How to control Winamp from your iPhone, iPod Touch or web browser

This tutorial will guide you through setting up and using WWWinamp, a Windows web server-like application that allows remote control of Winamp via any web browser. If you run a media server in your house and want to be able to control what’s playing in Winamp without having to go to that server, this is the program for you.

Please note: This guide was published back in 2008 and is now considered a bit of out date. With that said, WWWinamp is still available to download and use, and should still work exactly as outlined in this guide.

  1. To get started, download and install WWWinamp. It might go without saying, but I’ll do it anyway, you will of course need to have Winamp installed as well. The installation of WWWinamp is very straight forward – you’ll mostly click “next” a bunch of times.
  2. Once the install has finished, you’ll need to edit the config file. To do so, click Start -> All Programs -> WWWinamp -> WWWinamp Configuration.
  3. windows start menu
    click to enlarge

  4. Scroll down to the port: section of the file. Select a port to use to run WWWinamp on. The default is 80, but I prefer to use 8090. Whatever you choose, make sure it isn’t one that conflicts with another program running on your PC.
  5. wwwinamp config file
    click to enlarge

  6. In the AccessLoginPassword: section you can specify a user name and password so that only you can access WWWinamp. If you’re only going to control Winamp from a device in your house (and your PC is connected to a router), you can skip using a user/pass entirely. This tutorial assumes that your PC is behind a router. If you do want to password protect access to WWWinamp, use the format:

    AccessLoginPassword:username:password

  7. wwwinamp config file
    click to enlarge

  8. Similar to the previous step, you can set a user name and password to the admin section of WWWinamp. And again, if you’re behind a router and don’t plan on accessing Winamp from outside of your own network, you can skip adding a user/pass. If you do want to password protect the admin section, use the format:

    AdminLoginPassword:username:password

  9. wwwinamp config file
    click to enlarge

  10. Now scroll down to the DBPath section. It’s here that you’ll tell WWWinamp where your audio files are stored. Use a semicolon to separate different folders. For example, I keep my music two folders – C:\mp3 and the “My Music” folder, which is C:\Documents and Settings\my-user-name-\My Documents\My Music\. So my DPPath looks like this:

    DBPath:C:\mp3;C:\Documents and Settings\my-user-name-\My Documents\My Music\

  11. wwwinamp config file
    click to enlarge

  12. Now save the config file by selecting File -> Save.
  13. save as in notepad

  14. Launch WWWinamp by clicking Start -> All Programs -> WWWinamp -> WWWinamp Server Start.
  15. wwwinamp start menu entry
    click to enlarge

  16. If a firewall window pops up, make sure to click Unblock.
  17. windows firewall window

  18. The WWWinamp server window will appear. Assuming all went well, it will end with “entering server loop”. If there’s an error, read it carefully and go back to the config file to correct any mistakes.
  19. wwwinamp running
    click to enlarge

  20. Test out WWWinamp by entering http://localhost:port in a web browser on the same PC that WWWinamp is running on. Remember, the port you’ll enter is the one you specified back in step 3. If you opted to specify a user name and password, you’ll need to enter them here.
  21. browser address bar

  22. You should be presented with a window similar to the one below. Click on Show all to display your MP3s.
  23. wwwinamp running in a browser
    click to enlarge

  24. Click on a song to have it start playing in Winamp.
  25. wwwinamp running in a browser
    click to enlarge

  26. If Winamp isn’t running, WWWinamp will tell you.
  27. wwwinamp running in a browser
    click to enlarge

  28. To start Winamp, add /admin to the end of the URL to enter the admin section of WWWinamp. So your URL will look something like: http://localhost:port/admin. Now click the Try starting Winamp link.
  29. wwwinamp running in a browser
    click to enlarge

  30. That should launch Winamp and the song you previously selected will start playing.
  31. wwwinamp running in a browser
    click to enlarge

  32. From the /admin section you can also jump to songs in the queue, remove songs from the queue, etc.
  33. wwwinamp running in a browser
    click to enlarge

  34. To access WWWinamp from your iPhone, iPod Touch or other Internet connected device, enter the IP address of the PC running WWWinamp (don’t forget :port) in its web browser. Now you can control Winamp remotely.
  35. Accessing WWWinamp thorough an iPod Touch.

    wwwinamp running in the ipod touch iphone browser
    click to enlarge

    wwwinamp running in the ipod touch iphone browser
    click to enlarge

    Accessing WWWinamp through Opera mobile.

    wwwinamp in opera mobile


If this article helped you, I'd be grateful if you could share it on your preferred social network - it helps me a lot. If you're feeling particularly generous, you could buy me a coffee and I'd be super grateful :)

buy a coffee for simplehelp.net


Home » Mobile Phones » iPhone » How to control Winamp from your iPhone, iPod Touch or web browser

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.