Tasker for Android is a complete lifechanger for me. The geek in me doesn’t say that lightly. Tasker is an Android app that allows you to pretty much automate anything on your phone. It is so powerful that even I don’t know exactly what to do with it!
Some background: I was looking for an app that would turn on / off my GPS based on which application I was using. GPS is a battery hog, so I usually keep it off. But when I actually want GPS settings to be on – like when I open up Google Maps – I have to manually go into settings and turn it on, then close the app and reopen it. Very frustrating. I did a search for an app on the marketplace that would turn on GPS when needed. I failed at finding one. What I found instead was Tasker.
Tasker can take care of my GPS woes, plus a whole hell of a lot more.
Some examples of what you can do with Tasker:
- Launch a music application when headphones are connected – this is especially handy for launching my Spotify when I plug in.
- Track your phone location via SMS in case of theft.
- Pause music playback while in a particular application, restart on exit.
- During the night, turn on airplane mode to conserve battery/reduce radiation, but turn it off every 15 minutes to check for SMS/voicemail.
One thing to note is that Tasker is not for the faint of heart. It was clearly developed and designed by engineers (perhaps with some Windows/Linux background). It isn’t pretty and it isn’t that intuitive. I would highly suggest you download the profiles for what you want to do rather than try to set something up by yourself. Thankfully there are several sites that you can download pre-done profiles that will get you going.
Your phone is now an endless sea of possibilities. Go forth and automagic yourself to death!
Download Tasker from their site: http://tasker.dinglisch.net/
Download Tasker from Android Market: https://market.android.com/details?id=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm&feature=search_result
Note that Tasker from their site costs $5 whereas on the market it costs $6.50.
