever random location I’m visiting. I use this Hotspot mode because it’s more reliable than Bluetooth (but read on). Most hotel WiFi networks won’t work for this application.

When I upgraded both devices to iOS7 (on day 1), this configuration no longer worked. Keynote Remote locks up (freezes) when using Personal Hotspot.

Here are a bunch of things I tried that had NO EFFECT on the problem: Kill and restart Keynote and/or Keynote Remote Apps; Power-cycle (reboot) iPad and/or iPhone; Hard-power-cycle (by holding down the power and home buttons simultaneously until the Apple logo appears) iPad and/or iPhone; Reinstall Keynote Remote; delete the original remote (in Keynote, click the wrench and select “Advanced” and then “Remote”) and/or re-add the remote; and so on.

Or if your Hotspot is active and Keynote Remote is already running on your iPhone (on-screen, not in the background), you’ll get the message “Unable to join the network ‘Your iPhone’” when you attempt to connect your iPad to your iPhone’s WiFi).

If Keynote Remote is in the background and then you link your iPad to your iPhone WiFi network, you’ll find that Keynote Remote is frozen. Even if the App is restarted it will be frozen. If you disable the Hotspot, Keynote Remote will unfreeze (although that’s not very useful).

Bottom line: As of today, I’ve found no way to get the iPhone Personal Hotspot mode to work with Keynote Remote (let me know if you discover a fix). However, I have found one very specific workaround. Here it is.

On your iPad, turn on Bluetooth (WiFi setting doesn’t matter) and open Keynote. On your iPhone, TURN OFF Personal Hotspot, turn on Bluetooth (WiFi setting doesn’t matter), and start Keynote Remote. Wait about 5 seconds for the devices to link by Bluetooth and you’ll be able to “Play Slideshow”. Note: If the devices have not previously been linked (or won’t link), you’ll have to TURN ON Personal Hotspot, link by Bluetooth, TURN OFF Personal Hotspot, and then proceed as above. I know… it’s crazy but it works!

Posted on Sep 22, 2013 8:20 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 10, 2013 1:22 PM in response to DaveNelsen

Try this article....worked for me.

http://www.davemadethat.com/2012/04/26/keynote-remote-not-working/

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Answer 2

ozlady

Level 1

5 points

Oct 22, 2013 11:06 PM in response to DaveNelsen

Dave - the Bluetooth connection method worked for me! Thanks!

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Answer 3

Oct 26, 2013 9:45 AM in response to DaveNelsen

Dave thanks for your hard work on this very annoying problem. My Keynote Remote is frozen, despite your advice.

I have to use bluetooth because the wifi connection where I live is unreliable.

Connecting my Iphone 5 IOS 7 to my Macbook Pro by bluetooth has been a problem, but finally I discovered the way to do it: on my phone, I turn Personal Hotspot and Bluetooth on, and Wifi off. That way I can do all the normal pairing and bluetooth works fine.

(Believe me, that took some trial and error. Sorry if everyone else already knew this.)

At this point, I open Keynote Remote on Iphone and it announces hopefully 'Connected to Keynote on IMac', invites me to 'Play Slideshow' - but it is frozen.

If I turn off bluetooth (on the Mac) it (usually) unfreezes Keynote Remote - but of course Keynote Remote doesn't work because there is no bluetooth connection.

If I turn off Personal Hotspot (as you suggest in your clever remedy) - it also (usually) unfreezes Keynote Remote, but again, Keynote Remote doesn't work because no bluetooth.

Very frazzled by all this here! Having sorted out the problem of setting up bluetooth, I'm faced with a frozen Keynote Remote.

Thanks to all you clever technical guys for your thoughtful work and sharing it with us.

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Answer 4

Oct 28, 2013 2:27 PM in response to orlandomurrin

The Keynote support article explicitly says that Bluetooth is only for controlling one iOS device from another, and that Keynote Remote won't work over Bluetooth to control a Mac. (Rats.)

Here's one thing I noticed and reported in a different thread for controlling Keynote for Mac over WiFi from an iOS device:

In my case, I found that I must have answered "Deny" some time in the past to the question at startup about allowing remote connections.

I fixed this by going to "Security and Privacy" in System Preferences on the Mac, and then in the Firewasll tab making sure that the application Keynote was set to allow incoming connections. Worked like a champ after that.

Hope this helps someone.

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Answer 5

DaveNelsen Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 7, 2013 10:45 AM in response to DaveNelsen

Hey everybody, I just found the perfect fix for this problem. 🙂

First, I'll mention that upgrading my iPhone 5 to an iPhone 5S (gold, of course) did not fix the problem. Neither did upgrading my iPad 2 to an iPad Air. By the way, I love both new devices!

Drum roll please: Instead of linking your iPhone and iPad using a "Personal Hotspot" on your iPhone, create a hotspot on your iPad. You can then link your iPhone to that hotspot and for reasons that are a complete mystery, Keynote Remote will again work perfectly. Hooray!

For the record, I've done a bunch of 3-hour presentations since my original post 6 weeks ago using Bluetooth and it's as unreliable as ever. Yesterday for example, it failed twice, forcing me to kill and restart Keynote Remote as subtly as I could.

WiFi (hotspot) has always been rock-solid reliable and I'm guessing that with this new workaround, it will continue to be so. Enjoy!

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Answer 6

Nov 12, 2013 12:33 AM in response to DaveNelsen

The Keynote remote app (on my iPhone 5 iOS7) does not work using Bluetooth or Hotpot with my Macbook Aire (Mavericks).The wifi works as usual, but I need to give my presentation where there is no wifi. I have tried everything:

1) Bluetooth pairing fails. I am told this is a hardware issue with Aire 11" Mid-2011

2) Firewall is allowing Keynote through, so this is irrelevant.

3) "Create a network" from my Aire used to work fine before Snow Leopard, but no longer.

4) Hotspot freezes the remore like everyone is talking about here.

Furthermore, even if I wanted to buy one, the infra-red remote does not work with the Aire.

Am I just out of luck?

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Answer 7

Nov 12, 2013 2:08 AM in response to adamB_108

I am not at all sure that Keynote Remote App is meant to be used with Macbook Air. I spent hours trying to get the app to work with my Mac Pro and then discovered (as pointed out by someone else above) that it isn't meant to. I believe it is only for use with Ipad.

I can't get my Iphone paired by bluetooth with my Macbook Air, either. Annoying, but when I found out Keynote Remote app wouldn't work with it anyway, I gave up trying.

One other minor thing to watch out for users of Keynote. I gave a presentation using my Mac Pro as the presentation screen (they didn't have any other facilities). To move from slide to slide, I used my magic mouse, which is of course connected by bluetooth. I don't know what was going on, but on three or four occasions the mouse went mad, as if something was interrupting it. Next time, I will used a wired mouse.

The hazards of presenting ....

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Answer 8

Dec 31, 2013 1:53 AM in response to orlandomurrin

Hi there, I'm pretty sure Keynote remote should work with a mac not just ios devices. It has done for me between my iphone 4 and MacBook. But after this last upgrade I had the same freezing issue. I solved this by creating a network from the MacBook, from the drop down menu under the wifi symbol, and linking the phone to that, instead of creating a hotspot on the phone, as previously. Cheers.

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