How do you auto send text to wife when leaving work using GPS location?

[Carl Johnson]

I would like to create a profile to send my wife an auto text (like "On My Way") when I leave work. Any suggestions?

[Pat Stellato]

There is a series of youtube videos called Android Tasker 101 tutorials by HollywoodFrodo.  There are a bunch of them in the series and each one sort of builds on the one prior.  I think he had one about this in there, just not sure which one.  They were very informative so you should check them out.  

I am new to tasker myself and do not have the need for this particular profile.

[easiuser]

For the profile part, you just need to define the context that this happens.  For me it is Monday-Friday, between 4pm and 9pm, connected to my car's bluetooth and I am near the office (Cell Near).

For the task just use the action Send SMS and enter the number and message.  I send one every day so I started to make it a little more interesting by sending a random message with my expected time of arrival.

I check with google maps and determining my ETA (search this group)

Then I read in a random line of a text file that has different messages with a #ETA# embedded in the line

Search and replace #ETA# with the calculated time.

This way I can send messages like.  "Can't wait to get home and see you by 6:15", "Counting the minutes until 8:22 when I can be with you again." or "My phone said I would be home by 7:11".

[Carl Johnson]

Thanks... I will definitely check them out!

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[Pak]

I'll just add to the other responses that easiuser's response with his example is a reminder that you should try and include as many limiting factors as you can think of for activating the profile so you don't get accidental false sends of your SMS.

For example, if you only use GPS coordinates, if you go out to lunch for your coworkers, you may be sending a false SMS to your wife saying you are coming home. So adding Mon-Fri and after 5pm, for example, type restrictions to the profile will help prevent "false positives", so to speak.

Alternatively, you could set it up so that instead of just sending the SMS, it pops up a screen asking you to confirm sending. Even if you want it to do it that way long term, in the short term you might use the pop up to test it out for a few weeks to make sure it isn't sending SMSs at other times.

[Steve L.]

On that same topic, I have one set to text my wife when I leave work already, but it repeatedly sends the same text like 5 or 6 times and am asking for help:

For the Profile trigger, I have (Tuesday, Thursday or Friday) + (From 11:45 to 16:00) + work (location)

It triggers the task to send a text message to my wife's phone that I left work and am on my way home.  (or school on Wednesday).

The problem is that she receives 1 text some days, 5 or 6 texts other days.  Today she received 5 inside a minute.

I do not have the time repeating, it's just spaced out so that sometime between 11:45 and 16:00, when I turn my phone on, she knows I'm leaving work.

Is there an easy way for only one message to go through on a NON-rooted phone?  I was considering looking for a counter of some kind that when it hits 1 text message sent, force the exit of the message?

I already have an exit task of travel so that it turns on the volume, bluetooth, etc and I can start driving.

On Monday, February 24, 2014 6:51:38 PM UTC-6, Carl Johnson wrote:

[Pak]

Hi Steve,

So first off, how are you determining location?

Second, anytime something changes that you exit that profile and then changes again so you enter that profile, it will resend the same SMS to your wife. So if you are determining a location via something that tends to come and go, like a cell tower where you are on the edge of its area so that it is detected, then not detected, then detected again or an unstable GPS lock or a weak wifi signal, each time you get back in "location" and reenter the profile, it will resend the SMS.

If that is the case, you might try using the "Cooldown Time" setting on a profile to keep it from reactivation for whatever time it takes you to get clear of the "location" that causes the SMS to be sent.

[Scott]

It could be that when near the boundary between "at work" and "not at work" you rapidly toggle between the two because of location sensing error.  You can just only have it send the text if a variable is set, then unset that variable once the text is sent.  Then re set the variable some other way, like once you get home or something.  So you'd get something like:

At home - set %Sendtext to 1

At work (enter) - do whatever

At work (exit) - if %Sendtext = 1, send the text and set %Sendtext to 0

That way you'd guarantee that you'd only send the text once per time you go home.  I'd add some sort of manual override or find a better method for resetting the variable in case you leave and go back to work without making it home for some reason.

The cooldown time is another, good way to handle stuff like this.  It might be worth doing both if you want to keep your cooldown time short, yet guarantee that you only send one text.

[Steve L.]

I was using the Net location with a range of approx 900 meters.  It normally doesn't do that, but it had fired off like 5 texts inside a minute, then two more within minutes after that.  Could be because of the weather conditions...I'll try a couple more things, thanks.

[Steve L.]

I'll give it a try...thanks

[UncleMike]

Steve - a simple fix would be to set a cool down period for the profile (under profile properties).  If you specify 5 hours as the cool down timer, then it won't be possible for the profile to activate twice during the allotted window of 11:45-16:00.