Tasker shortcuts slow to start

[T Magritte]

I have several tasker shortcuts set up to run tasker tasks that I've set up. A couple of recent examples are a disable internet task which disables wifi and mobile data (by running a rooted shell command) and a second task that restores internet by reversing the above.

I can run these tasks successfully by opening them within the tasker UI and clicking the play button. They run quickly and I can successfully toggle between by backing out and opening the other task then tapping the play button. They seem to run as fast as I'm able to get to them through the UI. So there doesn't seem to be any issue with the tasks themselves.

However, when I launch them through their shortcuts there is frequently a long delay between tapping the shortcut icon and the task starting. Once it starts it seems to continue and finish rapidly. But the start delay is quite variable and can range anywhere from instantly to a couple of minutes.

I've tried everything I could think of from within Tasker to try to speed things up. I set shortcut priority to 50 (the highest the control allowed), disabled the save resources option, enabled running in foreground with an active, visible icon. None of these things seems to have helped at all.

I've experienced this problem with previous Tasker shortcuts.

Does anyone know if there is a way to overcome this and have shortcuts start as soon as they are launched?

Thanks!

[Pent]

Does anyone know if there is a way to overcome this and have shortcuts start as soon as they are launched?

Shortcuts should be virtually immediate. A couple of minutes is ridiculous, it's almost certainly
something to do with your device configuration. Possibly very short of memory, or something
running in the background slowing everything down, problem with your launcher etc.

Sorry that's a bit vague, but I'm pretty sure it's not a

Pent

[T Magritte]

My RAM usage seems to average around 1.3 to 1.5 GB (of 2 GB total on my Nexus 5). Is that considered high?

What about storage space? If that gets low does it affect tasker performance?

I'll try doing a factory reset to see if I can track down conflicting apps, if it comes to that.

However, I've now noticed a bit of a pattern. The first task I launch from a shortcut works quickly but then the second task I launch shortly after takes around 30 seconds to start. But If I wait some time between launching the first and second task there is little to no delay. It's starting to look like there is a delay between subsequent tasks...

Thanks!

[Pent]

Enable Menu / More / Run Log, see if maybe the previous task is taking a long time and blocking the next one.

Pent

[T Magritte]

Based on the log each task ends within a second of starting, but then there is a variable delay (from a brief test from 10 to 30 seconds) before the next task starts with nothing else in the log between the end of one task and the start of the other. I didn't wait more than a couple of seconds between alternately launching each task so something else is delaying the start.

[T Magritte]

I've also found that if I create a widget to run a task it's much more consistently fast to startup than a shortcut to the same task. However, I'd like to have shortcuts run as fast so I can, for instance, include them as custom tiles in notification pane.

[Pent]

I've also found that if I create a widget to run a task it's much more consistently fast to startup than a shortcut to the same task.

Since Tasker doesn't differentiate, it sounds more and more like a launcher/OS thing.

You're not specifying extremely large images for the shortcut icon ?

Pent

[AA]

Hi Pent,

I'm searching about this exact same issue and found this post.    I have Android 5.0 and Tasker 4.7, and also set the priority for shortcut to 50.    Allowable tasks is 10.

I got the same behavior when launching a shortcut (my shortcut uses a basic icon).   Pressing the play button within the task runs immediately.      But also if the task is triggered by say NFC or autovoice, there is a chance that there is a delay as the OP mentioned.     This happens to multiple profiles I tested, and I also always put an alert Flash to show a message, so I know if there is a delay within the tasks, or it simply didn't start yet (as flash is very simple and should not be delayed).   And it is not started.  After x seconds, could be 5, could be 30s, it will start eventually and runs properly.   

The RunLog does not show much interesting about the delay start neither.  I use Nova launcher, but since the behavior also happens with triggered tasks, it may not be related.

Is there something else I can log and troubleshoot?

[CoolRaoul]

Could this be related to this other issue? (link): when network is resetting (switching from wifi to data for example), very long (up to 30sec) delays can be observed too.

[Marcin Mally]

It's an old thread but lately I encountered similar problems with Tasker tasks execution by a task shortcut.

Tasks weren't executed at all or there was a huge delay every time the task was executed outside of Tasker app (by shortcut or a profile match).

My phone is a rooted Galaxy S7.

In my case the problem was that SuperSu app option "Enable su during boot" was not checked (I must have unchecked it somehow). While after enabling this option and rebooting the phone mentioned problems no longer exist ...
Perhaps that may help someone ...  

[pixelpop]

I am seeing this problem also. Galaxy S8, not rooted, plenty of resources, no background processes running, fresh restart. Takes around a minute to start the first time. Each subsequent start is faster until by the third or fourth time execution is instantaneous. This particular task uses AutoTools dialog box, so that may have an affect.

[Pent]

On Saturday, 26 August 2017 05:51:23 UTC+2, pixelpop wrote:

I am seeing this problem also. Galaxy S8, not rooted, plenty of resources, no background processes running, fresh restart. Takes around a minute to start the first time. Each subsequent start is faster until by the third or fourth time execution is instantaneous. This particular task uses AutoTools dialog box, so that may have an affect.

It's almost certainly the broadcast delay problem caused by Google Apps, see
the 'Plugins Not Working' thread at the top of forum.

Pent

[Gilles P]

Jumping in this thread back again.

I'm still facing this kind of issue regularly

I'm currently using a Galaxy S7, still plenty of ressources (CPU, Ram) available when it happens

In some situations, delays can go up to 2 minutes (not kidding). Havent' noticed anything useful in run log.

Strangely, in the same time there are other Tasker profiles which continue to gets triggered pretty quickly and  also others applications do not suffers lags or slowdown

Restarting phone fixes the problem until it comes back again.

Really annoying.

[Rin Kui]

Same issue here.

After two hours of trying everything, I find a possible solution.

Just set Tasker as a device administrator, and the problem will disappear.

No need to turn off battery optimization.
No need to use reliable alarms.
No need to uninstall the Google app.

I am using a Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact with Oreo.

[Gilles P]

After two hours of trying everything, I find a possible solution.

Just set Tasker as a device administrator, and the problem will disappear.

Was already set for me unfortunately

[techguyone]

I have the same issue sporadically on a tasker shortcut for setting car mode, mostly it's snappy but occasionally it can take 10-15 secs to trigger. Granted part of the profile turns wifi off if that makes a difference. 

[Alberto Sánchez]

I have exactly the same problem, and I found the solution: disable the location. If you set it to the mode that just uses network, it won't work, all location have to be disabled. 15-20 seconds after turning it off, the shortcuts to launch tasks start to work instantly.

Dear Joaomgcd, please take a look at it when you get used to the Tasker code, congratulations with your (almost) new project!

[Helge Willum Thingvad]

Thank you!
Disabling location completely indeed fixes the issue after a short while.

Even better, on my SGS7 I can turn off Location permission just for the Tasker app, by going to Settings -> Apps -> App permissions

I got a warning that Tasker was designed for an older android and thus may not function properly without the permission, but it seems to work fine so far.

[Helge Willum Thingvad]

Never mind...
This morning it was slow again, despite having location turned off for Tasker in App Permissions.

[W M]

I have the same issue since I've switched from my Samsung S7 to S9

Seems like when the phone is unlocked it takes a while for Tasker to "wake up"

I use nova launcher to launch simple tasker shortcuts e.g. open a website

First time takes a couple of seconds, next executions are done immediately

Tasker is set as device admin, run in foreground, reliable alarms is set to always and tasker is excluded from battery savings

[João Dias]

To make sure Tasker and the AutoApps run in the foreground:

- make sure Tasker is enabled

- enable foreground notification in Tasker settings

- enable the "Use reliable alarms" option

- Disable battery optimization for the apps

- Make sure the Android Settings -> Apps -> Tasker -> Battery -> Background activity option is enabled (this setting may be somewhere else on different OEMs, but it's a very important setting that might be disabled by default on some devices)

[W M]

Hi

This is all ok on my phone, still have the issue

Brgds
Wim

[João Dias]

Can you please export your task's description (not xml) so I can take a look? Long-click the task in Tasker->export description Thanks in advance

[W M]

Hi Joao

Here you go

Filebeeld (20)
A1: Browse URL [ URL:http://www.filebeeld.be/mobiel/kaart ]

[João Dias]

Can you please try with a flash action and see if that shows up right away?Thanks

[AA]

Hi Joao,

Just realized you took over Tasker, been using Autoapps too.  Congrats!  

Pasting my previous post in 2016, I tested with the Flash action, it does not make a difference, delay can still happen randomly.   Back then I was on Galaxy S5, and now on S7, still getting the same issue.

-------

I got the same behavior when launching a shortcut (my shortcut uses a basic icon).   Pressing the play button within the task runs immediately.      But also if the task is triggered by say NFC or autovoice, there is a chance that there is a delay as the OP mentioned.     This happens to multiple profiles I tested, and I also always put an alert Flash to show a message, so I know if there is a delay within the tasks, or it simply didn't start yet (as flash is very simple and should not be delayed).   And it is not started.  After x seconds, could be 5, could be 30s, it will start eventually and runs properly.   

The RunLog does not show much interesting about the delay start neither.  I use Nova launcher, but since the behavior also happens with triggered tasks, it may not be related.

---------

[Rich B]

I am wondering if it would be better to export my shortcut tasks using the app factory? I wonder if they'll run faster. I've never used app factory but I may try this when I get a chance. I had some routines today that never ran when I pressed the shortcut icon.

[Tom]

I am having the same problem. Note 8, tasker 5.2, set as device adminsitrator, foreground, etc. all set. 

After boot, tasker is running in the background (android notification, tasker itself reports "no active profiles" in notifications) but does not react to external triggers immediately via shortcuts (on Nova) or triggers via autoshare. It takes often minutes for tasker to respond. Repetitive triggers eventually cause a max tasks queued log entry, but the tasks never execute.

Run Log is empty. Executing the tasks in tasker is working without problems.

Tom

[Marta Hintz]

If run log is empty, then doesn't that mean that something may still be inhibiting it to run? Tasker never wakes up or triggers?

[João Dias]

Does it work normally to run shortcuts without delay if you wait about 5 minutes after boot?

On Mon, Jul 2, 2018 at 12:24 PM Marta Hintz <lar...@gmail.com> wrote:

If run log is empty, then doesn't that mean that something may still be inhibiting it to run? Tasker never wakes up or triggers?

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[W M]

after a reboot it indeed seems like the shortcuts are responding much faster... I'll keep an eye on it when/if they start slowing down again

Op maandag 2 juli 2018 14:01:33 UTC+2 schreef joaomgcd:

[Floris Bernard]

I'm also still having this issue. The delay also happens on other kinds of triggers than shortcuts (see below for details). I suspect it's the same issue, but let me know if it's more appropriate to create a separate topic/thread. I can't remember changing any settings that might have caused this. It might have been around the time I got the latest device update from OnePlus, but I'm not sure.

Device: 

 - OnePlus 3

 - stock OxygenOS 5.0.4 (Android 8.0.0)

 - not rooted

Behavior:

 - All shortcuts have a long delay. Seems to vary from 30s to a couple of minutes

 - Delay seems to be fairly random, unrelated to if the device was recently booted

 - Some other plugin triggers fire slowly as well. For example:

   * tapping on a button in a notification created by AutoNotification

   * Using the AutoNotification intercept profile to respond to certain notifications

 - Starting actions by tapping the play button in Tasker works immediately

 - Triggering actions internally also works immediately. For example, these run fine:

   * Running another action using "Perform Task"

   * Triggering an action when a variable changes using the "Variable Value" profile

 - Unrelated to the contents of the task: even just a simple "Flash" message is delayed

Tried the following: 

 - All suggestions in this thread to make app run in foreground (reliable alarms, battery optimization, etc...)

 - Set tasker as device administrator

 - Run log does not show anything interesting. I can see the TaskService being started before a task eventually runs and stopped right after, but if I understand correctly this is by design? 

 - Enabled error popups, have not shown any errors so far

Any help is greatly appreciated! Currently I have Tasker disabled, because unfortunately this issue makes my profiles practically unusable. 

[João Dias]

Can you please enable logging to internal storage in Tasker settings and then try to run a shortcut and then export the log? Thanks in advance.

[Floris Bernard]

Here is the log:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1If28hMC1AtNoKVq9yuV5B7l_kybFYFzU/view?usp=sharing

I can see the shortcut press at time 12.54.28. The task is executed two minutes later at 12.56.42

[Floris Bernard]

There were no incoming notification during the time that I enabled logging, so I'm not sure why there are so many AutoNotification logs

[João Dias]

Thank you. Can you please check the AutoNotification logs when that happens? It seems that it's intercepting a whole lot of notifications... thanks!

--

[Floris Bernard]

For some reason, after 2 weeks of trying everything (including many reboots) the problem seems to have disappeared today. I haven't changed my Tasker or system settings since I experienced the delays. Weird...

I will reply to you with AutoNotification logs as soon as I have the problem again. 

[João Dias]

Thanks!

[Jimmy Jimmy]

I have had this issue for a long long time on a few different phones on a few Android versions on a few different launchers. Based on my experience, some comments:

1. It does seem to be phone specific. On my old Nexus 6, no delays whatsoever. On my LG and HTC and now Samsung, delays happen from time to time and I still cannot figure out why and when.

2. If you change shortcuts to widgets, the issue seems to be gone. Somehow widgets are handled differently than shortcuts I guess.

So, hope it helps!

[Floris Bernard]

Today the problem has surfaced again, unfortunately. Can't think of any significant relevant changes I made that may have caused this. I haven't even touched my tasker settings for the last couple of weeks. Like last time, the delay happens when I click a shortcut but also when an action should be performed in response to tapping a notification.

Here is the log from today:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1F9bCCiTyf2gCqPs6Mls7E7t3MJYsyhyQ

In this log, the first time I click the shortcut it responds pretty much immediately:

04-10-2018 IntentHandler: 11.39.14#IntentHandler: shortcut click: Intent { act=net.dinglisch.android.tasker.WIDICKYUM dat=task:Test Flash flg=0x10800000 cmp=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm/.IntentHandler bnds=[613,994][827,1238] (has extras) }
...
04-10-2018 E: 11.39.14#E: execute task: Test Flash

However when I try it again 5 seconds later, it takes around 2 minutes to respond:

04-10-2018 IntentHandler: 11.39.19#IntentHandler: shortcut click: Intent { act=net.dinglisch.android.tasker.WIDICKYUM dat=task:Test Flash flg=0x10800000 cmp=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm/.IntentHandler bnds=[613,994][827,1238] (has extras) }
...
04-10-2018 E: 11.41.18#E: execute task: Test Flash

Again there are a lot of AutoNotification logs, but strangely enough the logs in AutoNotification (Logs => Log Listing + System Logs checked) is completely empty. 

Thanks again for the help

[Floris Bernard]

Actually, I said I haven't made any changes but I just remembered I updated my system to OxygenOS 5.0.6 (A3003_16_180914) just before I started seeing these issues 

[João Dias]

You say that the first click was immediate. Is maybe Tasker still finishing something before you clicked the second time and thus doesn't respond right away?

Thank you for your contact.

   Join: connect multiple devices (send pushes, remote SMS, notifications) on Android, Windows, Mac, Linux

   Tasker: customize/automate anything on your phone!

   AutoApps: add advanced functionality to Tasker via plugins

     

João Dias

[Floris Bernard]

The task I'm triggering with the shortcut is just a short flash message to test the response time, so I doubt it is still finishing up something there. 

That first click happening immediately is more of the exception, usually the delay is longer. The behavior is a bit random and I haven't yet figured out

under what circumstances it takes longer. Usually it takes at least 30 seconds.

[João Dias]

Yes, that's definitely not normal. Do quick setting tiles take that long too for example?

Thank you for your contact.

   Join: connect multiple devices (send pushes, remote SMS, notifications) on Android, Windows, Mac, Linux

   Tasker: customize/automate anything on your phone!

   AutoApps: add advanced functionality to Tasker via plugins

     

João Dias

[Floris Bernard]

Just tried adding some quick setting tiles for the same actions, and they do not have delay. The homescreen shortcuts still do. Another thing I've noticed is that the "AutoNotification cancel" action 

to remove a notification that I created takes a long time, even if I trigger it directly from tasker using the play button on an action (or using the quick settings tiles). 

[Floris Bernard]

I decided to run logcat and click the notification to see if there was anything interesting showing up. I saw a couple of these

10-04 14:24:34.957  1241  1288 E ActivityManager: ANR in com.djit.apps.edjing.expert

I removed the app (edjing Pro) and the problem immediately vanished. Not sure what that app is doing... I haven't used it for ages.  

Maybe it is just a coincidence that it is now working... I rebooted my phone to make sure and tasker is still fast (even though it used to be delayed after a reboot).

 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

On Thursday, October 4, 2018 at 2:04:39 PM UTC+2, joaomgcd wrote:

[João Dias]

Ok, I think I got it! :D Those logs were very helpful!

Can you please try this version?

The problem was that for some weird reason Tasker was sending the command to execute the task through a broadcast receiver! This made Android throttle it when your system resources were low (probably due to that app you found).

Hope this helps! :)

Thank you for your contact.

   Join: connect multiple devices (send pushes, remote SMS, notifications) on Android, Windows, Mac, Linux

   Tasker: customize/automate anything on your phone!

   AutoApps: add advanced functionality to Tasker via plugins

     

João Dias

[Floris Bernard]

That version works great! :) Thanks for your help. If I run into delays again I'll make sure to send you a new log 

FYI, I found another couple ANR messages in that log for another app (codemotion conference). They both mentioned the same firebase bit:

10-04 14:25:35.277  1241  1288 E ActivityManager: Reason: Broadcast of Intent { act=com.google.firebase.INSTANCE_ID_EVENT flg=0x14 cmp=com.codemotionworld.codemotionconference/com.google.firebase.iid.FirebaseInstanceIdInternalReceiver (has extras) }

I googled a little bit and it seems like this is an issue with specific versions of android, which might explain why the delay thing was suddenly again popping up after I updated my device.

[João Dias]

Great :) Thanks for the extra info!

Thank you for your contact.

   Join: connect multiple devices (send pushes, remote SMS, notifications) on Android, Windows, Mac, Linux

   Tasker: customize/automate anything on your phone!

   AutoApps: add advanced functionality to Tasker via plugins

     

João Dias