In this guide I have linked to a really exceptional video tutorial series for beginners with Tasker then I've presented some really useful examples of Tasker Profiles that I use on a daily basis on my Samsung Galaxy S3.
For those of you who don't know what Tasker is, Tasker allows you to completely automate your phone. For example, in the mornings I get to work at different times from day to day and I usually text my girlfriend "At work" when I get there so she knows not to call or that I will not respond right away. With tasker, now when I get to work, my phone automatically sends that text for me. Another example is using Tasker to control your phone's Wifi. Leaving Wifi on all day does drain your battery because it is constantly looking for an access point. For me, I am only around Wifi when I am home. Before discovering Tasker, every time I left my house I would have to turn off Wifi and whenever I come home I would have to manually turn it on. With Tasker, now once I leave my house, my Wifi is shut off and when I return it is automatically turned back on. Of course I still have the control to turn it on anywhere at other places.
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Video Tutorials
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For those of you who are new to Tasker or even trying to get some ideas on some cool profiles, then I definitely recommend you watch Armando Ferreira's video tutorials on Tasker. They are exceptionally done and possibly the best videos done on this amazing app.
Beginners Guide to Android Tasker | Part 1 of 3
Beginners Guide to Android Tasker | Part 2 of 3
Beginners Guide to Android Tasker | Part 3 of 3
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My Profiles
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After watching those tutorials, I'm pretty sure you have a firm grasp on using Tasker. If you have past programming experience then using Tasker would be a breeze and you can go off and explore. For those who don't, with some practice you too can become proficient in this app.
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Wave To Answer (Samsung Galaxy S3)
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Have you seen the commercials for the new Samsung Galaxy S4 and it's cool Wave To Answer Feature? Would you like that feature on your non-S4 phone? Well with Tasker you can. This theoretically will work on any phone that has a proximity sensor, but the only phone I've tried it on is the Samsung Galaxy S3 and I can confirm it works.
For this you will need to set up 2 Profiles:
First Profile - Wave To Answer
- On the Profiles tab, click the + sign in the bottom right corner to create a new Profile and select State -> Sensor -> Proximity Sensor and then click back.
- It will ask you to create a New Task, click New Task +. You do not have to name it if you do not want to. You can click the check mark to continue.
- On the Action Edit screen, click the + to add a new action and choose Phone -> Take Call
- Click on the + to add another action and choose Task -> Wait and set it to wait 2 Seconds.
- Click on the + to add another action and choose Audio -> Speakerphone and set it to On.Now as it is whenever your Proximity Sensor senses something it will try to answer a call, but most of the time there will not be any call, so we need to modify the Profile's conditions.
- Click back to go back to the main Tasker Profiles tab.
- Hold your finger down on the Proximity Sensor state that we created and a new menu should appear. Click Add +
- Click State -> Phone -> Call and select Incoming and do not put a specific number.
- Repeat steps 6 and 7 again then click State -> Sensor -> Orientation and choose Is Face Up.
- Click and hold over the Profile's name at the top an A should appear. Click that to rename the Profile to whatever you like. I named it "Wave To Answer"
- Turn that profile on and click back to quit Tasker and the profile should now be active. Whenever you get a call, just wave your hand over the sensor (on the Galaxy S3 it is at the top beside the call speaker and the camera on the front face) and it should answer and turn speaker on.
I found that when I leave this profile on, after about an hour or so my phone really starts to heat up. My guess is it's the proximity sensor. So I created a second Profile to combat this.
Second Profile - Wave To Answer Activator
- Create a new profile by clicking the + sign in the bottom right corner and choose State -> Phone -> Call and choose incoming.
- Create a new task (no need to name it). Click the + and choose Tasker -> Profile Status. For Name you can click the magnify glass to see all the Profiles you have created and choose the first one you created, mine was call Wave To Answer. Choose Set On and then click back.
- Now on the Profiles page, hold your finger over the Profile Status... task that we just created and it should give you the option to Add Exit Task, click that.
- Click the + to add an action and choose Tasker -> Profile Status. Select the same profile you did in Step 2 and this time choose Set Off.
- Back on the main Profiles page, click on the profile you selected in Step 2 (the profile we created in the first part) to expand it and press and hold on the tasks and select Add Exit Task.
- Click the + to add an action and choose Tasker -> Profile Status. Select the profile you selected in Step 2 and choose Set Off.
- Now turn off the profile we created in the first part (Wave To Answer) and leave this new profile (Wave To Answer Activator) on.
Now the proximity sensor will only turn on when there actually is a phone call. Previously it was always on and checking for activity along with waiting for a phone call.
