Can Tasker see how many unread text messages are on the phone?

[Mike Boehm]

I didn't see this listed in the Variable list but I need to know if there's a built in variable that Tasker has access to that will show the number of unread text messages on the phone.

Can anyone tell me if this is in there somewhere?

Thanks.

[Matt R]

There's no built-in variable for this. You either need to try tracking it yourself with the received text event or read the sms database (requires root).

Matt

[Mike Boehm]

OK.  It's a work phone so I can't root it.

If I setup one Profile event for Received Text and leave everything empty and then I have another one for event Received Text from a specific contact, do both events fire when I receive the text from the specific contact?

That way the generic one would just increment a counter and the second one would just be for the specific things it needs to do and would not worry about the counter.

Thanks

[Ryan Anderson]

I've got something similar but my profile variable is just yes or no. But you could try this
1st profile:
State>app>unread text
Task: set variable %UNREAD TO %UNREAD +1

2nd profile:
Application>Hangouts (SMS app)
Task:set variable %UNREAD to 0

[Mike Boehm]

So how does Unread Text differ from Text Received?  I don't really care how many unread texts I have, just if I have any or not.  Does a State profile run constantly?

I basically want to setup a loop so that every 2 minutes my reminder goes off if I have any unread Texts.  Same as the built in Reminder feature Handcent has but I need to do some custom notification sounds based on the content of the texts so I have to do it in Tasker.

[Matt R]

Use the unread text state context. Then add a second context of time -> repeat every two minutes. To add a context, long-press the context name (under the profile name).

Matt