Looking for a way to turn apps on and off at schedule times

[ebisudave]

Hello Android Forums,

I'm looking for a way to turn an app on or off at scheduled times. So far, my searches have turned up apps that will schedule system profile settings like sounds and wifi settings, but nothing that will turn an app on and off.

Specifically, I want to turn the Skype applet on and off at certain times.

It's not about system resources, as I'm not worried about Skype burning my battery. It's that in Skype itself, I can't create an automatic schedule for when I will appear online and offline.

On the one hand, I want to have Skype open so I can be called at certain times. On the other hand, I want to have Skype off during scheduled work hours and sleep.

So, is there an app or some other clever way where I can set it so that Skype will be on, for example, between 1 PM and 7 PM every weekday?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Szadzik]

Tasker might be able to do this.

 

[AngryHatter]

Tasker might be able to do this.

+1

 

[amlothi]

Tasker can open Skype, but it can't interact with it in any way. So, if Skype will login automatically after it is open (without pressing anything) it would work to open Skype.


If you have Android 2.2 or higher, Tasker cannot kill apps. It's a limitation of the new android system, and there is nothing the Tasker dev can do about it.

 

[mel4]

Try Llama, you can open or kill application under certain conditions.

 

[ebisudave]

Thank you for the recommendations.

I would very much like to try Tasker. Unfortunately, at the moment I seem to be having trouble downloading. I purchased it, but Android Market is stuck saying *Authorizing purchase...", and will not let me complete the download.

This is not just for this app, but for all apps that I have recently attempted to purchase.

I have contacted Google support, but, as is often the case with Google, it is impossible to know if they will do anything about it because they don't give you much human interaction or response.

Hopefully I can get this matter resolved and download Tasker. Assuming I do, I'll report back here as to whether or not this app did the trick.

 

[amlothi]

You can try switching to the off-market version, if you are in a hurry:

Can I switch to the Direct-Purchase version ?

Yes:
backup your profiles to SD with Menu / Profile Data / Backup
delete the Market version with Android Settings Manage Applications
download the Direct-Purchase version from the Tasker website
enter your 15-digit Google order number in Menu / More / Order Validation
restore your profiles from SD using Menu / Profile Data / Restore
If you get an error 'unknown order code' or similar, you will need to contact the develeloper to make sure the order code has been properly setup (include the order code in your email!)

Tasker for Android

 

[ebisudave]

amlothi,

It's good to know that might be a possible alternative route to getting the application.

However, I hope to resolve the Google Checkout problem because it impacts all of my purchases.

Thank you for the advice in any case.

 

[UncleMike]

If you have Android 2.2 or higher, Tasker cannot kill apps. It's a limitation of the new android system, and there is nothing the Tasker dev can do about it.

I've had some luck killing apps when they're not in the foreground.

 

[ebisudave]

It seems that Google finally fixed my purchasing problem.

I have downloaded Tasker.

The interface is not entirely intuitive, but I wouldn't say it's bad. Just a little complicated.

However, it does seem to offer the features I am looking for, so I would say that this matter is resolved.

Thank you to everyone for their advice and help.