Make your wired headset more useful with Headset Droid
One of the things we Android users simply have to live with is fewer accessories. While iPhone users have tons of wired headsets with buttons designed especially to control Apple devices, Android users generally have to settle for a few expensive, Android-specific versions or buy the iPhone versions and just use the buttons that work (not all do). There is however a simple solution that gives you a world of control over your device using the single-button headset that many devices ship with.
Headset Droid is one of several apps (another being the free JAYS Headset Control) that allow you to customize what your headset button(s) does. Using combinations of holding and pressing the button in certain ways, you get a wide range of configurable controls. You can set it to do music-related things like control volume or skip tracks, have it tell you the time, or even launch apps. I quite like a the JAYS app's default setup, where you control volume by clicking and holding/double clicking and holding the button.
Once you get used to the way you set it up, it really isn't more of a hassle to use one button that three. Even if you have a functioning three button headset, you might want to use an app like this to get even more functionality. Aside from the button configuration you can also set delays, plug-in/unplug actions and a few other headset-related things.
Headset Droid is a $3 app, whereas the JAYS app is free and can do a lot of the same things. I should also take this opportunity to link to a tutorial I made several years ago when the iPhone 3GS came out, as it shows how you can replace the actual earbuds on remote control headphones and leave the cable. It works on non-Apple headsets too, so if you have the DIY skills to do it you can take a cheap headset and put on some better earbuds and not be tied down to what's available with controls already included.
