Flic buttons

[arlo]

This is cool. As of today's releases, BandHelper and Set List Maker support remote control via Flic buttons:

https://amzn.to/2KkpqUa

These are small (about the size of a US Quarter), Bluetooth buttons that you can stick onto an instrument or clip onto an instrument strap (they include a reusable adhesive pad and a clip). Then you can trigger three different actions in my app, by clicking, double-clicking or long-clicking the button. You can even set up multiple buttons for multiple "banks" of actions.

The batteries are supposed to last a year and are replaceable. The buttons work with tablets or phones, iOS or Android. You need to install the free Flic app to pair the button with your device, and then you can map them to actions on the Settings > Remote Control page of my app.

[Chris]

As a review: bought one a week ago and directly checked it during two gigs.
It worked perfectly for my desired intention and I can only stress out that it is a great addition to a Blueturn or even as a standalone version with its three trigger-options.

My setup can be read-through in the following thread: http://forum.arlomedia.com/index.php/topic,1335.0.html

[Chris]

Small update:

Flic is currently planning to launch a new version of the Flic-button.
So whomever already thought about getting one but was not convinced by the functionality yet: maybe the new one will be more impressive.

[Chris]

I have backed the new Flic-buttons and will update once I receive them (which will most probably take until fall this year as per the current schedule).

[Chris]

Hi arlo,

finally received the new Flic buttons today and from a physical perspective, they look and feel great.
It seems though that either your app or the flic app itself prevent connecting to and using the button with BandHelper.

Is there any troubleshooting information you could gain benefit from?

Chris

[arlo]

Can you submit a help ticket for that?

[Chris]

Sure. Ticket submitted

[arlo]

Okay, the Flic company hasn't yet released the software that app developers need to integrate with the new Flic 2. However, the Flic 2 can send keyboard (HID) messages, so you can use it just like a Bluetooth foot switch that connects as a HID device. In this case you would not need to use the Connect Flic Button in my apps -- just use the Flic app to configure the Flic button to send key presses like Up Arrow and Down Arrow, then use the setup instructions for Bluetooth devices on this page:

http://www.bandhelper.com/tutorials/remote_control.html

[Chris]

Thanks, arlo... I will definitely consider this in my feedback on the Flic 2...

Update: While the framework does not work yet, arlos hint to have the Flic 2 trigger keyboard messages instead does the trick.

My configuration is as follows:

- Flic Single Click triggers keyboard control "Right arrow" which in Bandhelper jumps to the next song
- Flic Double-Click triggers keyboard control "Left arrow" which in Bandhelper opens the document in full size
- Flic Hold triggers keyboard control "Return" which in Bandhelper jumps to the previous song

[AcoustiCafe]

Hey folks,
I just installed the Flic App and set up a Flic 2 with an iPad Air, configured to mimic keyboard commands (1 Click = Down Arrow/scroll down, 2 Click = Up Arrow/scroll up, Hold = Right Arrow/Next Song). Is it expected that the Flic app has to be open for it to work? I closed the app after setting it up with Bandhelper and it wouldn't work, but when I opened the Flic app again it started working again. If so, no worries, just checking as my BlueBoard app doesn't need to be open to work with Bandhelper.

Thanks,
Jeff

[arlo]

It makes sense that the Flic app would have to be open. When you say you closed it, do you mean you force-quit it? If you just switched to another app and it stopped working, that would be a problem to ask the makers of the Flic about.

[AcoustiCafe]

Hi Arlo,
Just "regular quit", i.e. sliding it offscreen on the iPad to close. If I open the Flic App and then open Bandhelper it works fine. So, basically the Flic App has to remain open as a "translator" it appears. (Some apps do, some don't, just wanted to be sure I wasn't missing something).

Have you been able to get the Flic 2 to work on the Android Bandhelper app? I can't find a listing for the "Keyboard Control" under the Android Flic App function categories. Reading through the Flic forums it appears they had some issues back in 2016 with keyboard control randomly crashing android phones, but I haven't read anything since then so I posted a question about it.

Thanks,
Jeff

[arlo]

Sliding the app offscreen is a force quit, so it makes sense that that would stop it from working.

I don't have a Flic 2 myself. This page indicates that keyboard control is only supported on iOS, but let us know if they tell you something different:

https://flic.io/all-functions

[AcoustiCafe]

Hey folks,
Thought I'd already updated this, but appears not. I'm no longer using the Flic 2 as there are just too many issues:

Strike 1 - Turns out Flic 2 doesn't have a keyboard actions selection on Android, so it absolutely won't work for Bandhelper on the Android tablets and phones and we have a mix in the band.
Strike 2 - We've been having a LOT of issues with the buttons randomly mixing up commands, i.e. confusing a single click (my down arrow) with a double click (my up arrow), so lyrics will randomly scroll back up instead of down mid-song (sometimes repeatable, sometimes not).
Strike 3 - Since we bought a Flic 2 3-pack, we had a couple extras to swap out when we had issues (since we can't use them for the 2 band members with Androids anyway). But God forbid you have issues mid gig, because after you delete the offending Flic 2 from the app, the app will tell you the next Flic 2 that you try to sync with the tablet is already in the list (even if it's never been sync'd before) and you may even end up having to reboot the tablet to clear out the Flic app's memory or whatever.

So, I'm no longer recommending the Flic 2.

The follow up question would be, is there a handheld bluetooth page turner that does the same thing as the IK Multimedia iRig BlueTurn? We have one (and a BlueBoard) and both of them JUST WORK with Bandhelper and whatever else you use them for. I have the BlueBoard on my pedal board set up to do up/down/right/tempo and all I have to do is turn on the Blueboard, open Bandhelper, hit the MIDI button at the top of the playlist, select "connect to a bluetooth device" and select my Blueboard. The BlueTurn is even easier as after initial setup you just turn it on and Bandhelper is good to go. The only issue with it is my wife/vocalist doesn't want to do a foot control so she holds it in her hand, but it's rather large.

Doesn't anyone make a plain bluetooth no-app-required page turn device in a handheld format??

Thanks,
Jeff

[arlo]

AirTurn makes a couple handheld Bluetooth controllers:

https://www.airturn.com/products/categories/handheld-remotes

But avoid the "media controllers" that are designed to control your music playback or snap the camera shutter. Those typically don't use keyboard messages like the AirTurns and most foot switches do.