Headset controls are something that iPhone users have taken for granted all of these years, with standardized volume up/down and play/pause buttons that work universally if the accessory is “made for iPhone”. Poking around on my Galaxy Nexus running Jelly Bean and using the included Samsung earbuds, the in-line mic and button seem to work just as gracefully. Join me after the break for a quick video showing many ways the Galaxy Nexus’ headset can be used.
All of my preferred music and podcast applications — while they’re all quite popular — seem to perfectly support the headset. BeyondPod, Pandora, TuneIn Radio and Google Play Music all handle playing and pausing with the button just fine. In addition to the normal media playback, the Galaxy Nexus headset supports a long press to bring up Google Now on Jelly Bean. With a long press, you’re taken straight into Google Now and prompted for a voice action. Any normal voice action, such as “send text to…” and “call …”, as well as normal search terms work like a charm. Once you start using Google Now via the headset, you can really understand the excitement behind the latest Jelly Bean feature.
I’m not usually one to keep my headphones in more often than I need to. When I want to listen to music or a podcast, I fish the earbuds out of my bag, plug in and play, then put them back in my bag when I’m finished. These new headset controls I’m finding and using make me want to have my headphones handy more often.
Found any other applications that play nice with the headset on the Galaxy Nexus? Chime in in the comments and let us know.