Ask HN: What's the best app for Android device automation?
Hey!
I'd like to automate my Android device (Pixel 7a) some more_ Open an app at a specific time, set volume based on location or time or Wifi, maybe react to more triggers from Apps, set display to monochrome after one hour of daily usage, stuff like that.
Which app would you use for things like these? Do I need to root my phone for that?
It's probably the most well-known app for this, definitely most full-featured one. It's messy, and carries a bit of baggage of questionable design decisions, but that's a given for a program that's been in high-paced development for 15 years now. There are alternatives like Automate or MacroDroid, but they're simpler, less feature-full.
(EDIT: it may look like that some of the newer apps have similar feature sets, but the devil is in the details - Tasker tends to expose more parameters, give you more fine-grained control over any feature.)
(FWIW, Tasker has recently gained a sister project, Tasky, that tries to expose the same functionality using a much dumber^Wsimpler UI, geared towards more common scenarios and more casual users.)
> Open an app at a specific time, set volume based on location or time or Wifi, maybe react to more triggers from Apps, set display to monochrome after one hour of daily usage, stuff like that.
Most of those you can do without root. Recently, "Wireless Debugging" aka. ADB WiFi became a way to do some privileged activities without full root, and Tasker can use that too (caveat being, as I understand it, that technique only works when you're connected to a WiFi network).
Tasker may be a bit rough around the edges wrt. the UI, and the low-code model/language it exposes feels a lot like ol' PHP 4 in terms of stringly-typed data, but it works, and is well-established. Importantly, you can easily pair it with Termux, so if you prefer writing code over "GUI programming" with list views, you can use Tasker as an easy "event listener" layer, and just have your tasks fire Termux scripts.
You could try MacroDroid, it's free with a premium one-time purchase if you want.
You don't need root for most of the automation/routine; only a bunch of those require special permissions or workarounds. Its UI is not that bad.
I use Sleep as Android and Tasker. When I go to sleep, I set my alarm with Sleep as Android. Tasker uses that event as a trigger and makes an http request to my home automation hub. That http request is pushing a virtual button. That button puts my house into sleep mode. So the end effect is that I turn on my alarm and my house goes to sleep. I can also push a physical button on the wall to enable sleep mode, so I don't have to use this automation, but I like the way this works.
I also use Tasker to enable Do Not Disturb when using a set of applications: Kindle for ebooks, my meditation app, etc.
Here's some notes from my experience using Automate:
- flowchart block scripting feels intuitive and flexible
- free tier allows 30 running blocks
- some blocks I've tried: send SMS, show toast, set clipboard, await motion gesture (finnicky), await volume button long press.
- it comes with an app inspector. Example usage: I wanted to make a shortcut for creating new notes. So I created a test note, activated the app inspector, and copied this output into an "app start" block:
The documentation is not good enough. It's OK at best. My wife has a habit of putting phone to vibrate. I used Automate to turn the volume to full if I was ringing. It was not as simple as macro droid (may be it was some other tool) and documentation was a bit frustrating.
I love tasker but my Nokia g42 is limited e.g. I'm not sure it can be rooted easily and it unoverridably kills background apps. Is there a android phone that is recommended for maximum automation with tasker.
It's probably the most well-known app for this, definitely most full-featured one. It's messy, and carries a bit of baggage of questionable design decisions, but that's a given for a program that's been in high-paced development for 15 years now. There are alternatives like Automate or MacroDroid, but they're simpler, less feature-full.
(EDIT: it may look like that some of the newer apps have similar feature sets, but the devil is in the details - Tasker tends to expose more parameters, give you more fine-grained control over any feature.)
(FWIW, Tasker has recently gained a sister project, Tasky, that tries to expose the same functionality using a much dumber^Wsimpler UI, geared towards more common scenarios and more casual users.)
> Open an app at a specific time, set volume based on location or time or Wifi, maybe react to more triggers from Apps, set display to monochrome after one hour of daily usage, stuff like that.
Most of those you can do without root. Recently, "Wireless Debugging" aka. ADB WiFi became a way to do some privileged activities without full root, and Tasker can use that too (caveat being, as I understand it, that technique only works when you're connected to a WiFi network).
Tasker may be a bit rough around the edges wrt. the UI, and the low-code model/language it exposes feels a lot like ol' PHP 4 in terms of stringly-typed data, but it works, and is well-established. Importantly, you can easily pair it with Termux, so if you prefer writing code over "GUI programming" with list views, you can use Tasker as an easy "event listener" layer, and just have your tasks fire Termux scripts.
You could also try Tasker
I also use Tasker to enable Do Not Disturb when using a set of applications: Kindle for ebooks, my meditation app, etc.
- flowchart block scripting feels intuitive and flexible
- free tier allows 30 running blocks
- some blocks I've tried: send SMS, show toast, set clipboard, await motion gesture (finnicky), await volume button long press.
- it comes with an app inspector. Example usage: I wanted to make a shortcut for creating new notes. So I created a test note, activated the app inspector, and copied this output into an "app start" block:
Not sure how this compares with Tasker.