How to Use Your Phone as a Remote Control for Your Backing Tracks

You've mounted your tablet on the mic stand, your tracks are loaded, and the gig's going well. But every time you need to pick the next song, you're walking back to the tablet, tapping through the library, and breaking the moment. What if you could do all of that from your phone — standing at the bar, chatting with a punter, or stepping off stage for a breather?

That's exactly what Yourtracks' remote control does. Your phone becomes a wireless remote for your master tablet. You browse the library, pick the next track, hit play, pause, skip, scrub, and adjust volume — all from your phone. The music still plays through the tablet's audio output (connected to the PA), so there's no quality loss, no second audio cable, and no Bluetooth lag.

How it works

Yourtracks uses a live connection between your devices over the internet. Your master tablet runs the show — it holds the files, plays the audio, and sends its current state (what's playing, the queue, the library) to your phone. Your phone sends commands back: play this track, pause, skip, seek to 1:30, turn the volume up.

The key thing to understand: your phone is a controller, not a second player. The audio comes out of your tablet, not your phone. That's deliberate — it means one audio output, one cable to the desk, and zero lag. Your phone is just the remote.

What you need

• Your master device (tablet or laptop) with Yourtracks open and your library loaded.
• A phone with Yourtracks installed (or open in a browser).
• Both devices signed into the same Yourtracks account.
• Both devices connected to the internet — they don't need to be on the same WiFi network, just online.

Setting it up

1. Open Yourtracks on your master tablet. Make sure your library is loaded and the app stays open. The tablet is the player — if it goes to sleep or the app closes, the remote loses its connection.
2. Sign in on your phone. Open Yourtracks on your phone and sign in with the same account you use on the tablet. If you haven't installed it yet, just open yourtracks.net in your phone's browser and sign in.
3. Open the Remote tab. On your phone, tap the Remote tab in the navigation. Yourtracks will connect to your master tablet automatically — you'll see a green "Tablet connected" indicator when it's linked.

Using it on the gig

Once connected, your phone shows two tabs:

• Now Playing — shows the current track, play/pause, restart, skip, the seek bar, volume, and auto-stop. You also see the tablet's queue, so you know what's coming up.
• Library — your full track list from the tablet, with search and genre filters. Tap any track to send it straight to the tablet and start playing.

When you tap a track on your phone, it sends a command to the tablet. The tablet confirms it's received the command, and your phone shows a quick confirmation. If the tablet is offline or the app has closed, your phone tells you — so you're never left wondering whether the track actually started.

Good to know

• Keep the tablet open. The remote needs Yourtracks running on the master device. If the tablet's screen locks or the app is backgrounded for too long, the connection drops. Yourtracks uses a wake lock to keep the screen alive during playback, but don't force-close the app.
• One audio output. The music always plays from the tablet — that's the one plugged into the PA. Your phone is silent. This is by design: one cable, one signal, no lag.
• No same-WiFi needed. Your phone and tablet don't need to be on the same network. As long as both have an internet connection (even mobile data on the phone), the remote works. So you can wander off the venue WiFi and still control the show.
• It's instant. Commands reach the tablet in under a second. You won't notice a delay between tapping play on your phone and hearing the music start.

When it's most useful

• You're working the room between songs and want to cue up the next track without walking back to the stand.
• A punter requests a song and you want to search for it without the whole room watching you scroll.
• You're running the gig from the floor (wedding, corporate) and the tablet is on stage with the sound engineer.
• You want to check what's in the queue without climbing back up to the tablet.

If it won't connect

• Check Yourtracks is open on the tablet and a track is loaded or playing.
• Check both devices are signed into the same account (same email).
• Check your phone has an internet connection — try loading a webpage.
• If the tablet shows "offline" on your phone, walk back and tap the screen to wake it — the connection will re-establish automatically.