Llama, a free automation alternative to Tasker, Locale, AutomateIT, etc.

wyextay · Feb 25, 2012

Llama stands for Location Aware Mobile Application. But this is really an inaccurate representation of what it has become since it's inception. Just like Tasker, Locale and AutomateIT, Llama can be used to automate settings on your phone with a wide variety of conditions. A big plus compared to the other apps is that it is absolutely free! Other than the donation app, there is no paid version of Llama, so you won't have to be concerned about missing out on features.

Market link: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.kebab.Llama
Website: http://kebabapps.blogspot.com/
Thread on XDA: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=888181

Here's a list of conditions and actions as mentioned in the description in Android Market:

Conditions:
Airplane mode
Battery level
Bluetooth devices
Calendar events
Car mode
Charging
Day of the week
Current locations
Headset
Llama variable
Music playback (stock Android only, requires third party developer support)
Phone start up and shut down
Screen on and off
Time of day
Wifi networks

Actions:
4G
APN
Accounts Sync
Airplane Mode
Bluetooth
Car mode
GPS (before Android 2.3 only or Cyanogenmod)
Haptic Feedback
Kill Applications (also force-kill with root privileges)
Play, pause and other media buttons
Mobile Data (before Android 2.3 only)
Reboot
Run apps
Run shortcuts
Screen brightness
Screen lock PIN/password
Set Llama variables
Speakerphone
Screen on and off
Screen timeout
USB storage
Vibrate
Wallpaper
Wifi
Wifi hotspot
Wifi sleep policy

Llama covers more than just these. Do explore the app to find out. For every event, you can set numerous conditions and actions. You can also set delays and repeats, and queue events if necessary.

One key point about Llama is location detection. Unlike other apps, Llama uses cell towers to identify location. A benefit of this is that it leads to very low battery consumption as Llama piggybacks on the basic connectivity functions of the phone. A disadvantage is that this means that Llama needs to be told which cell tower is used to identify whichever location you want. So it takes a while for the initial set up. Llama works perfectly well without data connection, so rest assured that information on cell towers should not be sent anywhere. Of course, Llama includes other methods for location detection, although some of them are experimental at the moment.

Llama is really a good automation app with lots of customizability. Do try it out!

If you're very satisfied with the application, do consider donating to the developer to show some support! (I'm not affiliated to him whatsoever.

)
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.kebab.LlamaDonation

fdbryant3 · Feb 28, 2012

I've been pleased with Llama for a while now - heh I need to come up with more uses for it.

Kicksilver · Feb 28, 2012

Gonna try it out now.

Thanks for sharing.

wyextay · Feb 28, 2012

fdbryant3 said:
I've been pleased with Llama for a while now - heh I need to come up with more uses for it.

The most basic thing is to have it turn off sounds when you're sleeping, and turn it back on when you're awake. Other than setting time as the condition, I have also included charging state, as I always have my phone charging when I'm sleeping. (I'm aware that it may be bad for my phone, but I haven't experienced much negative impacts in a few years.) My wake-up event is a bit more complicated, it contains a few layers of OR and AND conditions (Time, discharging mode, user present, etc), 'cos I need it to be quite flexible.

I also have sound silent during my classes. I'm aware of users using their calendar to regulate this (e.g. for meetings at work, which can be quite irregular), although I've yet to explore this myself.

You can also set wifi to turn on/off automatically when you reach/leave home and/or charging, that's if you have a wifi network at home. Wifi can also be set to automatically turn off when you're disconnected from a wifi network for a period of time (set is as 2 mins for mine) or when you've left your phone screen off for a period of time (10 mins on mine). I need to regulate wifi usage on my phone, because it's quite a huge drain on my battery in my Galaxy S2 on stock rom.

You can also have power saving modes based on battery levels. I have 2 modes, 30% and 10%. When battery level falls below 30%, Llama lowers my screen brightness and time out to 1% and 15s respectively. It also turns off auto-sync. Below 10%, it turns off mobile data. Of course, you'd probably want those to turn back on when you're charging, so you'll need to set events for those too.

Lastly, I've my music volume turned down when I have my earphones plugged in. And screen lock turned on/off when I leave/enter home.

In XDA, I've read that some users set up some form of car mode with a combination of location, charging mode and bluetooth conditions with some delay.

There's really quite a lot of customisability available. It depends a lot on your imagination. Do post here if you need any help setting up, I'm sure the community here will be willing to help. I'll try if I can.

EDIT: BTW, here's the thread on XDA forums created by the dev himself: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=888181. He replied on that thread sometimes.

turtle52 · Mar 1, 2012

Does Kebab have a forum somewhere for just the Kebab apps?

wyextay · Mar 3, 2012

turtle52 said:
Does Kebab have a forum somewhere for just the Kebab apps?

Unfortunately no. Try their website? KebabApps. Or the thread in XDA: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=888181.

If you need help, you can probably post here and see if anyone can suggest any suitable solution.

morganfm · Oct 11, 2012

I'm having some trouble with my Llama.
For a while my wifi was randomly blipping on and off, disconnecting, closing when I told it to stay on, etc. I tried turning off wireless polling, that didn't help, so I removed every wifi-related command in my events. Now my wifi's stopped being skitzy, but my battery drain is much worse than it was before I installed Llama. I like the app, and I've done everything I can think of to stop these issues, but I'm at a loss. Any ideas? (btw I have a Motorola Atrix 2, model MB865) Thanks!

bveyndhoven · Jun 4, 2013

morganfm said:
I'm having some trouble with my Llama.
For a while my wifi was randomly blipping on and off, disconnecting, closing when I told it to stay on, etc. I tried turning off wireless polling, that didn't help, so I removed every wifi-related command in my events. Now my wifi's stopped being skitzy, but my battery drain is much worse than it was before I installed Llama. I like the app, and I've done everything I can think of to stop these issues, but I'm at a loss. Any ideas? (btw I have a Motorola Atrix 2, model MB865) Thanks!

You probably had a few conflicting events. Just a simple example:

Turn off Wifi when you're at work
Turn on Wifi when screen is on

It's quite easy to spot where this goes wrong. I would have this set-up as follows:
Screen on -> queue event [Wifi on when not at work].

This catches the screen on, then it checks your location and turns on your Wifi when not at work.

Best thing is to keep conditions as simple as possible, and stacking inner events with the queue event action.

Cheers!

RazzMaTazz · Jun 5, 2013

Thanks to Wyextay, et al for the informative posts. I've been thinking about trying a free app like this but I always figured that the app would drain a lot of battery-- especially with location-dependent settings which I thought required battery-draining GPS. Wyextay certainly makes a strong case for Llama. Might have to give it a try. Three questions:

1) Can I create multiple AND conditions, like, If charging, AND Bluetooth, then launch an app?

2) Does the app cause a noticeable performance decrease or battery drain?

3) Are there any better free alternatives?

womb raider · Jun 5, 2013

I tried this for a while last year. Most things it did pretty well, but one of the actions I set up was for it to turn off mobile internet when I got to work. This seemed to work ok as the H/3G indicator would disappear, but every now and then I'd get an email through, or a Facebook/Twitter notification....so although it appeared to turn off mobile internet, it actually didn't.

rhlsg · Jun 26, 2013

is it possible to configure Llama to disable the pattern lock while i am in certain areas, like Home ?
basically i just need the pattern lock when i am outside, in case i lose the phone.

lucky 13 · Jun 26, 2013

rhlsg said:
is it possible to configure Llama to disable the pattern lock while i am in certain areas, like Home ?
basically i just need the pattern lock when i am outside, in case i lose the phone.

I think so but it never worked for me. I have this set up using tasker now. Ripple lock in the house, pattern everywhere else

JPT223 · Jun 26, 2013

RazzMaTazz said:
1) Can I create multiple AND conditions, like, If charging, AND Bluetooth, then launch an app?

2) Does the app cause a noticeable performance decrease or battery drain?

3) Are there any better free alternatives?

1) Yes
2) No

Llama uses GPRS info to locate where it is. This has three implications:
- it does not use much battery
- location isn't that precise
- if signal strength is low, you might get events triggered often: like when entering home switch on wlan, when leaving home switch off.

To circumvent these problems you have to set up more complicated rules.
I am working on a concept... but did not get very far yet.
It starts with rules that have no condition but trigger Llama-vars like "WlanOn", "BlueToothOff". This is where you switch WLAN and BT now manually. These vars are checked by any other rules that modify WLan or BT state. So you always can override the automatic behavior.
Have separate vars for locations, so you can use timeouts like "if no signal of that area for 10 mins, we really left that area"

anybody interested in establishing some standard ruleset like this?

RazzMaTazz · Jun 26, 2013

Just tried it out for a couple things that I wanted to do. I thought it was going to be a time-consuming, learning curve that required writing if-then statements (which is why I've avoided these types of apps) but I was surprised by how easy and intuitive it is. You just click the list of "conditions" (if's) and the list of "actions" (then's) that Llama provides. It's so easy. I was done in a few minutes. I should have taken the plunge LONG ago.

Here's what I did just in case anybody cares...

IF connected to any of my cars' Bluetooth stereos AND charging,
THEN turn on the screen, turn off the screen timeout, turn up the media volume, and launch a playlist with MixZing.

IF connected to any of my cars' or my stereo Bluetooth headsets AND running from battery,
THEN turn up the media volume and launch a playlist with MixZing.

IF disconnected from my cars' Bluetooth stereos or Bluetooth stereo headset
THEN turn off the screen and turn the screen timeout to 60 seconds.

rhlsg · Jun 27, 2013

lucky 13 said:
I think so but it never worked for me. I have this set up using tasker now. Ripple lock in the house, pattern everywhere else

or maybe it requires root to handle the pattern lock ?
using the "disable screen lock after unlock" does not seem to work otherwise.

lucky 13 · Jun 27, 2013

It had root priveledges but never worked. I've froze it just now while I play with tasker for a few days

rhlsg · Jun 27, 2013

must be a deeper problem then.

rhlsg · Jun 28, 2013

i am trying to use lock password instead of pattern,
and along with Secure Settings, something seems to work.
still working out the details of which setting works.
will post back.

seems that using "unlock immediately" option in Llama is working.
the Keyguard unlock option (without notification) through Secure settings also is working.
if notification is on then - when i touch the volume controls while screen is off, then it lights up - which is unnecessary.

smallclone · Jul 16, 2014

Hi, I need my Samsung s4 to do 2 things:

-check wifi on the hour every hour between 8am and 11pm for a couple of minutes
-turn mobile data on twice every hour (15 mins past and 45 mins past) for a couple of minutes.

I've set up events to do this.

E.g:condition = time between 8am - 8.05 am. action = wifi on for 3 mins
repeat every hour

I think the wifi one works. But the mobile data one defintiely doesn't turn mobile data on.

Any reason? Thanks

RazzMaTazz · Jul 16, 2014

smallclone said:
I think the wifi one works. But the mobile data one defintiely doesn't turn mobile data on.

Any reason?

Llama should have no problem turning on & off mobile data at certain times but in Llama one usually creates pairs of events. (e.g. "On" if "this", and "Off" if "not this".) You only cited one event. So if WiFi remains on (even though it's not your intent) then WiFi will likely override any attempt to turn on mobile data. That's because (I think) for most modern Android phones (at least the Samsung and LG models that I've owned) if you leave mobile data and WiFi turned on all the time, then the phone will automatically, periodically sniff for an available, known WiFi network, and if a known WiFi network is available, it will turn off mobile data and connect to the WiFi network. If a WiFi network is not available, then it will automatically connect via mobile data. Or to put it more simply: WiFi takes preference over mobile data.

If you have a limited mobile-data plan, I could understand why you would want to limit your mobile data connection, but I don't understand why you'd want to limit your WiFi connectivity. If WiFi is left on where there's no WiFi network available, then it typically uses VERY little power because the WiFi radio only occasionally wakes up and sniffs for a WiFi network. And even when it's connected to a WiFi network, it uses VERY little power if no data is being transferred. Just out of curiosity, if you don't mind, why do you only want to turn on WiFi periodically?

Similarly, if mobile data is left on, then relative to your cellular voice radio, I think the amount of power that the mobile data radio uses (when not transferring data) is trivial-- especially relative to leaving on your cellular voice radio. I can understand wanting to limit mobile data, but it seems that you're not limiting the amount of data, just the window during which that data will be transferred. Again, just out of curiosity, if you don't mind, why do you only want to turn on mobile data periodically?

smallclone · Jul 16, 2014

RazzMaTazz said:
If you have a limited mobile-data plan, I could understand why you would want to limit your mobile data connection, but I don't understand why you'd want to limit your WiFi connectivity. If WiFi is left on where there's no WiFi network available, then it typically uses VERY little power because the WiFi radio only occasionally wakes up and sniffs for a WiFi network. And even when it's connected to a WiFi network, it uses VERY little power if no data is being transferred. Just out of curiosity, if you don't mind, why do you only want to turn on WiFi periodically?

Because it eats my battery. Really. Leaving wifi on even in my own home with a great signal all day increases battery use by about 30-40%.

Turning it on twice an hour instead saves it.

Similarly, if mobile data is left on, then relative to your cellular voice radio, I think the amount of power that the mobile data radio uses (when not transferring data) is trivial-- especially relative to leaving on your cellular voice radio. I can understand wanting to limit mobile data, but it seems that you're not limiting the amount of data, just the window during which that data will be transferred. Again, just out of curiosity, if you don't mind, why do you only want to turn on mobile data periodically?

Because I'm ona tarrif, and it eats battery.

RazzMaTazz · Jul 16, 2014

Thanks. I see. 30%-40% battery-drain for all-day WiFi seems REALLY high to me. I was thinking like 2-3% for my phone but I've never measured it. Then again, doing some research on the web just now, power usage seems to vary greatly with phone model, signal strength, frequency (5GHz is more power hungry) service-provider, and WiFi router behavior. Signal strength seems to be the big factor. (The weaker the signal the worse the battery drain.)

As I mentioned in my previous post, you might want to make sure that there is a Llama event to specifically turn off both WiFi and mobile data.

smallclone · Jul 16, 2014

RazzMaTazz said:
Thanks. I see. 30%-40% battery-drain for all-day WiFi seems REALLY high to me. I was thinking like 2-3% for my phone but I've never measured it. Then again, doing some research on the web just now, power usage seems to vary greatly with phone model, signal strength, frequency (5GHz is more power hungry) service-provider, and WiFi router behavior. Signal strength seems to be the big factor. (The weaker the signal the worse the battery drain.)

As I mentioned in my previous post, you might want to make sure that there is a Llama event to specifically turn off both WiFi and mobile data.

I think that is the key......2 events for every action and all that. I seem to have it working well.

Now to sort out profiles........it went into normal mode at work today which was a tad embarrassing!

I like Llama though.

RazzMaTazz · Jul 16, 2014

Yeah... I've also accidentally pocket-picked the wrong Llama profile.

You can hit the "lock" icon on the right of a profile an lock it in place, but it's probably better to "teach" Llama your location ("Area"), teach it a profile for that location, and then set up a pair of events so that when you "Enter Area" and "Leave Area" you "Change Profile".

I haven't tried the action Llama Profile Changes Lock but that might be a way to go.

Llama, a free automation alternative to Tasker, Locale, AutomateIT, etc.

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