The Android operating system is built on the principles of flexibility. It offers dozens of ways to tweak its numerous features and for performing a wide range of tricks it wasn't originally designed to do.

You'll be hard-pressed to find an Android app that excels at enhancing this flexibility as much as the Tasker automation app. Powerful, sleek, and very useful, Tasker is a multipurpose app every Android user should have.

But what is so good about Tasker, and what exactly can it do for you? Let's take a look.

What Is Tasker?

Tasker is a powerful app that can help you automate a wide range of day-to-day tasks on your Android smartphone. It can single-handedly replace hundreds of purpose-specific apps and gives you a tool to tweak your device in all sorts of ways.

Want your phone to automatically send an SMS of your exact location when your spouse calls? How about locking your social media apps once you arrive at your workplace? Well, you can either search for an app that does that (spoilers: it's a tough job) or you can let Tasker handle that for you seamlessly.

The best way to describe Tasker is as a nifty little automation app that does a lot of awesome things you didn't even know you could do. It is one of the best apps for customizing your Android smartphone in creative ways.

Tasker is a paid app and is available for download on the Play Store. To get a free 7-day trial for the app, you'll need to download the version available on the official Tasker website instead.

The installation procedure is simple. However, it requires quite a lot of permissions, much more than your average Android app does. It might seem sketchy at first, but it needs those permissions to access low-level system functions to do its job.

Download: Tasker ($3.49)

How to Set Up Tasker

  1. On your Tasker home screen, click the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner.
  2. Tap on More > Android Settings.
  3. You will find a list of Android permissions. Depending on your Android version and phone manufacturer, there might be slight variations on how to grant each permission.

Of course, you don't have to grant access to everything if you aren't comfortable with it. However, that might affect the app's functionality whenever you're trying to program an automated action that requires that particular permission.

How to Use Tasker

Although the Tasker app has an intuitive design, it has a steep learning curve. Sacrificing a bit of your time to learn the ropes is usually worth it, mainly because of the enormous power you'll be able to wield over your Android device.

You'll find automating simpler tasks relatively easy, and so much more if you have any background in computer programming.

Tasker User Interface Components

On the home screen, you'll find four tabs labeled Profiles, Tasks, Scenes, and Vars.

  • Profiles: the profile tab gives you access to create some sort of container or collection of conditions that are tethered to tasks. This is where you can define conditions that should be met before a task is triggered.
  • Tasks: the tasks tab is where you can create an action or group of actions to be executed whenever the condition defined in the profile is met. You can automate a call, send an SMS, turn on your Wi-Fi, back up your files, delete junk, and hundreds of other possible actions.
  • Scenes: this is where you can create your own user interface components. You can create anything from menus and buttons, to popups and prompts. You can also design custom notifications and even app lock screens.
  • Vars: a tab for managing unknown values (variables) that you can assign and share between tasks. These values are typically derived from system information and device states. They could be anything from the current time and battery level, to screen brightness level and temperature values. You can also use a value as a condition to trigger a task.

How to Create Profiles and Tasks in Tasker

The power of Tasker lies in its endless possible combination of conditions and actions. In other words, the basic principle is; when this happens, do this. Since there are a lot of conditions you can check for and a lot of actions you can perform, you're spoiled with choice.

Also, you can use any app or system information, device state, or event as conditions (which are defined in the profile tab) to trigger actions or groups of actions (which are also known as tasks).

For instance, you can make your device automatically turn on airplane mode (action) whenever the time is 11:30 PM (condition) to conserve battery power and reduce the emission of radiation.

Create a Simple Automation Task on Tasker

To better illustrate how to use the Profiles and Tasks tab, let's create a simple automation project that reduces your display brightness at 7:30 PM every day and increases it at 7:00 AM the next day.

  1. On your Tasker Home screen, switch to the Profile tab and tap the + icon in the bottom right corner of the screen.
  2. Tap on Time and set the time to trigger a reduction in display brightness, followed by the time to trigger an increase.

Set a Trigger

Remember, the Profile tab is where you define the conditions that trigger a task. You can use app activity, day of the month, device event, geographical location, device state and time as a trigger. For our automation project, we will use time as the trigger.

  1. After setting the time values, hit the back icon in the top left corner of the screen.
  2. You'll be prompted to add a Task. Click on New Task, type any task name of your choice and tap the checkmark icon on the screen.
  3. On the next screen, click on the + icon and then go to Display > Display Brightness.
  4. Use the slider to set the display brightness level to 40 or any lower value of your choice.

Avoid extremely low values like 0 to 10. In some old devices, this may reduce the brightness to unusable levels.

After following the steps above:

  1. Hit the back button twice to return to your Tasker home screen. This automatically saves your edits.
  2. Once your edits are saved, your display brightness should dim out according to the specified screen brightness at exactly 7:30 PM each day.

Add an Exit Task

You'll also want your display brightness to revert to normal levels in the morning. To do this, you'll need to add an Exit Task. An Exit Task is a task that is triggered once a profile completes its cycle. In other words, after the screen brightness remains at 40 until 7:00 AM the next day, what should happen?

To add an Exit Task:

  1. On your home screen, switch to the Tasks tab.
  2. Click the + icon.
  3. Name your task "Normalize Display Brightness" or any suitable name.
  4. On the next screen, tap on the + icon then go to Display > Display Brightness.
  5. Use the slider to set the brightness level to 150 or any favorable daytime display brightness and hit the back button in the top left corner of the screen.
  6. Return to the Profiles tab, locate the current profile and long press on the task you added earlier.
  7. Tap Add Exit Task and then select the "Normalize Display Brightness" task you created earlier
  8. Finally, click on the checkmark icon in the top right corner of the screen to complete your automation project.

What Other Things Can You Do With Tasker?

Take some time to explore the actions and triggers available on the Tasker app, and you'll be amazed at how much more you can do with it. The screen brightness example above barely scratches what you can do with Tasker.

With Tasker, you can:

  • Turn on or off your Wi-Fi depending on your location.
  • Password-lock certain apps when your phone exits a geographical location.
  • Get the exact location of your child via SMS or email by simply calling their cellphone.
  • Issue custom voice commands to your Android smartphone.
  • Automatically back up your files, SMS, MMS, and call logs.
  • Play custom sound notifications for work email or paycheck alerts.

Here's a guide to some basic but interesting things you can do with Tasker.

Explore Your Imagination

Although Tasker can be a bit intimidating at first, when you've learned the ropes, the possibilities of what you can do are truly endless. As long as you understand the basics, whipping up a complex automation project becomes a matter of exploring your imagination.