Remote not working with keynote 5.3 on mavericks

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, and then in the Firewasll tab making sure that the application Keynote was set to allow incoming connections.

Worked like a champ after that.

Ah. I didn't even know there was an IR controller option. It's there, though, in the same place and one level further in.

Go to System Preferences -> "Security and Privacy", then authenticate to unlock if necessary by clicking on the lock icon, then click on the "Firewall" tab and then on the "Advanced" button. There is an option there to pair with IR remotes. See screenshot attached.

Hope this helps. I don't have an IR remote, so can't verify.

Yes I'm having the exact same problem. Remote won't work with Keynote 5 and Keynote 6 no longer allows customization of the size of presenter notes in presenter view.

Got this computer for a set of presentations-- have one tonight-- not too happy with these changes. Guess I'll have to use my old computer??

Also having this same issue with Apple Remote not working in Keynote 5.3.

I tested it in 6.0 and the remote works fine there, but I also prefer using 5.3 vs. 6.0 until they add a few more features that were in 5.3. Only workaround I have found so far is if you have another iDevice you can download the Keynote Remote app and use it to advance Keynote slides.

Would be helpful to still have functionality of the Apple Remote with Keynote 5.3, though. Would love to hear of any other workarounds others hear of.

I'm having the same issue here. Apple totally dropped the ball on this, and as a speaker I rely on the remote (and prefer the size of the white one I still have).

As a follow up -

I spoke with Apple Support about this and was routed to a few people who were helpful, and moved it up to the engineers of Keynote (and the white remote?) for a solution.

A few days later I received this reply:

Hello Eric, I have heard back from the engineers about this. It looks like as long as Keynote 6.0 is present on the system it will default to using the remove in that application. If you remove Keynote 6.0, which we would not recommend, then you can use Keynote 5.3 with the remote. Presently though this is normal and expected behavior.

I replied by expressing my disappointment that this wasn't functional, since I'm not comfortable using Keynote 6.0 yet. Short of uninstalling 6.0, the only workaround I have found is to use the iPhone/iTouch Keynote remote app, or make a duplicate copy of your presentation to be opened in 6.0 (and using the remote there).

I just uninstalled the new Keynote - and everything is back to normal. Remote works 🙂

Thank you for a great suggestion and following up with Apple! 6.0 is not a usable piece of software.

great to hear. I may be uninstalling myself for the same reasons (like the remote better than the app).

Hi,

I have Mavericks on my laptop. I also installed the new Keynote, which I think is horrible compared to 6.0. My problem is that I really rely on a remote in front of an audience, but with 6.o back on my lap top and the new one in the bin - no remote working...

Do you have any suggestion to me how to make the remote work?

There is no way you can use the remote if you have Keynote 6.0 installed. The only way for you to use the remote with Keynote 5.3 is to uninstall Keynote 6.0.

Or you can download an app to your device using iOS and use it instead of Apple's remote.

Hope this is of some assistance.

Thank you for your reply.

In the meantime I have discovered that the Macbook Air does not have infrared, so there is no way the remote can work with this Mac... What a pity!

You know im start to think that after Jobs is gone now Apple continously falling down. Don't want to say it, but i think that "the new boss" doesnt really care and Apple have to rethink cuz im not happy and totally NOT satisfied about new system, soft and etc. Keynote is just one side of the coin.

Look, it's really not that hard. The latest devices do not uniformly have IR interfaces. I've had good luck using Keynote 6 in some quite complex presentations, and the iPhone app connecting over WiFi seems to work well. Some features that people missed have already been added back, and others are promised.

I'm sorry for those who liked their infrared remotes, truly I am, but please don't trash the whole product set on that basis!