What is Tasker and how does it work?
Tasker is an automation app that lets us mere mortals work a little Android magic. Yes, magic.Tasker is an automation app. You create a list of actions, called a task, which can then be executed according to a variety of contexts. You tell Tasker you want it to do A, B, and C when X and/or Y happens. You might be thinking that Tasker's like IFTTT, and you'd be half right. Tasker tasks are similar to IFTTT applets, and both services have a wide variety of plugins. IFTTT has wider service support and cross-platform usability, but Tasker can do more on the Android devices it touches with more complex actions.
When you open up Tasker, you have four tabs to work with: Profiles are contextual ways to trigger Tasks, which are the lists of organized Actions you want to perform. Scenes are visual interfaces that users can build to execute tasks, as well as Popups and other visual elements that can be used in Tasks various ways — such as waking up the screen on my phone without the use of root. Variables are values that can be assigned and changed over time. Tasker has a lot of global variables built in, and you can assign your own variables, should you desire.
To create a Task, you first give it a Name, and then you can begin assigning actions to that task. Actions are grouped according to type, but you can also search for actions by name, which makes things significantly easier for Tasker builders… so long as you know the proper name for the action you're looking for.
Once you select an action, you configure it, such as telling Wi-Fi to turn off rather than on, or telling a plugin which app to direct commands to. Once you have your actions in order, you can execute the task by pressing play, or by adding it to a Profile, which can be launched at a certain time, when a certain app is open, or a number of other contexts.
Just what can it do for you?
Tasker can do a multitude of things to your phone, and it has done this for me over the years. Even before Android had automatic rules for Do Not Disturb, Tasker ensured my phone wouldn't disturb me while I got my beauty sleep. At show time, Tasker would set my phone to silent, ensuring my Fantasmic ring tone didn't blare out in a live broadcast. When I was getting in the car, Tasker recognized the Bluetooth head unit and executed a task that would turn off my Wi-Fi and turn on my music.
