How to use Tasker | Part II [Action & Tasks]

Tasker is one of the most powerful which is used for task control and task automation app. In the previous post we learned about what is Tasker and Tasker’s UI and in this post we will learn about:

• Actions and Tasks
• Named and Unnamed tasks
• Importing/Exporting Tasks
• Delete a task or action
• Rearranging actions in a task
• Running a task manually

Actions and Tasks

Tasks - on the off chance that you haven't saw in the application's name - are the absolute entirety of Tasker. In any case, a Tasker task is nothing without activities, which are stuff that your phone or tablet does. Tasks and activities are connected. An "task" in Tasker is an collection of activities performed in a steady progression when the said task is invoked. When you knot a few activities into one task, those activities become meaningful and relevant to you as a user because the independent actions appear to serve a shared objective (i.e., the task). It might be simpler to think about an task as an objective or a final product that can be accomplished by one or a few activities.

It might likewise think about an task as a sequenced rundown of things to do. For example, you might need to set up an task for sending update messages at specific hours of the day. The task for this might include actions for connecting to Wi-Fi or enabling mobile data, creating an email message, sending an email message, and afterward disconnecting from the network.

Named and Unnamed tasks

When you create an task, you usually provide a name for it. For example, I can create an task for saving battery power. The task may comprise of activities to kill Wi-Fi, GPS, mobile data, Bluetooth, and NFC. At that point, I can likewise create another task for use when I'm outside - and apropos name it "Outside"; the set may comprise of activities like enabling auto brightness, enabling vibration feedback, and setting the ring volume to max. Naming an task creates the task reusable; you can call up the same task in a wide range of profiles and settings. Now and again, however, you don't have to give a name to an task, particularly for one-activity tasks made when you create a profile, alternate way, widget.

Here's an example

To illustrate the idea of Tasks and activities more clearly, how about we attempt really making an task. This example task, which we'll name "Battery Save", will do the following:

• Disable auto brightness and auto sync.
• Set brightness level to low.
• Set display timeout to a low value.
• Disable Wi-Fi, mobile data, haptic feedback, GPS, and Bluetooth.

Here's how to set up all those actions in one "Battery Save" task:

1. Create a new task, as follows:

• Open the Tasks tab.
• Tap the Add New Task button at the lower-right corner of the screen.
• Type a name for the new task. In this case, use "Battery Save."
• Tap the checkmark button to save the new task. You'll see the Task Edit screen.

      2. Disable auto brightness, as follows:

• On the Task Edit screen, tap the Add New Action button (plus icon) at bottom of screen.
• Tap on Display > Auto Brightness. Change the value of Set to "Off". Tap the Back button to return to previous screen.

      3. Set brightness level to a low value (e.g., 25, or even 0), as follows:

• On the Task Edit screen, tap the Add New Action button (plus icon) at bottom of screen.
• Tap on Display > Display Brightness. Change the value of Level to "0". Tap the Back button to return to previous screen.

      4. Set display timeout to a low value (15 seconds, maybe), as follows:

• On the Task Edit screen, tap the Add New Action button (plus icon) at bottom of screen.
• Tap on Display > Display Timeout. Change the value of Secs to "15". Tap the Back button to return to previous screen.

      5. Turn off or disable various battery-eating services, as follows:

• On the Task Edit screen, tap the Add New Action button (plus icon) at bottom of screen.
• Change the value of Set to "Off" in the locations listed below. Remember to tap the Back button to save the action and return to the action list.

                           i. Net > WiFi

                          ii. Net > Mobile Data

                         iii. Audio > Haptic Feedback

                         iv. Misc > GPS

                          v. Net > Bluetooth

                         vi. Net > Auto-Sync

You now have an task named "Battery Save". You can run the task manually in the event that you need. Then again, even better, you can interface it to a setting/trigger (more about this later). You can even share this task to other individuals as an APK file that can be introduced on other Android devices. Simply trade the task as APK file.

Importing/Exporting Tasks

To import a saved task into Tasker, simply tap the Tasks tab. At that point, select Import from the menu, browse for the XML file, and tap to import it.

To export a task, long-tap on the task name. Tap the Menu button, then select Export. You can export a task as an APK file or as a XML file.

How to delete a task or action

To delete a task, long-tap on a task name on the tasks list, then tap the Trash icon. To delete an activity, open the task containing the activity, tap-hold on the activity's icon at the right side of the activity name, then drag-drop the activity name on the Trash icon at the bottom of the screen.

Rearranging actions in a task

To move an activity up or down a rundown of activities, simply tap-hold on the activity's icon at the furthest right side of the activity name, and drag-drop the activity name to its new area.

Running a task manually

Open the Tasks tab. Tap on the task to be run; the Task Edit screen opens. Tap the Play button at the bottom of the screen.

In the next post, we will learn about:

• Shortcuts and Widgets
• Associating tasks with context