Submission details
Front Row runs on primary monitor only and blanks the others
On a dual monitor setup, Front Row runs on primary display only, blacking all others out.
It prevents you from working on your mac while secondary display showing photos/movies/music through Front Row to your family or friends.
Give user an option to choose on which monitor Front Row will show, not blacking out any others. Route Apple Remote commands to Front Row when running.
This will allow setup Front Row for your wife/children/guests like this:
Connect your mac to TV, set Front Row to secondary display (TV), start Front Row and let them to control all Front Row features by Apple Remote WHILE YOU STILL DOING YOUR THINGS ON PRIMARY DISPLAY!
Low
Medium
Not fixed
Discussion (6 comments)
I'm promoting: but I'm adding something. I think it's not illogical to presume you'll be using it with your primary monitor, since your IR receiver is there (and it makes no sense to aim somewhere far away for the TV-experience, you know). I do think they should allow for this, since some people would aim from their backs while watching the menu on their big screen.
Also, the fact that you can't work with your primary screen and front row on your second is actually normal, because most macs wouldn't be able to bring both at a good speed, and you're supposidly using that mac to view video, instead of using applications. Appe could allow this, but their lowest-end computers just aren't made up for it, and the application has the same features across the board (Single OS-strategy). Just adding that. Though choosing the display makes more sense.
Jasper, you have some stranger theories. My wife has a low end MacBook, it runs two displays just find so your theory that the mac can't run both displays well at once is bogus. In fact, her previous computer, a 533 MHz titanium Powerbook ran two displays very well, so that blows your theory, that computer was as old as dirt and "slow" by todays standards.
As to aiming the remote somewhere besides your TV, that's ridiculous too. Unless you have an extraordinarily long cable, the IR receiver is going to be in fairly close proximity to the TV. In fact, we have a space right on the top of our entertainment center where the laptop sits.
And also, Apple "should" add a PREFERENCE as to which screen to display front row on. Again, this is a preference we are talking about. It would default to the main screen. Certainly someone who knows how to go buy the adapters and cables to connect the computer to the TV, and knows how to manipulate the preferences to display front row on that TV as a secondary monitor is smart enough to handle it.
For God sake. You guys are so tense! Don't shoot at me, I promoted you - you should have the choice. I'm just saying that it's Apple's call and they might have some reasons not to.
My iBook can run two screens pretty well (and that's old) - but Apple wanted to differentiate in iBook vs. PowerBook and didn't add that to the iBook's functionality. Sometimes they do that. Anyways, I'm not making this dirty.
I am, however, right about the fact that you shouldn't be able to use your computer and watch video on one - no matter what, but I stick with the fact that you can't use your mac for this purpose. Don't use front row if you want to use your computer. Front row isn't for multi-tasking, and actually not even for external screens - it's for your laptop or Mac. External screens are none of both. So the fact you can't do anything else is part of the simplicity. Anyways, what I'm saying is: yes to preference of screen, no to working on it and watching video at the same time...
"...shouldn't be able to use your computer and watch video on one..." Rubbish.
That's the sort of prescriptive nincompoop thinking that apple comes up with. We will tell you how to use your computer.
Let me tell you that if you want to mix a powerpoint presentation with movies from front row this is exactly the sort of preference you need.
"Anyways, what I'm saying is: yes to preference of screen, no to working on it and watching video at the same time..."
Ok, cool. Just remember, jasper, that you are not the only mac user out there. Show a little humility, man. If you don't have something nice to say, then keep it to yourself. Just because MOST people don't NEED to have the feature in question doesn't mean that ALL users will NEVER want it. IMO, It should be an option.
Consider this jasper: What if, while watching your movie on Front Row, you just want to keep an eye on an RSS feed, or a download's progress, or your Inbox? Is that too much to ask? We're not talking about running Final Cut Pro and Front Row simultaneously, ok?
Watchful wrote on December 6, 2008, 3:32pm
I agree, Apple should provide the options for this natively. I connect my laptop to my TV all the time to watch shows or movies I bought with iTunes, and until recently I would always have to mirror the displays to get front row on the TV, which was annoying since it would mess up the desktop icons and other annoying things.
However, I recently discovered a third party app that works marvelously. When you launch this app, it gives you three options, permanently set front row to secondary display, set front row to second display one time only, or remove your previously set preference to run front row on second display all the time.
http://sites.google.com/site/robijnx/products/tvrow-1