How can I conveniently pause and play my iPhone audio with minimal touching of the phone?

Question

Okay these are my problem scenarios:

1) I'm cooking something and my hands are covered in animal fat. I'm listening to a podcast on my iPhone, which is sat on a counter nearby. It's been playing for some time so the display has turned itself off. Someone comes in and asks me something and I need to pause it quickly, then play it again when the person has gone.

2) I'm listening to an audiobook and the chapter ends. It's a good point to stop listening and go do something else. By the time I've reached for my phone, swiped to unlock it, opened the app and tapped pause, the next chapter has started and the story has now stopped mid-sentence.

So basically, isn't there some solution for these important first world problems? I don't like using headphones all the time, so a headphone-based remote control is not a solution for me.

Answer 1

This remote control appears to connect to the Bluetooth in your phone in order to be able to control it's audio output.

You could also purchase a dock with a remote for your iPhone. A remote of this nature would have a hardware Play/Pause button on it which you could press to quickly stop the music.

For the sake of example: I found this so you can get a picture of what I'm talking about.

One other thing: double tapping the home button when the iPhone is locked comes up with Play/Pause controls which you could tap with your knuckle or something. This is also a fast and easy way to change tracks in general.

Answer 2

I use the Take Five app to make pausing music or podcasts extremely simple.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/take-five/id361799359?mt=8

You get the default 5 minute pause and the music will resume, but you can drag the slider to many more minutes if desired.