QUESTION: Do You Even Need Root Anymore For Tasker?

Discussion in 'Tasker' started by Evil Genius, Jun 1, 2016.

  1. Evil Genius

    Evil Genius Member

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    Tasker and Joaoapps have come such a long way. In the past, having a rooted phone would yield you a few extra features that unrooted phones could not do. The infamous USE ROOT checkbox is a perfect example of this.

    Fast forward to summer 2016 and it brings up the question of, does one even need root anymore for Tasker?

    I am not talking about needing root for Xposed or anything like that, I am talking about strictly Tasker and Autoapps.
     
  2. joaomgcd

    joaomgcd Administrator Staff Member

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    I certainly don't :)
     
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  3. Daniel D

    Daniel D Member

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    Sure! It felt like I was missing a hand until I got my Z5 compact rooted.
     
  4. Evil Genius

    Evil Genius Member

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    Kill App never seems to work for me when I try to use it without root.
     
  5. easiuser

    easiuser Member

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    You cannot emulate screen swipes without root.
     
  6. Evil Genius

    Evil Genius Member

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    How do you kill app without root? Do you send an intent? The KILL APP portion of Tasker doesn't work without root for me.
     
  7. FourQ

    FourQ New Member

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    I set up a task on my son's phone.
    AutoVoice, "kill (?<app>.+)
    App Settings, AutoLaunch, (tap on %app)
    AutoInput, Action, tap Force Close, tap OK.

    The trouble is, unless the app is one of the first few you have to scroll through until AutoInput sees the app on the screen.
    I'm sure there's a way around this, but I didn't have time to investigate any further. No doubt someone with more time to look into AutoInput properly will find a solution to this. I'd have looked at intents and force closes but I suspect it would require a rooted phone and there's no chance of me rooting the phone of someone his age.
    Hope this gives someone a few ideas.

    Q
     
  8. Robert Ryan

    Robert Ryan Member

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    You can use Autoshare to bring up the App Info dialog directly. All you need to know is the package name of the app. You can get the intent from Autoshare's intent web page.

    Kill App (73)
    A1: Perform Task [ Name:Select App Priority:%priority+1 Parameter 1 (%par1): Parameter 2 (%par2): Return Value Variable:%package Stop:Off ]
    A2: AutoShare [ Configuration:App: Android
    Action: App Details Settings
    Data: package:%package Timeout (Seconds):10 ]
    A3: AutoInput Action [ Configuration:Type: Text
    Value: FORCE STOP
    Action : Click
    Is Tasker Action: false
    Check Screen State: false Timeout (Seconds):20 ]
    A4: AutoInput Action [ Configuration:Type: Text
    Value: OK
    Action : Click
    Is Tasker Action: false
    Check Screen State: false Timeout (Seconds):20 ]


    Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
     
  9. Evil Genius

    Evil Genius Member

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    Is there any way you could make a short explainer Youtube video showing this?
     
  10. Robert Ryan

    Robert Ryan Member

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    Sorry, I don't have the equipment nor the talent for making videos. The best I can do is try to break down the creation of the Autoshare action.

    First you need to import the pre-made intent into Autoshare:

    1. Open Autoshare and click on Browse intents
    2. After the web page loads scroll down until you see the link for Open App Settings and then either click it or long click it, depending on your browser. This will give the option to import it into Autoshare. If you go to Manage Intents, you should see the new intent.

    Now that the hard part is done, using the new intent is easy. Just create an Autoshare action, open its configuration and click App. Pick Android from the list and you're done.

    Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
     
  11. joaomgcd

    joaomgcd Administrator Staff Member

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    There already is a video tutorial for this :)

     
  12. MysticGolem

    MysticGolem New Member

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    Yes, I still need Root for Tasker because I like to use Input Tap <coordinates>.
    I use it to send intents to close apps, but I can see how Autoshare can be used instead.
    I also use some other cool apps like LMT Launcher I need the Pointer feature to make my phone work one handed very easily.
    I use Helium to backup App Data, I am not entirely aware that the Android system can even do App Data backups at all...this is something I would have to test in those virtual emulators.

    I would like to be in a state where I don't have to root my phone and still have almost all of the functionality I need. Unfortunately I am so used to having Root and having so much customization that without it my phone would suck. Hence I am stuck on a Galaxy S4 using 4.4.4, any newer version of Android will cause my phone not to work correctly when using Tasker/AutoVoice/AutoInput. I really need AutoInput to work when the display is off, then I can keep my customization and have them work in newer versions of Android. Maybe aim to have a non-Rooted phone so that I can get updates via OTA.
    I have installed the Android Studio so that I can test my code on Virtual Android Emulators of 4.4.4, 5.0, 6.0 and 7.0.

    I appreciate all the hard work that joaomgcd is doing with his apps and I will continue to support and purchase them as I need them.

    Cheers!
     

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