Would Tasker help with this use case?

[Wen Chuang]

Hi there,

I have a use case which I haven't found a perfect Android App or solution that can handle it perfectly. I'm currently looking at possibly using Tasker, but since it doesn't offer trial/lite version so I can't tell for sure if it would work or not.

Here is my use case and some of its characteristics (and limitations):

1. Normally when I'm at home, I want my Android phone (Samsung Galaxy Note 3, running Android 5.0 Lollipop) to automatically:

• Turn ON Wi-Fi
• Turn OFF GPS (location) - to save battery
• Turn OFF Bluetooth - to save batter

2. When I'm driving, I hope my Android phone can automatically detect that I'm driving (moving over 10 MPG+), and will automatically:

• Turn OFF Wi-Fi (so that it won't keep searching for Wi-Fi signal)
• Turn ON GPS (location) so that I can use Google Map or Waze
• Turn ON Bluetooth so that it would automatically connect to my car stereo

3. When I'm at work (M-F) or "indoor", I want my phone to automatically:

• Turn ON Wi-Fi
• Turn OFF GPS (location)
• Turn OFF Bluetooth

I have tried several Android apps, but none of them can do this perfectly. "Geo-location" or "time-based" triggers would not work well (based on my previous testing). I also tried to use NFC Tools, but unfortunately since I have a thick case for my Note3, so the NFC tags did not work. Any suggestion would be highly appreciated. Thanks!

[Adam Lopresto]

There are a few difficulties there. It's really not possible to detect how fast you're travelling without having GPS already on and actively tracking, and battery-wise that's going to far outweigh anything you'll save from the rest. Also, the ability to turn on and off the location seems to come and go with different versions of Android (and different phones), so you'd need to try it out on your own system. There is a 7-day trial available: http://tasker.dinglisch.net/download.html

In my experience, I just leave all three on all the time. Bluetooth and WiFi use very little power (I haven't been able to notice any difference), and location only uses power when something is trying to get your location, so the only real savings there are if you have a misbehaving app you still want to keep. 

If, after testing and confirming that you really do save power turning things on and off (again, I'm really not convinced it matters any more with modern phones), you could do things like using being connected to the wifi at home or at work to turn off Bluetooth and location, and using being connected to your car stereo's Bluetooth to turn off wifi. You'd need to play with the details and timing if you want a smooth handoff (for instance, it may be really nice to have Bluetooth already on when you start your car, so that the connection plays nicely, instead of starting it a few minutes later. That depends a lot on your car and stereo, of course). So an alternative would be to turn on Bluetooth on a fixed schedule a bit before you usually leave for work (and use losing wifi connection as a backup), and then use the Bluetooth connection for the rest.

There are a lot of possibilities, and Tasker can do a lot of nice things, but sometimes simpler is better. 

[Dale Smith]

I have two Tasker profiles that recognize when I leave home, turn off wifi and turn on mobile data via a plugin (Google I still hate you for that one). It does the opposite upon my return. I'm certain that it could be adapted to your needs. I doubt you will ever regret buying Tasker.

[Jay M]

The trial is also linked in the app description on Gplay

On Fri, 15 Dec 2017, 16:04 Dale Smith, <dales...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have two Tasker profiles that recognize when I leave home, turn off wifi and turn on mobile data via a plugin (Google I still hate you for that one). It does the opposite upon my return.  I'm certain that it could be adapted to your needs. I doubt you will ever regret buying Tasker.

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[techguyone]

I'll add that this 'save battery with turning GPS off' id a myth, because unless youre using an app that utilises GPS like google maps or something, it's not actually using any power at all. I leave my GPS on 24/7 with no battery averse issues.