Snatch, from Hoofien, turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a wireless track pad for your Mac or PC. It’s an intriguing idea and I’m a fool for any app that enables me to connect my iPhone to my desktop or other computers and do “insanely great things.”
The first step is to download the free Snatch Server software and install it. If you\’re asked during install to allow your device through a firewall, click “Yes.”
Make your life easy, and select “make an icon for your desktop” while you’re installing the app. Launch Snatch, turn the server on, give it a name and create a password if you want (and you should, to protect yourself should a lurker happen by). Next click on Apply Server Name/Port on Snatch and that’s it for the most part on the server side.
Assuming you’re using iTunes 8.0 with Bonjour (Apple’s automatic network device discovery protocol) your Mac or PC will appear on a list of servers on your device. Tap it, Enter your password. Switch on Auto-connect, while you’re at it.
If you’re computer isn’t on the list, you can set it up manually using the IP address and port number displayed in the Snatch Server dialog box.
My connection was automatic. If you’re having difficulty, tap the Hooftien logo at the bottom of the screen. I mention that because it’s not immediately obvious that that’s where you can find help.
The track pad in Snatch works surprisingly well, with little lag time. You can scroll, mouse click, drag windows — in sum, do all the usual track pad kinds of things. Tapping the arrow icon twice will bring up a settings menu where you can select the number of buttons you’d like to use (0 to three), adjust friction, inertia and speed and other options.
Tap the keyboard icon, to bring up the keyboard, which you can use to enter text and number. Tap twice and you can adjust keystroke delay.
You also can create and label shortcut buttons from the keyboard, although I found that tedious. If you were to use Snatch, I’d suggest setting up your shortcuts as you go, rather than attempting them all at once, like I did.
I have to say, Snatch is a pretty cool app.
