I have a new Samsung Galaxy S and in looking for ways to maximize the battery I came across Tasker. I'm in the trial period (just downloaded today), am very excited by what this app seems capable of, but I know nothing at all about programming code and am getting that drowning feeling. I read through the wiki page, glanced through the Google groups and read as much of the user's guide as made sense, and still I feel lost.
However, the first task I did create turns on the data connection only when certain apps are used, and that alone makes it worth the purchase price if you ask me
I should add I previously used Settings Profiles which served me fine with my previous phone, but the battery on the Samsung really surprised me with its short lifespan (of course, my old phone couldn't run Angry Birds, so I blame that largely).
I don't have terribly complicated needs, I never mess around with Wifi or GPS enough that manually toggling them is too much of a bother. Basically these are the things I'm hoping to do with Tasker:
1) First and foremost: a repeating SMS notification. One of the Samsung's few flaws is the lack of an LED light, so this is pretty crucial. I've found plenty of other apps that do this, but am in love with the idea of squeezing as much functionality out of Tasker as I can. I did it with Settings Profiles very easily. Tasker, from what I've found, will only give one notification, I can't work out how to get it to repeat. I downloaded the profile file from the wiki page but that didn't seem to have a repeat function either, or if it did I didn't recognize it (see above where I know nothing about programming code). And also under SMS, is there a way to turn on data just to send an MMS?
2) Turning on auto-syncing only between X o'clock to X o'clock, and only once every X minutes then off again. I actually figured this out, but it seems the data connection then stays on after doing the sync. How to turn this off again in Tasker? In fact, can I set something to ensure that "data off" is the default position? A work-around might be the Synker app, but again there's that hoping to consolidate a hundred other apps into Tasker (plus there might be an issue with Synker -- it worked the first few times, but suddenly now the data connection doesn't turn on when I use it, despite still being checked under the profile. ??). (Edit: just discovered how to use Synker as plug-in rather than widget. Hopefully that fixes that)
3) This would be awesome, but I suspect might be beyond Tasker's capabilities. When the phone is rebooted, any apps that are on the storage card lose their icons on my home screen (replaced with generic android icon). I can go into my LiveHome settings and reset them, but obviously this is a pain. Is there any way at all for Tasker to do this? (This might become a non-issue since I bought an extra battery and external charger, and have just verified that hot swapping is possible).
With time I'm sure I might come up with more, but for now this is my very basic wish list. I'd appreciate any help someone can give me. There should be a "Tasker for Dummies" book, because it seems like a really great app but it's frustrating starting to create a task and then coming up against a wall with a big "%" on it. I repeat, I know NOTHING about programming codes.
Thanks!
However, the first task I did create turns on the data connection only when certain apps are used, and that alone makes it worth the purchase price if you ask me
I should add I previously used Settings Profiles which served me fine with my previous phone, but the battery on the Samsung really surprised me with its short lifespan (of course, my old phone couldn't run Angry Birds, so I blame that largely).
I don't have terribly complicated needs, I never mess around with Wifi or GPS enough that manually toggling them is too much of a bother. Basically these are the things I'm hoping to do with Tasker:
1) First and foremost: a repeating SMS notification. One of the Samsung's few flaws is the lack of an LED light, so this is pretty crucial. I've found plenty of other apps that do this, but am in love with the idea of squeezing as much functionality out of Tasker as I can. I did it with Settings Profiles very easily. Tasker, from what I've found, will only give one notification, I can't work out how to get it to repeat. I downloaded the profile file from the wiki page but that didn't seem to have a repeat function either, or if it did I didn't recognize it (see above where I know nothing about programming code). And also under SMS, is there a way to turn on data just to send an MMS?
2) Turning on auto-syncing only between X o'clock to X o'clock, and only once every X minutes then off again. I actually figured this out, but it seems the data connection then stays on after doing the sync. How to turn this off again in Tasker? In fact, can I set something to ensure that "data off" is the default position? A work-around might be the Synker app, but again there's that hoping to consolidate a hundred other apps into Tasker (plus there might be an issue with Synker -- it worked the first few times, but suddenly now the data connection doesn't turn on when I use it, despite still being checked under the profile. ??). (Edit: just discovered how to use Synker as plug-in rather than widget. Hopefully that fixes that)
3) This would be awesome, but I suspect might be beyond Tasker's capabilities. When the phone is rebooted, any apps that are on the storage card lose their icons on my home screen (replaced with generic android icon). I can go into my LiveHome settings and reset them, but obviously this is a pain. Is there any way at all for Tasker to do this? (This might become a non-issue since I bought an extra battery and external charger, and have just verified that hot swapping is possible).
With time I'm sure I might come up with more, but for now this is my very basic wish list. I'd appreciate any help someone can give me. There should be a "Tasker for Dummies" book, because it seems like a really great app but it's frustrating starting to create a task and then coming up against a wall with a big "%" on it. I repeat, I know NOTHING about programming codes.
Thanks!
