Tasker newbie - WHOA

[Apache]

I thought I was a tech geek... but Tasker has humbled me .

I got it for one simple reason: When I put my DX on Silent mode, I don't want the green LED to blink. Anyone mind walking me through setting this up on Tasker?

Hopefully one day I'll get proficient enough to unleash the true power of Tasker, but in the meantime if it could just turn this darn green flashing light at night when on Silent mode I'b be a happy camper...

 

[disastar]

Reading through some example step-throughs is a good exercise: Step-Throughs & How-Tos - Tasker Wiki

I don't see anything about controlling the LED in the examples, but it should not be too difficult.

 

[UncleMike]

I thought I was a tech geek... but Tasker has humbled me .

I got it for one simple reason: When I put my DX on Silent mode, I don't want the green LED to blink. Anyone mind walking me through setting this up on Tasker?

Hopefully one day I'll get proficient enough to unleash the true power of Tasker, but in the meantime if it could just turn this darn green flashing light at night when on Silent mode I'b be a happy camper...

You can use a Variable Value context for the %SILENT variable to trigger the profile.

Profile: Green LED on Silent
Context: Variable Value %SILENT Matches on/vibrate
Enter Task:
Notify LED Title:Silent Mode On Icon:<YourChoice> Colour:Green Rate:500
Exit Task:
Notify Cancel Title:Silent Mode On

I'm not sure, but I assume that canceling the notification in the exit task will cause the LED to stop blinking.

 

[thomasanderson]

I think Tasker is a great app for the functionality it provides, but I believe it is unnecessarily overly unintuitive. It seems like this app was made for programmers but released to the general public with no change in UI or structure. I would love to buy this app, but the frustration I get from just trying to set up a few Tasks on the trial is more headache than I want. I purchased easyprofiles pro which is no way near as extensive as tasker(oh how I really wish it was), but I bought it because it covers the basics and its easy(or easier than tasker) to create profiles and rules.

 

[amlothi]

I think that comes with the territory with an app like Tasker.

Other apps, as you mentioned, are more user friendly and will work "right out of the box". However, as you mentioned, you have limited options with those. (Too many options and it gets too complicated, and it is no longer user friendly.) So, for those apps, the developer makes assumptions about what features the user will want.

Tasker doesn't assume it knows what a user will want it to do. This is why it is so great (IMO). Tasker is powerful simply because it allows you to customize profiles by creating them for yourself. There is an option to import profiles, so you can use that to get you started or to share profiles with others.

It's kind of like buying a car. You can either choose from the cars that are available (that someone else designed) and sacrifice some features that you might want because X model car just doesn't do that.

With Tasker, you are building your own custom car piece by piece. So you can get it exactly how you want it, with all the exact features you want. So, if you wanted that red Corvette convertible to have 4 wheel drive, 3 foot tall tires, and be able to tow your red neck mobile home behind it - Tasker lets you build it that way.

However, if you aren't a mechanic, you're going to need some training

 

[Apache]

You can use a Variable Value context for the %SILENT variable to trigger the profile.

Profile: Green LED on Silent
Context: Variable Value %SILENT Matches on/vibrate
Enter Task:
Notify LED Title:Silent Mode On Icon:<YourChoice> Colour:Green Rate:500
Exit Task:
Notify Cancel Title:Silent Mode On

I'm not sure, but I assume that canceling the notification in the exit task will cause the LED to stop blinking.

UncleMike -- this is exactly what I need, but I lost you on step #2, Context. Do you mind dumbing down the steps even further for me? I think if I can set one profile up with some guidance, I may be able to figure out more on my own. Thanks a lot

 

[Rob.G]

Those are the steps to create a profile.

Tap New along the bottom, then name the Profile 'Green LED on Silent' without quotes

Up pops the Context box and you select State > Variable Value.
In the Name box put %SILENT, tap the Op box and select Matches, in Value type 'on' (this is case sensitive and without quotes).

Up pops the Task selection box, select New Task (feel free to name it or not)
On the bottom right is the + sign for adding tasks.
+ > Alert > Notify LED, Title 'Silent Mode On' (without quotes).
Pick an Icon by tapping the icon on the right.
Colour: Green Rate 500 > Done > Done again

Tap the task list you just set up (the box that starts Notify LED...) and up pops the Options box. Select Add Exit Task > New Task > Name (if wanted).

'+' > Alert > Notify Cancel > Title: Silent Mode On < --- again, case sensitive
Then Done, and Done again, be sure the On button (bottom right) is turned on then press Apply to save your changes.

 

[UncleMike]

UncleMike -- this is exactly what I need, but I lost you on step #2, Context. Do you mind dumbing down the steps even further for me? I think if I can set one profile up with some guidance, I may be able to figure out more on my own. Thanks a lot

When you open the Tasker UI you are presented with a list of profiles. Tap New (at the bottom), give your profile a name when prompted. For a first context, select State > Variable Value. Tap the yellow tag icon for the Name field to select a built-in variable, and select Silent Mode from the list. Tap the pull-down for the Op field and select Matches.

Now, tap in the text area for the Value field and enter the values you want to match against, separated by a slash. Valid values for this variable are off, vibrate and on. For example, if you want the profile to activate any time Silent Mode is on or vibrate, you would enter on/vibrate. Tap Done.

Create a task for your profile by select New Task when the Task Selection window appears. You can optionally give your task a name. If there are other circumstances under which you would want to perform the same task, it's a good idea to name your task so you can simply refer to it later, rather than recreating it from scratch.

At the Task Edit screen, tap + > Alert > Notify LED, and enter the parameters you want to use, and tap Done. Tap Done again.

After that you should be all set.

 

[Apache]

RobG & UncleMike,

Many thanks for your step-by-step guidance, I did exactly as RobG outlined (and it seems like that's what you were instructing too UncleMike), and what is happening is... whenever I put the device on Silent mode, the green LED starts blinking (i.e. whether there is an email/text/missed call or not). So it seems to me that the Notify LED Silent Mode step is working, but the Notify Cancel step is not -- do y'all agree?

At the Task/Notify LED step, I tried to change the Rate to 1 (that's as low as it goes) but that doesn't change anything (i.e. on Silent Mode the green LED light continues to flash at it's usual rate).

Is there any way, on the Task/Notify LED step, to simply turn the LED off? Because it seems as though the Exit Task/Notify cancel step is not working.

Anyone? Many thanks!

 

[UncleMike]

I just did a quick test on my Droid and Notify Cancel did stop the LED from blinking. Are there any other notifications active on your device when this happens (besides the permanent Tasker notification)?

 

[Apache]

I just did a quick test on my Droid and Notify Cancel did stop the LED from blinking. Are there any other notifications active on your device when this happens (besides the permanent Tasker notification)?

Just the silent icon -- i.e. the little black bell with the red circle-slash on it. Other than that, just the Tasker lightening bolt, and the icon I chose during this setup (the lock icon).

1. I thought it might be the notification of the Profile itself -- i.e. the lock icon -- so I went and clicked on it so it'd go away. Green LED stopped blinking. So far so good. Then I sent myself an email -- and as soon as my device (still in Silent mode) got it, the green LED started blinking again .

2. I did notice one thing though, the green LED doesn't start blinking until the screen fades to black (not sure if that is relevant or not)

3. I am using a profile toggle widget on my homescreen to toggle though Normal, Vibrate, and Silent (again, not sure if that is relevant or not)

Any thoughts?

 

[UncleMike]

It sounds like things are working properly, though maybe not the way you would like. I believe the LED is intended to be an indicator that there are uncleared notifications in the notification bar, and it's assumed that when the screen is on you will see those notifications - so the LED is only active when the screen is off.

If non-Tasker notifications are causing the LED to light, I don't think Tasker can do anything about that.

 

[Apache]

So is there a way to use Tasker to simply turn off the LED completely? I don't mind doing it manually since I would only do it once/day anyway

 

[Rob.G]

I don't know about Tasker being able to do that system wide. You could try disabling the notification leds for each app that uses them, or you could use the app LEDs Hack. This app is if you are rooted only.

 

[tobyjuggler]

I thought I was a tech geek... but Tasker has humbled me .

I got it for one simple reason: When I put my DX on Silent mode, I don't want the green LED to blink. Anyone mind walking me through setting this up on Tasker?

Hopefully one day I'll get proficient enough to unleash the true power of Tasker, but in the meantime if it could just turn this darn green flashing light at night when on Silent mode I'b be a happy camper...

I used this little guide to learn the basic and intermediate profiles, then was soon able to start creating my own through trial and error.

 

[takeshi]

I think Tasker is a great app for the functionality it provides, but I believe it is unnecessarily overly unintuitive.

Anytime something -- and it's not just apps but anything in life -- offers great power/performance/versatility it comes with a learning curve. It's the nature of things. The dev didn't "unneccessarily" make Tasker unintuitive by intent IMO. How would you suggest making Tasker more intuitive (not fond of the word myself as intuitiveness is subjective) without affecting its capabilities? What makes you think it's unnecessarily so? I had no problems with it but I do have some background in coding and Tasker actually was very easy to pick up IMO since it provides a simple GUI.

It's really not that difficult once you learn the concept behind it rather than attempting to memorize step-by-step instructions. Tasker relies on Profiles. Profiles require Contexts to allow Tasker to know when the Profile should be active. Profiles have Entry and Exit Tasks. Entry Tasks are carried out when the Profile becomes active. Exit Tasks are carried out when the Profile becomes inactive. The Actions within the Tasks tell Tasker specifically what to do. Tackle the Profiles you're trying to create using this knowledge piece-by-piece and you'll be fine. If you try to tackle it all at once you'll be overwhelmed.

It might help to look at the examples on the Tasker site and try working with a simple example Profile even if it's not a Profile that's directly relevant to your needs/wants. You can't learn how to use it without trying and it is easier to learn with a Profile that is known to work where you know what the expected outcome is.

For anything in life, it's easier if you learn the reasoning behind the processes rather than just a sequence of specific steps. With the former, you can do whatever the solution is capable of doing. With the latter, all you know is how to do one specific thing with the solution.

That said Tasker isn't for everyone. If the learning curve is too steep or if you're just unwilling to learn there are probably "appliance" apps that will perform once (or possibly more) specific things that you're looking to accomplish. Tasker's just a much more versatile solution.

It's kind of like buying a car. You can either choose from the cars that are available (that someone else designed) and sacrifice some features that you might want because X model car just doesn't do that.

I'd put it this way:

You can buy an "appliance" car with automatic transmission that is comfortable to drive and has features suited for basic/general transportation.

Or you can buy a performance vehicle with a manual transmission, suspension designed for performance driving, summer tires, 50:50 weight balance, etc.

The first option is easier to drive and easier to push to its limits but its limits are much lower than the second option. You can drive the first option in far more conditions than the second without as much risk of getting into trouble. It's overall harder to get yourself into trouble with the first option. That's because the first option is optimized for convenience and comfort at the expense of performance.

The second option has a steeper learning curve but will reward you once you learn how to drive it. It will have much better driving limits but there's more risk in pushing it at its limits. You have to be very careful with the second option in conditions that aren't optimal (basically warm and dry). It won't be as comfortable as the suspension, wheels and tires are optimized for performance versus comfort. You can get spectacular performance out of the second option but you can also end up in spectacular accidents without experience or if you make a mistake. That's because the second option is optimized specifically for performance at the cost of convenience and comfort.

Things like this are always a double-edged sword as there are always compromises to be made. You can't max out one aspect without impacting other aspects. These various aspects tend to be price, performance, ease of use/convenience and cost but there can certainly be others depending on the specific topic.