Boox’s remote page-turner won me over

Following the establishment of The amazingly popular Kobo RemoteBoox has released its device to reduce the difficulty of reaching an e-reader at arm’s length. The Tappy isn’t the first Boox site to turn awaybut the design takes a very different approach than that of the company Small but boring BT Remoter. Tappy feels like a combination of wireless remotes, fidget toys, and macro pads, with a retro charm.

While the Kobo Remote looks like a dongle accessory with a design that prioritizes ergonomics, the Tappy can best be described as a small keyboard made up of just two buttons that draws its design inspiration from retro typewriters. It’s not as comfortable to hold as the Kobo accessory, but it’s certainly less awkward to hold in your hand. There are also four rubber feet on the bottom to keep it from wobbly if used on a desk, and it comes in two very bright colors: olive green and the bright orange I tested.

Tappy’s two rotary buttons aren’t actual keyboard switches, but they have about a quarter-inch of travel and are very satisfying to press when you need something to change. Out of the box, the buttons are labeled with a pixelated heart and a cup of hot coffee, which I don’t understand. I immediately switched to something that had X’s and O’s written on it instead, but more flexibility, even if it was a piece of sticky paper I had to put on myself, I would have liked. Forward and backward arrows, or simply addition and subtraction, would be acceptable substitutes for inclusion.

Pairing Tappy to a Boox device is easy, but don’t put off the quick start guide that takes you through it. After turning it on using the metal switch on the side, you put the remote on by holding down all the buttons for about two seconds until one LED on the side lights up blue. From there, you just need to connect to it through the Bluetooth settings of your Boox device. If you turn it back on later, it will reconnect automatically.

The buttons work by default with Reading which switches pages forward and backward or controls the volume when outside of the reading program, but Tappy can be changed to two other modes. Multimedia mode changes the functionality of the buttons to skip music, video, podcast, or audiobook programs, while Browsing lets you scroll up and down long web pages or media feeds as long as you press each button.

Pressing both buttons for about five seconds toggles the settings, causing the LED to turn green for a moment. Repeating the process goes through the Reading, Multimedia, and Browsing modes, and each time you make a change, a notification pops up on top of your Boox device to let you know how you’re doing. But it is not persistent and easy to miss. Three labeled LEDs that indicate the status of Tappy or having one LED for each color would make it easier to know the status at a glance, especially when using the remote with other devices.

While Tappy works best with e-Boox readers and tablets running the company’s firmware V4.2 or later (which includes the latest devices such as Boox Palma 2 Pro), it can also be used with other Android mobile devices, and iPhones and iPads, with different functions. This feature is supported by both the Kobo and Kindle Android apps, but not in the iOS or iPadOS versions. However, I was able to use Tappy on my iPhone and OnePlus to swipe pages, control music playback, and adjust volume.

The biggest problem when using Tappy with non-Boox devices is that you don’t get useful notifications that let you know how much you’ve changed. And with no LED indicators, the only way to know when Tappy is on is to press the buttons and see what happens. Did the volume go up and down? Well, you’re in Reading mode and you’re just two blocks away from browsing the web you want.

Some e-readers from companies like Pocketboot or BigMe are supported, according to the Good e-Reader testbut I had no luck getting Tappy to work with Kobo and Kindle. It’s a shame because while I’ve always loved using the Kobo Remote for late night reading, I would have happily ditched it for the Tappy. The small remote takes the place of my Apple Watch when skipping music when I download it from my iPhone via my HomePod, though its buttons are sometimes accidentally pressed when it’s in my pocket. At $29.99 it’s about the same price as the Kobo Remote, but the buttons are more satisfying to use and more than a one-device accessory.

Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge