This ridiculously simple product makes tangled earbuds a thing of the past

As long as there are earphones, there’ll be tangled earphone cords. Most people who’ve used a pair of Apple EarPods can tell you all about the momentary, but very real, frustration of pulling a weaving white knot out of their pocket, spending too much time putting it back in order, then repeating the process all over again the next time they want to listen to something. It’s not a fun way to spend 30 seconds.

Being the resourceful species that it is, humanity has come up with a few ways out of this dilemma. Some companies have built earbuds explicitly designed to be tangle-free; other people have shared DIY fixes that involvewrapping earphones around your fingers in just the right way. These things can work. If you think they require too much effort, though, you can always turn to the time-tested solution: throwing money at the problem.

For that, the Bluelounge Cableyoyo is worth a look. It’s a $10 rubber and metal spool, around which you wrap your earphones (or any other smallish cable) for safe keeping. Its centerpiece is magnetic, allowing it to hold the actual buds of an EarPod and such in place. This model is a redesigned version of the original Cableyoyo Bluelounge released about a decade ago, but it should still be small enough to fit in a pocket or purse without much trouble. When you need the earphones again, just pull on the buds (or connector) and unwind. It’s hard to make something like this complicated.

Is avoiding tangled headphones worth $10? Maybe not. But if you’re particularly stop-and-go with your headphones, and you’ve got the room for it, this should help.

Bluelounge Cableyoyo, $9.95, available at Amazon.