I want to control a simple Light on an Arduino from my Android. The Arduino I have down pat, no problem. However without using Bluetooth on my Android, whats the simplest way to actually connect it (or use some sort of app) to control an LED.
I have Option A: Set up a Server on my Arduino, with a website that allows me to click on buttons or something to change lighting options.
or Option B: Sending Serial Data from my Android to my Arduino Wirelessly?
Which would probably be the easier option? Is option A even viable or not really? I don't really know the "hosting" capabilities of an Arduino, but if the Arduino is on the same Wi-Fi as the Android phone I'm using, it shouldn't have any issues receiving information (from clicking on buttons on the Arduino "webpage" correct?)
Best Answer
Option A is feasible, but non-trivial.
Option B: Without using Bluetooth, there isn't any ready wireless radio serial output that any Android phones have, to my knowledge.
There is an option C, if the requirement is relatively close range, and purely for hobby experimentation:
Some simple enhancements:
There are several Android apps which use such sound signaling for various purposes. Also, this slideshow proposes a similar mechanism, for transfer of data between Android phones using sound.
UPDATE: This question about Infrared audio transmission / reception between mobile phones, brings up an interesting Option D, that of using an infrared transmitter connected to the audio out of the transmitting cellphone, and using a standard infrared sensor as a receptor on the Arduino. The rest of the mechanism remains as in Option C, with the preamplifier, band-pass filter and so on.