Controlling audio with wired headphones 21
by Adam Marks Tue, 21 Dec 2010 1:28 pm EST
When you are listening to music on your phone, did you know that you can control certain aspects of playback using your wired headset? Many headsets--including the one from Palm that comes with your phones--have a button on them that you use to hang up a phone conversation, but that is not the only use you will find for that button. From the stock music app to homebrew apps like Music Player (Remix) or other audio apps like DrPodder, you can control the audio playback using that button. Just load up an audio file and click once to pause/play that current track, or quickly click twice to fast forward to the next track.
Thanks to RagaR for suggesting this tip
(8 votes)
21 Comments
Now don't I feel silly..... never realized there was a button on my Palm headset! I'll have to try this out -- thanks.
Not only did I not know about this, I didn't know there was a button on the silly things! (in my defense - I hardly ever use their headphones:)
Nice tip - thanks
Nice tip, unfortunately, it's fairly useless. After my last fiasco with the earphone jack getting stuck (even after unplugging the earphones) I stopped using wired earphones altogether.
Unfortunately this is yet another let-down with this device. I can't listen to music.
The last time my jack got stuck, I tried everything listed on this site and nothing worked to free up the port. I couldn't take calls or place them as voice was being redirected to the earphone jack when no earphones were plugged in. Only after a couple of days did it finally reset on it's own. I vowed never again to put anything in that jack.
download the homebrew app The GhastlyHeadset. It's the only way to truly workaround Palm's horrible hardware.
I love the button on the headphones, one of the best discoveries made. It did take me about a year into having the Pre before I realized the headphones included with the Pre also have a microphone, a wonderful surprise!
Yeah, I'm currently experiencing a "stuck jack port" it's beyond frustrating. I'm heading to the Sprint repair center later today. Do you know if they can fix it or will I be getting a new Pre??
Hello msaid. I use a headset with my Pre all the time, I've had the same problem many times. I found that using q-tips and rubbing alcohol work pretty well at fixing this issue. In case you didn't know, this issue is caused by dirt and dust getting inside the headphone jack and bridging a connection. You will need to pull some of the cotton off to make it fit, and you may have to repeat if you don't get it the first time. Also, I recommend you get an app called "the ghastly headset" which can be found in the forum. Unfortunately it's not in the app catalog nor available in preware. It works wonderfully in webOS 1.4.1.1 but is a bit buggy in 1.4.5. Regardless, I consider this an app that everyone should have. It's nice to have when you're away from home and get this issue. I hope this helped. :)
@msaid I got mine unstuck with canned air but a friend never got hers unstuck. They didn't even LOOK at her phone - just went and grabbed a refurb and swapped the ESNs in her account.
Backup your USB drive :(
I did back up my USB drive, otherwise I'd feel incomplete if I lost everything :(
After reading this article I decided to try out the earbuds from my iPod, which has a multi-function remote built in. It works great...one tap=go/pause, two taps=skip to the next track, three taps=skip to the previous track. The volume control doesn't work, but it's still a huge improvement!
wow I also feel really dumb that I never realized that there was a button on my wired headset and also a mic!!! that is awesome! although I have had problems with my pres getting stuck in headset mode so I don't know how much this will help as I am a bit leary about plugging it back in :(
@Slk24kgj they prob won't even try fixing it they will just give you a new pre... at least that is what they did for me two different times, one time they didn't even look at it they just told me to come back tomorrow and they would have a new one for me!!! Like stated above make sure you Back up your pic and music all the stuff on your USB drive part of the Pre because no matter what they tell you, that stuff will NOT come back with your profile, your contacts and apps etc will but not the pic, vids, audio etc!
I'm another one who didn't know about the mic or button. This is great news, since I always listen to music while walking around! For those that didn't know, the silver pieces are magnets to hold the earpieces together. This was posted a while back.
I was also very careful about putting headphones into my pre but I went to a local sprint store after the pre was cancelled. They will do anything to fix my pre, they really don't want to give me a new one, first time I went they said they opened up the phone and put the metal spring back in place. Went home and after an hour it messed up again so I took it back and they fully replaced the spring with a much better spring that hasn't failed me once. So maybe some of you should try to go back to a sprint store now as I think they will fix it.
This is no pointed criticism of the Pre, as I have this problem with any such earbuds....How do you keep them in your ears?!! Other than buying a set designed to grab your ears?
check these out: http://www.zagg.com/audio/smart-buds.php they are $50, but you can easily find a 40% or 50% coupon on twitter or by entering their weekly promotions. and they have a microphone and volume slider (along with the button I mentioned in the tip)
How nice indeed! Controlling music apps like that! Oh, long press in spotify will 'star' the current song playing. Also vibrates to confirm, nice touch!
I love my Palm Headphones; my wife got me the new iPod Nano and the button even works on it too (1 click to pause; 2 clicks to go to next song; hold it down to hear a voice tell me the name of the song)! It also opens the voice recorder app when it is plugged into the Nano! Then, when I get a call, I can quickly plug it back into my phone and take a call!
Love the headphones! ;)
Can somebody please confirm if the Zagg buds Mark talked about works with the volume slider? It would be cool to know though if there
Yes, the volume slider on the zagg smartbuds work just fine. And the name is Adam, not Mark!
Sorry about that, a stupid typo. Thanks for the tip!!
Hey, do you know any other cheaper version that works with the Pre?