Desk Controller for IKEA IDÅSEN standing desks

On episode 533 of ATP, the hosts discussed standing desks: Casey expressed his initial plan to buy one from IKEA, and Marco stressed the importance of height presets.

About a year ago, I bought an IKEA IDÅSEN standing desk, based largely on its price point, 10-year warranty, and this BTOD review, which made it abundantly clear that height presets were not a feature:

While the paddle system used for height adjustment on the Idasen is nice, it doesn’t offer easily accessed presets. Without question, the most frequently added accessory to standing desks is the programmable button option. Unfortunately, the Idasen doesn’t offer this option from Linak.

Turns out, for me, the lack of physical height presets hasn’t been much of an issue, thanks to a helpful piece of software called Desk Controller. It sits in my Mac’s menu bar, connects to my desk via Bluetooth, and crucially, offers configurable sit and stand presets.

What’s more, Desk Controller supports Applescript. This allowed me to create a simple Alfred Workflow with sit and stand keywords.

Physical buttons are great. But software can be a nice workaround in their absence.