Rowmote vs FullControl
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Rowmote
Control audio, video, and presentation applications on your Mac from your iOS device wirelessly. Seamlessly switch between apps, manage playback, and even wake your Mac remotely. It offers a convenient and cost-effective alternative to physical remotes.
- Wireless Mac control
- App switching and launching
- Media playback control
- Wake sleeping Macs
- Secure authentication
- Proximity sensor support
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Rowmote lets you seamlessly control audio, video, and presentation applications on your Mac from your iOS device. You love the remote control which came with your Mac - so simple yet elegant, with easy control of Front Row, iTunes, Quicktime, DVD Player, Keynote, and more. Or, your Mac didn’t come with a remote control or doesn’t even have an infrared port. Buying a remote control, from Apple or a third party, would carry a significant cost! You carry your iPhone or iPod Touch wherever you go... so why should you carry a second device just to control your computer? Furthermore, why should you need line-of-sight to do so? Enter Rowmote! Rowmote is like your Mac’s remote control, but over the wireless network and even better! By tapping the Apps button, you get bonus abilities, switching between controlled programs, toggling the iTunes Visualizer, and more. Rowmote will even wake sleeping Macs. FEATURES - Control your Mac over a wireless network. No line of sight necessary. - Functions just like the hardware Apple Remote Control in: • Adobe Lightroom • Airfoil Video • Amarra • Aperture • BBC iPlayer • Beamer • Boxee • Decibel • DVD Player • Ecoute • eyeTV 3.x • Firefox • Front Row • Hulu Desktop • iPhoto • iTunes • Keynote ‘08 & later • kJams Pro • Kodi • Last.fm • Logic • Microsoft Powerpoint ‘04 & later • mPlayer • Movist • OpenOffice Impress • Preview • PandoraBoy • PandoraJam • PandoraOne Desktop • Photos • Plex, Plex Home Theater, & Plex Media Player • Quicktime • Rdio • Safari • Skim • Songbird • Spotify • Squire • The Tube • VLC • xbmc (Xbox Media Center) - SWITCH: Access your Mac’s Dock, launching & switch between all controllable applications on the Mac, toggle the iTunes visualizer, and more. Order & display customizable. - Click-and-hold works just like on the physical remote in applications; for example, holding the right button fast-forwards, while a single click is ‘next’. This is a feature no other iPhone remote control I know of does properly! - Sleep on demand; wake the Mac automatically - Pause the music or video automatically when you answer a call on your iPhone - Proximity sensor support to automatically turn the screen off if the device is face-down - Secure authentication - Optional dark interface - Connect via WiFi or Bluetooth (Bluetooth requires Personal Hotspot Bluetooth tethering) REQUIREMENTS • Mac OS X 10.4.0 or later. • Mac: The free Rowmote Helper program must be running on the Mac to be controlled. Download at www.rowmote.com. Some features require later versions of Mac OS X. Rowmote is a steal! Couple it with Apple’s free Remote app to turn your iPhone or iPod Touch into the ultimate controller for home stereo, mobile presentation, or casual video viewing. The artwork of Rowmote was designed by Rik Schennink.
FullControl
Transform your iPhone or iPad into a powerful remote control for your Mac. Effortlessly manage applications, control media playback, navigate files, and even use your device as a keyboard and trackpad. Offers extensive customization for a personalized computing experience.
- Custom commands for each Mac application
- Launch applications and control media
- Remote keyboard and trackpad functionality
- File browser and launcher
- Shutdown, restart, and sleep Mac
- Live screenshots and volume control (in-app purchase)
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FullControl is a fun, and easy-to-use app that turns your iPhone or iPad into a remote control. So you can control your computer with a tap or flick of a finger. Why is FullControl so different? • there are specific commands for each Mac application, for ALL Mac applications! • high commands customization; • launch applications; • volume control; • navigate through Mac filesystem and open files; • remote keyboard and mouse. Do you want to skip to the next track? There is a fast command for this! Do you need to stop the movie? There is a command for this! Want to start a video? Do not look for it with the mouse, FullControl allows you to access the contents of folders on your Mac and launch files with the program of your choice! ### ALL FEATURES ### • Custom command FOR EACH Mac application • Launch applications in the folder "Applications" and in the Dock • Remote keyboard • Remote trackpad • Shutdown, restart, and putting to sleep the Mac • File browser and file launcher • Automatic server detection # In-App Purchases FEATURES # • Numeric pad • Live screenshots of your Mac • Volume control • Brightness control • Music control (play, pause, next, previous) • Prevent device screen lock toggle FullControl just installed, you have already provided the commands to control your music on iTunes, Spotify, the videos play on VLC, QuickTime, manage live TV on EyeTV! Requirements • Mac Intel with Mac OS 10.14 (or higher) • FullControlHelper (3.1.9 or higher) installed on your Mac • Accessibility API enabled for FullControlHelper • Wifi/LAN FullControlHelper is available for free at http://fullcontrol.cescobaz.com/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: FullControl at Free against Rowmote's $0.99. FullControl also leads on rating (4.5 vs 3.0) and review sentiment (82% vs 66%). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
FullControl is free to download; Rowmote costs $0.99 up front. Rowmote sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and FullControl sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
FullControl holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 87 and 219 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Rowmote's written reviews are positive against 82% of FullControl's.
Rowmote ships an update every 6 weeks, FullControl every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Rowmote | FullControl |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.0 (87 ratings) | 4.5 (219 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.1% of reviews | 81.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 87 | 219 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 4 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.2 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 37 MB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Evan Schoenberg | Francesco Burelli |
Customer experience
Rowmote
FullControl
User reviews
Rowmote
From 87 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to use
- 👍 Convenient remote control
- 🚀 Responsive
- 👍 Great for media control
- 👍 Useful for presentations
Room to improve
- 🐛 Connectivity issues
- 🐛 Crashes and bugs
- 🐛 Compatibility problems
- 🔒 Requires additional software
- 🔒 Doesn't work with Apple TV
FullControl
From 219 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fully functional free app
- 👍 Worth-it pro upgrade
- 👍 Easy to use and very useful
- 👍 Excellent remote app
- 🚀 Comprehensive application
Room to improve
- 🐛 No longer functions with newer OS versions
- 🐛 Laggy trackpad and scrolling
- 🔒 Concerns about security and privacy
- 🐛 Unreliable connection and disconnects
- 🐛 Certain features not working as expected
Bugs and requests
Rowmote
Reported bugs
4 issues- Frequent disconnections
- Crashes on startup
- Unresponsive controls
- Incompatibility with newer OS versions
Requested features
4 requests- Keyboard support
- Improved mouse/trackpad functionality
- Sleep/power controls
- Support for more apps and devices
FullControl
Reported bugs
3 issues- Cursor freezes or behaves unexpectedly
- Compatibility issues with newer OS versions
- Certain commands not working as intended
Requested features
5 requests- Add volume and brightness controls
- Improve mouse/trackpad responsiveness
- Integrate with voice assistants
- Allow remote login and power on/off
- Improve UI and customization options
In-app purchases
Rowmote
- Rowmote Pro Upgrade$3.99
FullControl
- Pro upgrade$1.99









