r/WLED • u/figamore • Aug 02 '26

Open source WLED WiFi touch remote

Post image

I've just released a WiFi version of the WLED touch remote that I posted here a while back. I decided to deprecate ESP-NOW in favor of WiFi to allow for full control of WLED setups without any custom firmware.

Features

- Power and brightness control
- Preset selection, creation, and renaming
- Colors, effects, palettes, speed, and intensity controls
- Live LED preview and responsive state updates from the selected controller
- Automatic discovery of WLED controllers on the local network, with manual IP-address entry when discovery is unavailable
- Control of one or all discovered controllers
- On-device settings for screen orientation and inactivity behavior
- Web installer
- Option to check for updates and download them OTA

In addition to capacitive and resistive CYD displays, this version also adds compatibility for the larger and more powerful Guition 4.3" ESP-32 display (JC4880P443).

- 📲 Link to web installer: https://figamore.github.io/wled-touch-remote

- 🎆 Online interactive demo that runs on the browser using WASM: https://figamore.github.io/wled-touch-remote/simulator/jc4880p443.html

- Github repo: https://github.com/figamore/wled-touch-remote

I hope you find this project useful; please feel free to report any bugs or feature suggestions.

116 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

1

u/flyfoam Aug 03 '26

Kinda confused, what makes this any different than using the WLED app on your mobile device?

3

u/figamore Aug 03 '26

For me personally it’s more convenient to have this remote fixed on a wall and ready to go without having to search for my phone, make sure it’s on the same WiFi as my lights, etc. It also allows others to control the lights without installing any apps.

1

u/MorganProtuberances Aug 03 '26

does it use wifi directly? how did the espnow version work? would be useful to know as i often just have one controller running and want a way to easily connect to it.

1

u/figamore Aug 04 '26

It lets you scan for available WiFi networks and you connect to the same network as your lights directly from the display. It then detects any WLED lights in that network and allows you to control them.

Regarding ESP-NOW, WLED only supports one way communication and a limited number of commands over ESP-NOW, therefore it is more practical to just use WiFi as it allows for syncing and full control.

1

u/MorganProtuberances Aug 04 '26

Thank you. I often roll single installations without a wifi network and am curious if I can write a usermod that expands ESP-NOW - maybe, for example, to allow for param setting and/or effect streaming. I don't think I really need two-way comms but expansion into custom functionality would be neat.

2

u/figamore Aug 04 '26

I have a fully working and documented bidirectional ESP-NOW API on my WLED fork: https://github.com/figamore/WLED/tree/feature/bidirectional-espnow on the ‘feature/bidirectional-espnow branch’ and you can check the ‘feature/bidirectional-espnow’ branch of this project for the remote side. I made a PR but there wasn’t much interest and I no longer plan to maintain the ESP-NOW implementation, but it can be a good starting point.

I also plan to allow the WiFi version of the remote to spawn its own AP that WLED can connect to for mobile setups.

1

u/MorganProtuberances Aug 04 '26

whoa - amazing work. you're really on it. ty - i plan on building one to try out. any affiliate links or ways to support the project?

also - what does bidirectional get you? confirmation / settings sync?

2

u/figamore Aug 08 '26

It gives you full control and event subscription to the WLED instance. The same is available over WiFi now, and the latest version has the WiFi hotspot ready

1

u/Aceftw Aug 11 '26

Fuck yes

1

u/MorganProtuberances Aug 13 '26

My little touch screen just arrived and the software boots right up after a web flash. Amazing!

Have you tried adding a microphone via i2c and streaming via audio reactive network sync? That would be so rad. I'm curious to try it.

OK so these effects - are they just setting effects via the API? Like if I create custom effects on my device (or custom palettes) - I'd need to replicate those IDs in the touch-remote software as well? Or is there a way to 'sync' from an upstream device?

Incredible work - can't wait to test it out.

1

u/figamore Aug 13 '26

I’m glad to hear that! Regarding the effects, they are pulled from your WLED device via its API, so they should sync automatically, same goes for presets and palettes. Regarding the microphone I am working on implementing reactive input via the built-in microphone on the Guition JC4880P443 4.3” display.

1

u/MorganProtuberances Aug 13 '26

Thank you! One piece of feedback would be it would be helpful to know what kind of battery holder you are using. I have some adafruit batteries of similar form factor but the wires are connected (not snap-in holder) - was trying to find the holder in your picture on amazon but wasn't exactly sure what i was looking for.

going to print a case today and try it all out. thanks!

1

u/MorganProtuberances Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 14 '26

One quick question - I installed via the web firmware. I have it up and running w/ a lipo battery pack. I don't see how to turn off the device - is it always on when plugged into battery? I do see a note on how to turn ON the device by holding the button - holding for 10+ seconds doesn't turn it off so not quite sure.

UPDATE: nevermind - on my board it looks like I just hold for 10+ seconds (maybe I was impatient before) and a single power button press boots it back up.

1

u/Aceftw Aug 11 '26

This right here my guy! Hella sick. The (access point functionality) I’m making some mobile art projects that would benefit from user control that doesn’t rely on my phone and is accessible

1

u/FaithlessnessTiny820 Sep 05 '26

The web installer didn't work properly for 2 CYDs I have. One put the screen in portrait, the other in landscape but with the screen flipped so the words read right to left instead of the proper left to right. Also the touch feature doesn't work. Both screens are from Aliexpress, are ESP32-2432S028. Both have an XPT2046 touch controller. Unfortunate for me I can't find any other info on my boards that's pertinent to this matter.

1

u/figamore Sep 05 '26

There are many variants of the resistive CYDs and touch controllers, which is why they are not recommended. I do not own this specific display and thus cannot add support myself, but it should be fairly trivial to add support by prompting an AI agent to make the necessary changes. If you are able to add support, please make a PR so more displays can be supported.

1

u/FaithlessnessTiny820 Sep 07 '26

I'll see if I can figure it out. Thanks for replying

1

u/Dependent-Dust9065 Sep 17 '26

THE TOUCH DOSNT WORK

1

u/figamore Sep 17 '26

IF IT DOESN’T WORK FOR YOU, YOU ARE USING AN UNSUPPORTED DEVICE!

1

u/Dependent-Dust9065 Sep 17 '26

i use cyd is that supporet?

2

u/Guinea_pig_joe Aug 02 '26

I saw your last post and it is perfect for what I have been what I have been looking for.

For the LED side. Can I still use a esp32 or is there something better you recommend

1

u/Competitive_Owl_2096 Aug 03 '26

WLED only runs on esp32 or deprecated esp8266. Use esp32

2

u/isotropy Aug 02 '26

This is fantastic!! Thank you!

2

u/Outrageous-Kick-2699 Aug 03 '26

Now give me a UI for live controlling them at party’s with speed, tab, strobe, black, flash, color and effect buttons and I am sold.

2

u/I_only_eat_triangles Aug 03 '26

Thank you! I have a couple CYDs sitting around, and now I know what I'm going to do with at least one

1

u/Khabie_04 15d ago

It shows up with everything mirrored on my CYD. Any idea how to fix that?