Tasker on sale for $1.99 with new holo interface

[fury]

The most useful thing in Tasker by far is the documentation. On almost any screen there is question mark (if you still have the old version it's usually in the lower right, the new holo version it's at the top of the screen.

If I'm remembering correclty it says view online, download to SD card and a third option... One of them loads the info as a popup screen over Tasker to show explain what the function you are looking at does and how it works. I can't remember which is which since I selected it to do the same thing always, but I'm pretty sure I didn't download it to my SD card. I think the view online button (while misleading) downloads that FAQ and shows you within the app itself.

I always look here when I'm not sure what something does.

My profiles include:

• Driving SMS: sends a reply to someone if my phone is connected to car bluetooth telling them I'm driving and will reply later, or then can call me if it's urgent
• Work Settings: turns ringer, media, notification, etc. volume to zero, turns on WIFI, sets a custom variable (%ATWORK) to "yes" (other profiles depend on this), this also returns these settings to their previous states when work ends, it's all based on Google Calendar entries with a title of "work"
• Work SMS/Call: when %ATWORK is set to "yes", and I get a missed call or a text message, it sends an email to my work email account so I see the popup on my screen, since I sometimes don't check my phone for a while.
• Screen Timeout: certain apps get preferential treatment for display off time. My phone is set to 30 seconds, but some apps (Google Reader, Reddit is Fun, Plume, et al) trigger Tasker to change the limit to 2 minutes while they are active, and revert to 30 seconds when I exit them
• Home Dock: when docked at home, WIFI is shut off (unlimited data is used when I'm on charger :P), Pandora is launched, wait a few seconds and then launch Night Clock, my preferred bedside clock app
• Home WIFI: when I'm connected to one of a few cell towers near my house (there's a scan feature when setting up a "cell near" profile), WIFI is turned on if the phone is not docked or connected to bluetooth in my car. These clauses mean that if I get into my car at my house, the wifi is disabled as soon as bluetooth connection is established, and wifi isn't turned on upon arriving home until I actually get out of the car.

There really are TONS of things you can do with Tasker, it all depends on what you want to do and how much effort you want to put into it. It's very widely used, so there's lots of threads on various Android forums. If you have a question, feel free to post it here and I can do my best to help or at least find a link to help you out.

[scottysize]

Wow. OK, I'll be looking into those. Especially the Driving SMS!

[fury]

That one is really handy. You can put exceptions in it too to not reply to certain numbers, or only send the reply to certain people, etc.

[scottysize]

Haven't had a chance to really get into it, but I plan on working with it tonight.

[jwalz]

Yup me too just bought it thanks for the heads up

[fury]

Glad you got it figured out. I see you're using LOCSPD, which I think is GPS speed. That can be pretty battery intensive, so depending on your setup you may drain pretty quick (not sure if you're using a dock/charger in the car). If you do have a dock, I'd consider using the car dock event (should be under hardware, I think) as it's more finite and won't always have GPS on tracking speed all day every day.

I have mine setup to trigger off of bluetooth, but there's lots of ways to do it. You could make a toggle shortcut on your home screen to set driving mode on/off, or even setup an elaborate system of yes/no checks to determine if the conditions are correct and the phone should assume you're driving (Pandora playing, screen is off, headphones are plugged in, not on wifi, etc).

Let me know if you have any other questions