There’s a bug in Apple’s Remote app for iOS 8. It doesn’t display album art for the currently playing track. It does, however, display art if you tap Up Next.


This is a bit annoying. I hope Apple fixes this soon, because I do like to see the album art when I’m listening to music and using the Remote app.
Just another bug in iOS 8…
Yep, I confirmed this with Apple Support, and they admitted it’s in the works. It was quite the shock when I sat down to enjoy my album art on my big, beautiful, iPhone 6 Plus!
Hey Kirk – Do you have any ideas about a replacement app for Apple’s Remote? It seems like there’s a reasonable market for one that would give us album art, and some other nice features. This is not the first time Apple has dropped the ball on its own Remote app for iTunes control. On the Android side, I use Retunes, and it does great …
I don’t think this is accessible to third parties. If you search for “remote control iTunes library” on the App Store, Apple’s Remote is the only result.
“I don’t think this is accessible to third parties.”
Incorrect, my iTunes expert friend. DACP is an accessible and published protocol.
There are plenty of 3rd party clients on other platforms.
There seems to be only one iOS 3rd party client, yTrack for the iPad, which while being more full-featured than Apple’s client, doesn’t seem to have attracted much interest, and development has ceased. Perhaps Apple is deliberately suppressing App Store search results for alternatives, which would certainly account for the lack of interest.
(Frankly, while knowing DACP was a published protocol, I expected Apple to not allow competitors past the velvet rope of the App Store. I’m surprised yTrack got approved in the first place. And maybe others have been rejected, given the App Store submission process’s notable capriciousness.)
Yep, I confirmed this with Apple Support, and they admitted it’s in the works. It was quite the shock when I sat down to enjoy my album art on my big, beautiful, iPhone 6 Plus!
Hey Kirk – Do you have any ideas about a replacement app for Apple’s Remote? It seems like there’s a reasonable market for one that would give us album art, and some other nice features. This is not the first time Apple has dropped the ball on its own Remote app for iTunes control. On the Android side, I use Retunes, and it does great …
I don’t think this is accessible to third parties. If you search for “remote control iTunes library” on the App Store, Apple’s Remote is the only result.
“I don’t think this is accessible to third parties.”
Incorrect, my iTunes expert friend. DACP is an accessible and published protocol.
There are plenty of 3rd party clients on other platforms.
There seems to be only one iOS 3rd party client, yTrack for the iPad, which while being more full-featured than Apple’s client, doesn’t seem to have attracted much interest, and development has ceased. Perhaps Apple is deliberately suppressing App Store search results for alternatives, which would certainly account for the lack of interest.
(Frankly, while knowing DACP was a published protocol, I expected Apple to not allow competitors past the velvet rope of the App Store. I’m surprised yTrack got approved in the first place. And maybe others have been rejected, given the App Store submission process’s notable capriciousness.)
It must be accessible to third parties, because there are a handful of options for the same sort of iTunes control for Android. As bj4wp mentions, he uses Retunes. I tried out a bunch on my Nexus 7 tablet and ended up choosing this one called “Remote for iTunes:” https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=hyperfine.hftunes.release
It works very well, just as well as Apple’s own on iOS, in my experience. Actually, it works BETTER at this point in time, because I just tested it out again, and note that it still see the album artwork of the playing track, that iOS 8.x does not! What’s up with that? Hopefully Apple updates iOS Remote soon… the absence of Album Artwork just makes it sad.
I think third party options for this stay out of the iOS App Store because Apple’s offering is the big kahuna and for the most part (at least in my experience) covers all the bases. It’s also something Apple could quickly lower the ban hammer on for any number of reasons, it seems. Why would a developer put time and energy into creating an app such as this, with such a risk hanging over their head?
Damn you, fofer. I wanted to be the first one to correct Kirk. You beat me by 9 minutes, and now my self-esteem is totally shot.
It must be accessible to third parties, because there are a handful of options for the same sort of iTunes control for Android. As bj4wp mentions, he uses Retunes. I tried out a bunch on my Nexus 7 tablet and ended up choosing this one called “Remote for iTunes:” https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=hyperfine.hftunes.release
It works very well, just as well as Apple’s own on iOS, in my experience. Actually, it works BETTER at this point in time, because I just tested it out again, and note that it still see the album artwork of the playing track, that iOS 8.x does not! What’s up with that? Hopefully Apple updates iOS Remote soon… the absence of Album Artwork just makes it sad.
I think third party options for this stay out of the iOS App Store because Apple’s offering is the big kahuna and for the most part (at least in my experience) covers all the bases. It’s also something Apple could quickly lower the ban hammer on for any number of reasons, it seems. Why would a developer put time and energy into creating an app such as this, with such a risk hanging over their head?
Damn you, fofer. I wanted to be the first one to correct Kirk. You beat me by 9 minutes, and now my self-esteem is totally shot.
I did the demo for Remote for iTunes – Android. The one things I couldn’t get passed, or even understand was its inability to show a large screen version of album art. I check with the developer and they confirmed it does not do this. That’s sad because I think it has much potential, but without full album art it’s a no go for me. Doesn’t seem like it would take much to accomplish this. Hmmm …
I did the demo for Remote for iTunes – Android. The one things I couldn’t get passed, or even understand was its inability to show a large screen version of album art. I check with the developer and they confirmed it does not do this. That’s sad because I think it has much potential, but without full album art it’s a no go for me. Doesn’t seem like it would take much to accomplish this. Hmmm …
Same problem here. Very annoyed. Hating everything about Apple´s OS and Apps lately
Same problem here. Very annoyed. Hating everything about Apple´s OS and Apps lately
I have the same problem with Remote on my iPad Air (iOS 8.1.1) and latest iTunes version on my iMac (currently with Win7).
BUT: Remote works on my iPhone 5 (latest iOS too) – it shows the cover in big size!
There is another difference between the two devices: while on the iPhone the albums are showed in the same order like in my library (sorted by specified criteria) on my iPad the albums are displayed alphabetically by the name of the album!
I have the same problem with Remote on my iPad Air (iOS 8.1.1) and latest iTunes version on my iMac (currently with Win7).
BUT: Remote works on my iPhone 5 (latest iOS too) – it shows the cover in big size!
There is another difference between the two devices: while on the iPhone the albums are showed in the same order like in my library (sorted by specified criteria) on my iPad the albums are displayed alphabetically by the name of the album!
To my knowledge this issue is related to latest Remote 4.2.1, not to iOS8. Downgrading to Remote 4.2. (in case you have a backup) will bring the covers back!
Perhaps, but some people see the album art, as I do on my iPod touch, even with the latest version.
To my knowledge this issue is related to latest Remote 4.2.1, not to iOS8. Downgrading to Remote 4.2. (in case you have a backup) will bring the covers back!
Perhaps, but some people see the album art, as I do on my iPod touch, even with the latest version.
No artwork on iPhone 5S / iOS8.1.3 / Remote 4.2.1
No artwork on iPhone 5S / iOS8.1.3 / Remote 4.2.1
I am happy to report that with today’s update to Remote.app, this glaring “missing artwork” bug has FINALLY been fixed. Thanks, Apple. (Next time, please don’t let the fix take THIS LONG. Yeesh!)
I am happy to report that with today’s update to Remote.app, this glaring “missing artwork” bug has FINALLY been fixed. Thanks, Apple. (Next time, please don’t let the fix take THIS LONG. Yeesh!)