I'm looking for a bluetooth button. No features. Just. A. Button.

February 18, 2014 6:13 AM

So I used WAZE for my morning commute on my iPhone. It's on my dash and out of easy reach. But sometimes I get an idea for a thing I need to do when I get to the office. Or a text I need to send. So I have to stretch and reach over for the iPhone button to hold it down and dictate it to Siri. Then I thought: What if I just had a button. On me. So that's what I'm looking for. A button I can have close to me that I can press to activate the same function on the iPhone. Not a headset. Or a speakerphone. My car's functionality there works great. Just a button to trigger the thing that's a foot out of easy reach. Now It'd be great if it was like a pin on and didn't look awful so it could be semi decorative. But frankly even if it was big and ugly and I could mount it on the wheel that would work too. So...anyone know any straight button options?
posted by rileyray3000 to Technology (11 answers total)

This Satechi Media Remote seems a bit over-designed for your needs, but it will do what you want and is not too expensive. I didn't realize I wanted one until you mentioned it...
posted by Rock Steady at 6:56 AM on February 18, 2014

They make bluetooth iPhone compatible multimedia presentation remotes and they can do what you want. Here's one from Satech that advertises one-button Siri access.
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:57 AM on February 18, 2014

It's rather pricey at $80, but the Beanco Mobile Home is exactly what you describe.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 7:20 AM on February 18, 2014

Alternatively, is there any way you could more your iPhone so it's closer to you?
posted by rabbitrabbit at 7:22 AM on February 18, 2014

I thought Siri could be activated with a phrase?
posted by devnull at 7:45 AM on February 18, 2014

"I thought Siri could be activated with a phrase?"

Only if the phone is jailbroken.
posted by komara at 8:11 AM on February 18, 2014

I have the BeanCo Mobile Home and I use it primarily in my car, but it would work rather well anywhere. It does take it a minute to wake up and then send the signal to Siri, but that's its only drawback so far.
posted by teleri025 at 8:36 AM on February 18, 2014

I love the timing of this question. I just built a device that does exactly what you're looking for (plus a little bit more). Based on this blog post, I purchased an Adafruit Bluefruit EZ-Key and programmed a pin to trigger the Bluetooth HID consumer command "Home" (sorry, I know that's a mouthful). The other functions I added were play/pause, next track, previous track, volume up and volume down.

So, if you're in a DIY mood, this is definitely an option I can recommend.
posted by malaprohibita at 11:33 AM on February 18, 2014 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Or, alternatively, you could make one and advertise it on Kickstarter. I believe this says there's a market.
posted by rileyray3000 at 6:16 PM on February 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

True. I'd never even thought about making and selling these. If I can get over my entrepreneurial anxiety... ;)
posted by malaprohibita at 5:31 AM on February 19, 2014

I randomly came across this old question that is barely still open and I thought I should mention that as of iOS 8, you can activate Siri by saying "Hey Siri" as long as the phone is plugged in.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:33 AM on November 1, 2014