Earphone/buds with remote - none will pause play

[techinstructor]

I have reached the limit of my frustration in trying to find a pair of earphones/earbuds/earpods (whatever you want to call them) that have a remote that can be used to PAUSE the audio play on my device. I want to be able to listen to audiobooks on my Samsung Galaxy J7 (Android 7) and be able to pause the recording whenever someone comes up to speak with me. Usually I am in the process of cooking when this happens so it is most inconvenient to pull out the phone to accomplish this. The problem is that the pause button activates the "OK Google" app. I have tried numerous different ways to turn this app OFF to no avail. The setting, "Say OK Google" any time” is disabled, but it doesn't matter. It can be activated anytime, anyway.

My latest attempt to find earbuds that will work was to buy a pair made by SAMSUNG. These are cheapo Active In-ear headphones. They do the same thing when the remote is pushed as the Apple earpods or a pair of Vomercy earbuds did. On all three when the remote is pushed, OK Google is activated. (I have an older Samsung phone w/ Android 2.3 and on it the play can be paused but not restarted. While not great, at least this would be acceptable.) I also had similar experience (i.e. activating "OK Google") with earbuds on a LG K20 that was running Android 7. Since I started experimenting with Apple earpods, most people thought that was the problem, but now I've had the exact same response from the Vomercy and Samsung earphones.

Am I the only person who wants to use a remote to pause audio on this type of device? It just seems ridiculous to me that I can't get this to work. I keep thinking I've got some setting wrong but I can't find out what it is.

Does anyone here use earphones, either wired or bluetooth with a remote that will work to pause audio on an Android device? If you have a set w/ remote that works, please share your experience with me. I really need to find one that will work.

 

[chanchan05]

Hmm. That's weird. All headphones I've tried pauses on single tap. However it does turn on Ok Google on long press. Are you sure you aren't pressing too long or too hard? Just a quick press. You don't hold the button. A quick press and music stops a second later.

 

[techinstructor]

Tried a quick press and get NO response. You are correct in that I am doing a press/hold to activate "Ok Google". What ear buds are you using that work?

 

[chanchan05]

Currently I'm using a Coloud No. 4 (great sounds for the price. I couldn't believe these things go for just 20USD lol). But I've tried Samsung headsets, Philips, and JVC, and they all support the press to pause and play.

 

[techinstructor]

Currently I'm using a Coloud No. 4 (great sounds for the price. I couldn't believe these things go for just 20USD lol). But I've tried Samsung headsets, Philips, and JVC, and they all support the press to pause and play.

Now I'm wondering if it has to do with this version of Android. Are you using Android 7?

 

[chanchan05]

Now I'm wondering if it has to do with this version of Android. Are you using Android 7?

Yup.

 

[techinstructor]

Thanks for your help chanchan05. I think I've figured out a few things. First I tried the earphones with an online mp3 file on a different device (an LG K20). When playing the music via the web, the pause button worked. So then I tried the same file - same website on the Samsung and again the pause button worked. So I concluded that the problem I was having was the RB Digital app that I was using the listen to the audiobooks. I found an option in the settings to use a "Legacy player" - Once selected the pause button will now PAUSE the book - it still won't restart the play but I can deal with that. I'm just happy to have a way to pause it without OK Google popping up.

I looked at the Coloud earphones and they look very interesting. I like "The Hoop" model, since I usually wear them while cooking or doing housework and these would be more likely to stay in. I think I might try a pair.

I do appreciate your help. It can get frustrating trying to figure things out with too many variables - OS, app, or hardware - and not knowing the exact parameters of each.

 

[techinstructor]

Thanks for your help chanchan05. I think I've figured out a few things. First I tried the earphones with an online mp3 file on a different device (an LG K20). When playing the music via the web, the pause button worked. So then I tried the same file - same website on the Samsung and again the pause button worked. So I concluded that the problem I was having was the RB Digital app that I was using the listen to the audiobooks. I found an option in the settings to use a "Legacy player" - Once selected the pause button will now PAUSE the book - it still won't restart the play but I can deal with that. I'm just happy to have a way to pause it without OK Google popping up.

I looked at the Coloud earphones and they look very interesting. I like "The Hoop" model, since I usually wear them while cooking or doing housework and these would be more likely to stay in. I think I might try a pair.

I do appreciate your help. It can get frustrating trying to figure things out with too many variables - OS, app, or hardware - and not knowing the exact parameters of each.

 

[chanchan05]

Yeah, sometimes it's just the app themselves don't support the functions.