Touch Mouse – iPhone App Review

Touch Mouse (Free)

Version – 1.0

REVIEW – “Logitech releases a free wireless mouse utility!”

I have used a lot of different network utilities that perform all kinds of functions from remote desktop, to wireless mouse control over the years. Some of them are simple to use and install, while others can be quite complex. Since the advent of the app store there have been a lot of great “wireless touchpad” utilities for the iPhone and/or iPod Touch, but most of them either cost money or are crippled in some way. If you have tried all of those apps and not found what you’re looking for then you should definitely check out the Touch Mouse app for iPhone and/or iPod Touch!

Touch Mouse works using a WiFi connection to like your device directly to your computer. In order to interface with your computer you will need to head to Logitech first and download some software. Don’t worry the program is tiny and takes up a very small amount of resources. You won’t even know that it’s running! To install the software you’ll need to head to www.logitech.com/touchmouse and select your operating system.

Once you have the software installed on your computer you’ll then want to start up the app. When you do you’ll be greeted by the server select screen. From here you have the option to either select your computer from the list above, or enter its IP address in the box below. I suppose the IP address method is included just in case the program has problems detecting your computer. With that said I had no issues whatsoever. As long as you have the client installed and running on your computer it should show up on the list and so all you have to do is touch it.

Once you are connected to your computer you’re greeted by the silhouette of a mouse with three buttons at the top. You control the mouse much like you would a touchpad by touching the blank part of the screen with your finger and dragging it around and touching the buttons at the top to do different things. At the bottom of the screen is a small menu bare with three different buttons that open up a keyboard to type on, take you back to the server menu, and open up the settings screen.

In the settings screen you’ll find a bunch of customizable options that control exactly how the touchpad functionality works. You can set the sensitivity, how the app handles scrolling, and even some basic gestures to make navigation that much easier! I was able to do a sufficient amount of customization to make the app feel a lot like the touchpad on the my laptop.

As with most apps, especially new releases, they all have the good and bad points. One of the issues I had with this app is that if you try start moving the mouse as you touch your finger down there is a slight “jerking” motion that is a little bit hard to control. My other criticism is that it would have been really nice to be able to put the mouse buttons at the bottom as opposed to the top. How many laptop touchpads have you noticed that have the buttons at the top? Not very many that I am aware of!

Despite the occasional slight jerkiness of this app, and the lack of ability to move the locations of the buttons where I would have liked them, this app does offer an excellent way to control your computer from your iPhone. You simply will not find a more stable and useful productivity tool for free than this one from Logitech. So what are you waiting for? Download the app today!

- David H.

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