I was hoping to see what people have used as a remote for Home Assistant (will trigger automations etc) I’m trying to come up with ideas, in particular for my older parents. Phone is too hard for one of them, so a garage door style remote, with multiple buttons would be ideal. Especially the range of 433 instead of say wifi or zigbee.
What do people use?
You can look into this setup for parents to keep it simple overall and have big visible buttons for them to use:
Of note if you want to keep it all in a single automation setup then use Trigger ID’s for each button trigger then use the choose and trigger by for the actions to keep it all clean.
I set one of these up recently from his video and it works very well and is quite simple - but my server sits behind the TV, so the dongle is nice and close - further distance would complicate matters. I printed just black and white and it looks a bit classier (IMO). No idea how he got perfectly shaped stickers though (I suppose you could scan it for the shapes).
That is the part he doesn’t explain in the vid, which is a shame.
Interesting. That would be a great idea for something inside the house that can have multiple options.
I was more thinking of something with fewer buttons and longer range though. Ie. Open the front gate, roller door, etc from outside the house.
But, please keep the suggestions rolling in 
Most likely he just scanned the keyboard to get the layout then just imported the image into an editor to build a sticker layout.
If they already have a phone and it supports it with them then you can just setup NFC tags and all they have to do is tap the phone on them to toggle the action, this way as well having the NFC tags even outside its more secure since they are only calling the action via HA through users only allowed to control it.
@TH3xR34P3R funny you say that. I have just been playing around with an ESP32 with PN532 reader attached and putting it into a box. Then I went down the spiral1 and spiral2 of working out how to interact with an iPhone. This isn’t as easy as you may think. If I get over those hurdles, or get them to just use some type of NFC tag, then the second hurdle is to work out where to put it, because anywhere near the location doesn’t have any easy power…
So then, I posted here and thought it may be easier using some type of remote. Then back to those thoughts 
Just one of the vids out there about them heh, I use one at the moment to disable the screen time out of my phone when its docked at my desk for example and I have another setup outside at my front door with my public email setup for appointments (QR Code version as well for phones that don’t have NFC capability) for those that missed me for a delivery etc.
Tags are prob the easiest way to control automation’s outside the home in a secure way since as stated its only calling the generated tag id and link that is junk data without the companion app and an authorised user.
edit: added an instructional for those interested in learning more.
So so many tags! haha
Somoff RF bridge with Sonoff RF remotes.
These are pretty cheap and the sonoff rf bridge can be converted to Tasmota or ESPHome if you like.
The sonoff rf bridge might even receive and transmit other RF signals.
Well here we use for our customers Lora Remote like these ones RAK7201 WisNode Button 4K: remote wireless LoRa Button – Compatible with Helium Network It gives a range of kilometers, last months on a single charge and you can put labels on buttons or 3D print new ones as you wish 
Thanks for the reply @WallyR. That might be a good cheaper option.
Although, the range & look of those LoRa ones @vincen look amazing. I am not familiar with the frequency, etc. What do you use as a receiver for that?
As Wally says, I have a bunch of these
used with a flashed Sonoff rf bridge
This is quite a nice unit that comes with a holder:
You need a Lora gateway or use a public Lora network if available in your area like TTN (The Things Network) for example and if you want to get a solution that works without cloud/internet, you can setup a local LoRa server on most gateways like the RakWireless or Dragino ones
@vincen wow, interesting. I can’t believe I had never even heard of that wireless network or option. Do you use your own Lora network? I’ve only had a quick look but they seem to be a little expensive, unless there are more reasonable options out there.
I really want to thank everyone that has posted, it makes a big difference getting the input of the community and realising there are lots of options out there!
Keep posting
@francisp shame I can’t flash my Sonoff bridge easily. I might just have to bite the bullet and do some soldiering/destroying the board
@DrSpaldo it depends of the use case so I use either a local LoRa server (Chirpstack that is embedded in a LoRa gateway) or I use TTN.
You can find some quite cheap (everything is relative) gateway at dragino like that one LG01v2 LoRa Gateway that you can find for around 80 bucks in most countries
You can also do it with a PI3 and a HAT but not sure it’ll be less expensive 
The important thing with recommendations on other remotes on the Sonoff RF bridge is the version of the bridge.
The first one (black) could be flashed with Portisch that enabled it to pretty much grab all 433 MHz signals.
The second one and the one sold currently (white) can not be flashed with Portisch and it might therefore be a bit limited in de oding other RF signals than from Sonoff RF remotes.
Some of the other RF remotes might work and so e might not.