How I made my own Amazon Dash button (opens in new tab)

(stavros.io)

47 pointsstelabouras10y ago11 comments

11 comments

11 comments · 6 top-level

suprasanna10y ago· 2 in thread

Here's another person who had a very cool implementation with the actual Amazon Dash button. They messed with it (software only) to track baby data!

You could use the same method to track many other things if you got creative.

https://medium.com/@edwardbenson/how-i-hacked-amazon-s-5-wif...

StavrosK10y ago

That's another cool solution, but it's more hackish (since you're doing it at the network level). Too bad the Dash button isn't more hackable, it's a very nice device.

hcf10y ago

The lithium battery in it is super expensive too, I would be surprised if it cost less than $5 to make.

kjhughes10y ago· 1 in thread

Cool project, and in case you've never heard of Amazon Dash (as I hadn't)...

Amazon Dash is a button that when pressed will place an order on Amazon via Wi-Fi, controllable by the Amazon App:

https://www.amazon.com/b/?node=10667898011

GabrielF0010y ago

Technically, Dash is a different product from Dash Button. The Dash is a barcode scanner/voice device for Amazon's grocery business (Amazon Fresh). You say a product's name or scan its barcode and it adds it to your cart on Amazon Fresh.

https://fresh.amazon.com/dash/

TamDenholm10y ago· 1 in thread

Someone made a programmable button and it looks extremely nice but its very pricy: https://flic.io/ Tempted to order some and have a play.

StavrosK10y ago

My problems with the flic is that it's pricy, I don't know how open it is, and I don't know whether it requires a bluetooth connection with a nearby phone.

zorpner10y ago· 1 in thread

Interestingly, the Dash uses wi-fi controlled by the setup app to be configured with an Android phone, but because the app can't control the wi-fi on an iPhone it uses ultrasonic signals: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=...

You may need to increase your iPhone volume, since Dash Button uses ultrasonic tones to sync with your iPhone during setup.

philjohn10y ago

That's how the Furby Boom is able to interact with the iPad app ... only problem is, I can still hear the damn noises despite being 35!

whoiskevin10y ago

Wonder when Amazon will just make this easier for everyone. They already have if it just moves out of beta: https://aws.amazon.com/iot/button/

Hortinstein10y ago

Shameless plug: I wrote a quick and dirty node.js library to re-purpose the amazon branded ones to do anything you want.

https://github.com/hortinstein/node-dash-button

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11 comments

11 comments · 6 top-level

suprasanna10y ago· 2 in thread

Here's another person who had a very cool implementation with the actual Amazon Dash button. They messed with it (software only) to track baby data!

You could use the same method to track many other things if you got creative.

https://medium.com/@edwardbenson/how-i-hacked-amazon-s-5-wif...

StavrosK10y ago

That's another cool solution, but it's more hackish (since you're doing it at the network level). Too bad the Dash button isn't more hackable, it's a very nice device.

hcf10y ago

The lithium battery in it is super expensive too, I would be surprised if it cost less than $5 to make.

kjhughes10y ago· 1 in thread

Cool project, and in case you've never heard of Amazon Dash (as I hadn't)...

Amazon Dash is a button that when pressed will place an order on Amazon via Wi-Fi, controllable by the Amazon App:

https://www.amazon.com/b/?node=10667898011

GabrielF0010y ago

https://fresh.amazon.com/dash/

TamDenholm10y ago· 1 in thread

Someone made a programmable button and it looks extremely nice but its very pricy: https://flic.io/ Tempted to order some and have a play.

StavrosK10y ago

My problems with the flic is that it's pricy, I don't know how open it is, and I don't know whether it requires a bluetooth connection with a nearby phone.

zorpner10y ago· 1 in thread

You may need to increase your iPhone volume, since Dash Button uses ultrasonic tones to sync with your iPhone during setup.

philjohn10y ago

That's how the Furby Boom is able to interact with the iPad app ... only problem is, I can still hear the damn noises despite being 35!

whoiskevin10y ago

Wonder when Amazon will just make this easier for everyone. They already have if it just moves out of beta: https://aws.amazon.com/iot/button/

Hortinstein10y ago

Shameless plug: I wrote a quick and dirty node.js library to re-purpose the amazon branded ones to do anything you want.

https://github.com/hortinstein/node-dash-button

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse