Harrison Crettol
Sheet 10 · May 2026 · ESP32 / Web / UX

Physical vs
Software Button

Are physical buttons still worth using in 2026? I compare a standard LED circuit with a physical push-button against a software-controlled version that replaces the hardware entirely — simplifying the build with code instead of components.

Final hardware demo [ Active ]
How it works

The hardware drop

Instead of wiring a push-button to the breadboard, the ESP32 broadcasts its own local Wi-Fi access point (ESP32_Button). No internet required.

The seamless UI

The standard ESP32 web button reloads the whole page on every click. To make it feel like a native app, a hidden JavaScript fetch() call signals the ESP32 silently in the background instead.