How can I control my phone without touching the screen?

[MysticKatDaddy]

I want to control music, audio books, and podcasts while driving and not take my hands off the wheel or take them off as little as possible. Voice controls don't work well at all. I've tried a cheap bluetooth remote that I could find but that doesn't connect half the time. I'm willing to spend a few hundred dollars if it gets the job done. Ideally there would be analog controls that would sit on my seat, be on a keychain or attach to my steering wheel that would allow me to do the following: fast forward, rewind, next track, previous track, play, and pause. If I could program a custom function that would be great. I tried flic buttons but they only have 3 actions.

sorry for the double post. I didn't realize I wasn't logged in at first.

 

[N4Newbie]

What phone? What Android version?

If it is reasonably new (less than 2-3 years old), you should have OK Google capability. See OK Google for a complete list of commands, including those related to music playback.

If you are not familiar with OK Google, see https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/6031948?hl=en

 

[MysticKatDaddy]

I've found ok google does not work when the music is playing. I use a samsung galaxy s5

 

[N4Newbie]

I've found ok google does not work when the music is playing. I use a samsung galaxy s5

Interesting... Then, how is "OK Google ... Next Song" supposed to be useful.

I wonder if the music is too loud such that the phone cannot "hear" the OK Google keyword.

Once again, what phone do you have? This device https://www.amazon.com/Satechi-Medi...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU5279715 apparently works with a number of Bluetooth 3.0 Android phones (see the text description).

A number of other possibilities: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU5279715

 

[N4Newbie]

Sorry, I see it is an S5. Several reviews of the first device I linked state that it works well with the S5: https://www.amazon.com/Satechi-Medi...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU5279728

 

[rafgiav]

If you can pay some money for that feature, you should propably get a smartwatch and do it with gestures. Plus, it has tons of other capabilities.