Anyone using Tasker?

[chrlswltrs]

I've set up a decent number of profile now, but I feel I have barely scratched what tasker can do. Wish there was an all-in-one place with all sorts of profiles.

I haven't even bothered with widgets or anything yet.

There are a lot of profiles here: Profiles - Tasker Wiki

Other than that I have played around with it to figure out what I wanted and got a couple good ideas from this site.

 

[chrlswltrs]

I've set up my profiles successfully, but it seems as though the ringer is not changing between profiles. if the ringer is supposed to be on max volume in a particular profile, it will still show it as silenced from the previous profile. then, when I got to turn the volume up manually, it only takes one click of the volume rocker to do so - as opposed to multiple presses for normal operation.

any ideas? am I setting the ringer volume profile incorrectly?

When I set up profiles that change my ringer I always set an exit task that returns my ringer volume to 15. Doing that I haven't had any problems.

Are your profiles overlapping. If 2 profiles are overlapping that change the volume the second profile will not execute the change unless you specifically set it to in the collision handling.

 

[zaltol]

There are a lot of profiles here: Profiles - Tasker Wiki

Other than that I have played around with it to figure out what I wanted and got a couple good ideas from this site.

Yea I've already been through those. I was thinking more along the lines of advanced stuff I may have not thought of or I don't know how to do.

 

[UncleMike]

This was great. Thank you so much. Once you sent this, I was able to get a handle on Tasker and have created most of the ring scenarios that I was looking for. I was even able to create the menu.

But I have a few questions:
1. If I want to set a way for the phone to vibrate for a second or two and then ring, how would I do that.

2. I'm using Touchdown & K9 for mail (Touchdown for exchange). K9 shows up under third party apps so that I can control what type of notification I want when I get mail however, Touchdown does not. The problem is that I want notifications of calendar reminders but not notifications of emails (depending on my ring setting), without having to go into Touchdown to make this change all the time. Any thoughts on how to do this?

3. Currently on the notifications dropdown, I show Tasker and No profiles active. Is it possible to show which ring profile I have selected there?

Thanks again for all of the help.

Craig

To do vibrate THEN ring, you would have to have a profile that actually changes the settings while the phone is ringing. You can do this by enabling the following profile:

Profile: Escalert (I think that name was stuck in my head from my Startac days)
Context: Incoming Call
Silent Mode Vibrate
Vibrate on Ringer On
Wait 4 seconds
Silent Mode Off

After the call, the settings will automatically be restored to their previous values.

I don't know anything about interacting with Touchdown.

The Tasker notification will only show active profiles. As part of each task that sets your ringer profile settings, you can add you own notification using the Notify action. In order to make it easy to clear prior volume profile notifications I would recommend keeping the same title (so the new notification will replace the old one, but change the icon and/or text).

 

[UncleMike]

I've set up my profiles successfully, but it seems as though the ringer is not changing between profiles. if the ringer is supposed to be on max volume in a particular profile, it will still show it as silenced from the previous profile. then, when I got to turn the volume up manually, it only takes one click of the volume rocker to do so - as opposed to multiple presses for normal operation.

any ideas? am I setting the ringer volume profile incorrectly?

It's possible to set both your ringer and notification volumes to zero without triggering the silent mode icon on the notification bar. It's also possible to do the opposite - set both volumes without clearing the silent mode icon. Subsequently making adjustments with the volume rocker causes the volume to immediately jump to the already-set level. Does this sound like it might be what's happening?

 

[sf11035]

duh, figured it out. I was setting my ringer volume to 0, I should have been selecting silent mode. all is good now.

New question: I want my phone to be on a certain profile while im at work all day. I have it set for wifi near. I dont want it scanning for wifi all day while I'm here since this will kill the battery. If I set a time frame for my arrival (say 7-8am) coupled with the wifi near to start a profile (dont use an exit task) and then set another task when I leave (say 5-6pm) which includes an exit task (turn ringer on), will this reduce the time my wifi will be scanning to 7-8am and 5-6pm? or will it scan all day no matter what?

 

[sf11035]

figured it out - duh. I had to set the phone to silent mode, not a ringer volume of 0.

 

[UncleMike]

duh, figured it out. I was setting my ringer volume to 0, I should have been selecting silent mode. all is good now.

New question: I want my phone to be on a certain profile while im at work all day. I have it set for wifi near. I dont want it scanning for wifi all day while I'm here since this will kill the battery. If I set a time frame for my arrival (say 7-8am) coupled with the wifi near to start a profile (dont use an exit task) and then set another task when I leave (say 5-6pm) which includes an exit task (turn ringer on), will this reduce the time my wifi will be scanning to 7-8am and 5-6pm? or will it scan all day no matter what?

Something like what you're proposing should work (I think it might need some tweaking), but while your display is off the default Wifi scan frequency is every 10 minutes. If you leave Wifi off, and use Toggle Wifi in the Wifi Near context, Tasker will turn it on for scanning, then turn it off again. It's not really as power hungry as you might think.

To follow-up on your plan though, you could do this:

Profile: Arrive at Work
Context: Time 7am - 8am
Context: Wifi Near [Toggle Wifi]
Enter Task:
Perform Task <named task that sets what you want>


Profile: Leave Work
Context: Time 5pm - 6pm
Context: Wifi Near [Toggle Wifi]
Exit Task: <set what you want here>


The reason for the Perform Task action in the Arrive at Work profile is that it will keep Tasker from restoring your previous settings when the profile exits at 8am.

As shown, the Leave Work profile will not change your settings if you are not at work, at least at some point, between 5pm and 6pm.

 

[jr1125]

this is frustrating. the only thing i want to do at this point is enable wifi when im home, disable when i leave. i get it to work trying 1 way, and when i leave area wifi just toggles on and off on and off.

here is what i have now..

context: Wifi Near - SSID - toggle
context: Location - Net
context: Wifi Connected - SSID
enter: wifi on
exit: wait 20 secs/wifi off


this doesnt work right either. some help?
trying to possibly avoid variables as well!

thanks!

 

[sf11035]

maybe try the network location context first, followed by the wifi near. I'm not sure if tasker checks contexts in order like that, but if it does, it should only check for wifi when you are in the specified location zone.

 

[Deleted User]

Hoping that someone might have a tip for me on this. In this thread:

http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid-x/177015-disabled-keyguard-camera-button.html#post1589088

I detail my problem, which, briefly, is that using the keyguard disable feature of tasker allows the phone to be woken via the camera button which is easy to press in your pocket.

Assuming I can't fix this in some other way, is there a way to write a task that would cause the camera button to get ignored during the context that disables my keyguard, or maybe cause the camera button to, say, always put the screen to sleep, or maybe disables the camera button all the time except when the camera application is launched?

I see the camera button press event context, but am at a little bit of a loss on what to do with it. I can't see anything that turns the screen off, or anything that says, "ignore it when this happens."

 

[jr1125]

maybe try the network location context first, followed by the wifi near. I'm not sure if tasker checks contexts in order like that, but if it does, it should only check for wifi when you are in the specified location zone.

that wouldnt make a diff.

under location tab it would show location then wifi near

under state tab it would show wifi near then location

 

[kr99]

here is what i have now..

context: Wifi Near - SSID - toggle
context: Location - Net
context: Wifi Connected - SSID
enter: wifi on
exit: wait 20 secs/wifi off


this doesnt work right either. some help?
trying to possibly avoid variables as well!

thanks!

I don't think you want this (the bold bit) as a Context, otherwise Wifi must already be on (to be connected) before the Profile is active.
Unless you want to turn on Wifi manually when you get home, and just use this to turn it off?

And re the order of Contexts, tasker intelligently 'orders' them, so it doesn't matter what order they appear in the profile:
Tasker: Power

 

[jr1125]

will see how it works

location - net
enter: wifi on

wifi near: left toggle off
enter - wifi on

wifi connected
enter: wifi sleep never
exit: wifi on

 

[UncleMike]

this is frustrating. the only thing i want to do at this point is enable wifi when im home, disable when i leave. i get it to work trying 1 way, and when i leave area wifi just toggles on and off on and off.

here is what i have now..

context: Wifi Near - SSID - toggle
context: Location - Net
context: Wifi Connected - SSID
enter: wifi on
exit: wait 20 secs/wifi off


this doesnt work right either. some help?
trying to possibly avoid variables as well!

thanks!

In theory that should work. In fact, I'm doing almost exactly the same thing on my son's phone. Assuming there are no typos in the contexts, the most likely culprits for it not working are the location radius and the Wifi Scan timeout. Double check for any typos first. Then try removing the location context and see if that helps. Lastly, try increasing your Wifi scan timeout (default is 30 seconds).

Also, for troubleshooting, keep the power widget on the home screen, or have the Wifi settings screen open, so you can see if/when Wifi comes on for the scan. If it connects to your Wifi network during the scan you should see the Wifi icon appear in the notification bar.

If it's still not working after trying the above, let me know what *IS* happening (does Wifi ever come on? does it ever connect? does it connect and then turn off?)

 

[UncleMike]

Hoping that someone might have a tip for me on this. In this thread:

http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid-x/177015-disabled-keyguard-camera-button.html#post1589088

I detail my problem, which, briefly, is that using the keyguard disable feature of tasker allows the phone to be woken via the camera button which is easy to press in your pocket.

Assuming I can't fix this in some other way, is there a way to write a task that would cause the camera button to get ignored during the context that disables my keyguard, or maybe cause the camera button to, say, always put the screen to sleep, or maybe disables the camera button all the time except when the camera application is launched?

I see the camera button press event context, but am at a little bit of a loss on what to do with it. I can't see anything that turns the screen off, or anything that says, "ignore it when this happens."

You can use Tasker to "capture" the camera button press, but I'd bet that the phone will wake up as a result of the button press before passing things on to Tasker. In Tasker you would want to check "Stop" in the Camera Button action, so that the button press doesn't get passed along to anything else (i.e the camera app). To keep Tasker from doing anything as a result of the button press, you could add a single action to the Task - the Stop action.

As for turning the screen off, you can't (in Tasker). The best you can do there is to set the display timeout to 7 seconds (minimum value in Tasker).

 

[A.Nonymous]

I've got the option to run Tasker in the background or the foreground. What are the pros/cons of each method? Are there pros/cons of each method?

 

[UncleMike]

I've got the option to run Tasker in the background or the foreground. What are the pros/cons of each method? Are there pros/cons of each method?

Tap the help button next to "foreground" option. Basically, with foreground checked, Android treats Tasker as being more important, making it less likely to get terminated when resources run low.

 

[Deleted User]

You can use Tasker to "capture" the camera button press, but I'd bet that the phone will wake up as a result of the button press before passing things on to Tasker. In Tasker you would want to check "Stop" in the Camera Button action, so that the button press doesn't get passed along to anything else (i.e the camera app). To keep Tasker from doing anything as a result of the button press, you could add a single action to the Task - the Stop action.

As for turning the screen off, you can't (in Tasker). The best you can do there is to set the display timeout to 7 seconds (minimum value in Tasker).

Thanks for your feedback. I saw the "Stop" in the camera button action but didn't see the "Stop" in the task actions before. I did some testing last night and it definitely wakes the screen up regardless.

Frustrating. I can't figure out another way to defeat the security pattern while the Bluetooth is connected.

I know Android doesn't let you manipulate the pattern lock itself. It's clearly not in this version, but does Android also preclude changing the security pattern timeout settings? In theory, this could work by changing the security timeout from "When the screen is off" (which is how I currently have it, and how I want it to work on a day-to-day basis) to the 30 minute timeout limit which means you don't have to enter the pattern more than once every 30 minutes. That doesn't turn off the keyguard.

 

[Android25]

Try this:

Context: Application [Phone]
Context: Button Camera [Stop Event: Checked]
Enter Task:
Mic Mute [Set: On]

I don't know if the camera button will actually respond during a phone call though.

I've been trying with every release some way to make the mic mute work while on a call, rather than having to pull it away from my ear, wait for the display to show again, hit the mute button, and return to ear...(and repeat to un mute)...

Has anyone been able to get something like this to work either with the camera button or a gesture? I can't seem to and I think I'm catching on the Tasker enough to be able to figure it out if it is possible? I think the same would work for setting speakerphone, but I'm not sure.

Any ideas?

FYI...LLLOOOOVE Tasker...and look forward to all the goodies of each new release!

 

[kriemer]

After using a number of Apps, particularly the browser, my Motorola Milestone is a bit laggy when starting the phone function. This is particularly disconcerting when I unlock the screen specifically to make a call. I am more or less prepared for this when I have been using the browser and other apps and go to the phone, but it just seems wrong straight from the unlock screen.

With Tasker the "solution" is simple:

• Event> Display Unlock
• Task> Kill App Browser (and whatever else you might select)

I have been using this for the last couple of days and no more display lag.

Hope this makes sense and helps someone else.

k

 

[SlvrScoobie]

im having some problems with the wiki profiles for night mode -
When i exit the app - it uses a "decision" task to "stop off"
What Im noticing is that when it exits, it doesnt set things back to how it was, it basically leaves it in vibrate with no notifications.
When i look at the settings it does to put everything into night mode, everything is listed per setting, ie : silent mode on, ringer, off, alerts,off...
but the exit app doesnt undo these.. it just lists this decision task, to set Stop Off.
Anyone familar with this profile? should I just add All the items from entering night mode into the exit night mode? or is this just linked wrong because i am not using the other profiles?

Also - I have the night mode activate the desk clock, then set auto brightness to off, then adjust the brightness to 5. But when i use it, it just dims for a second then goes to normal brightness, which i can alter with the button.. but I would like it to dim completely. Any chance of it doing that?

 

[rx7ah]

I've actually got one that I can't figure out...

When someone comes to my apartments, they push a number in the gate keypad, it calls my phone, and I am required to push the number 9 for it to open the gate. I want to make it to where any time I receive a call from that number, it does that process for me.

I just can't seem to find the ability to push the number nine while in a call. Any tips?

 

[UncleMike]

After using a number of Apps, particularly the browser, my Motorola Milestone is a bit laggy when starting the phone function. This is particularly disconcerting when I unlock the screen specifically to make a call. I am more or less prepared for this when I have been using the browser and other apps and go to the phone, but it just seems wrong straight from the unlock screen.

With Tasker the "solution" is simple:

• Event> Display Unlock
• Task> Kill App Browser (and whatever else you might select)

I have been using this for the last couple of days and no more display lag.

Hope this makes sense and helps someone else.

k

Are you using Android 2.1 or lower? I ask because in Android 2.2 apps can no longer kill other apps. Taker's help screen says that in Android 2.2+ the Kill App action only stops an application's background services.

 

[UncleMike]

im having some problems with the wiki profiles for night mode -
When i exit the app - it uses a "decision" task to "stop off"
What Im noticing is that when it exits, it doesnt set things back to how it was, it basically leaves it in vibrate with no notifications.
When i look at the settings it does to put everything into night mode, everything is listed per setting, ie : silent mode on, ringer, off, alerts,off...
but the exit app doesnt undo these.. it just lists this decision task, to set Stop Off.
Anyone familar with this profile? should I just add All the items from entering night mode into the exit night mode? or is this just linked wrong because i am not using the other profiles?

Also - I have the night mode activate the desk clock, then set auto brightness to off, then adjust the brightness to 5. But when i use it, it just dims for a second then goes to normal brightness, which i can alter with the button.. but I would like it to dim completely. Any chance of it doing that?

I'm not familiar with that profile, but anything listed as a setting (with a cog icon) that is changed directly by the Enter Task, and not referenced in the Exit Task, should be restored automatically when the profile exits. I say "directly" because anything changed in a "sub task" via the Perform Task action is not restored.

You may want to put a Wait action in your task prior to changing the brightness setting. It sounds like Tasker may be changing the brightness before the clock app does, an then the clock app is changing it again.