OS X WiFi Volume Remote

A web-based html5 / node.js app to control OS X system volume from iPhone, Android, etc

Installation & Usage

1. Get Node.js

2. Open Terminal

3. Install osx-wifi-volume-remote like so

   npm install -g osx-wifi-volume-remote
   

4. Start the server like so (and note that it shows the name of your computer)

   osx-wifi-volume-server 4040
   

5. Type the http://<your-computer-name>.local:4040/ whatever onto your phone's browser (NOTE: Your phone or whatever device must be on the same WiFi or ethernet network as your computer)

6. Enjoy controlling your MacBook's volume over wifi!

API Example

npm install osx-wifi-volume-remote

(function () {
  "use strict";

  var applvol = require("osx-wifi-volume-remote");
  // All callbacks have the same arguments
  applvol.get(function (err, volume, muted) {
    console.log(
      "Volume is set to " +
        volume +
        "% and is " +
        (muted ? "" : "not ") +
        "muted"
    );
  });
})();

API

• get(cb) read the current volume level and mute status
• fade(cb, level, duration) specify a volume level to fade to
• fadeBy(cb, difference, duration) specify a positive or negative difference in volume to fade to
• mute(cb, duration) fades to 0, mutes, then restores volume while muted
• unmute(cb, duration) sets volume to 0, unmutes, then fades back in to volume level
• set(cb, level) hard set a volume without fading
• all callbacks have the arguments err, volume, muted

NOTE: The callbacks all must come first (it was just easier to write the code that way).

Development

If you want to develop, here's the clone and build process:

git clone https://github.com/coolaj86/osx-wifi-volume-remote.git
pushd osx-wifi-volume-remote

npm install -g jade
jade browser/index.jade; mv browser/index.html public/

npm install
node app 4040

AppleScript

I had to learn a bit of AppleScript to get this all together. I'll give the gist of it below an you can also read the article on my blog.

# Check volume level and mute status
osascript -e "output volume of (get volume settings) & output muted of (get volume settings)"

# Mute
osascript -e "set volume with output muted"

# Unmute
osascript -e "set volume without output muted"

# Mute status
osascript -e "output muted of (get volume settings)"

# Set volume by 100ths
osascript -e "set volume output volume 51 --100%"

# Set to 0% without muting (the secret lowest possible setting)
osascript -e "set volume without output muted output volume 0 --100%"

# Set to non-0 without unmuting
osascript -e "set volume with output muted output volume 42 --100%"

# Decrement the current volume by 1
osascript -e "set volume output volume (output volume of (get volume settings) - 1) --100%"

It turns out that AppleScript takes about 80ms to start up and run, so for the fade I actually create a file with the whole loop unrolled and it looks like this:

set volume without output muted output volume 18 --100%
delay 0.033
set volume without output muted output volume 17 --100%
delay 0.033
set volume without output muted output volume 16 --100%