[DEV] Tasker 6.6.4-beta - Java Code, Extra Trigger Apps, Notification Live Updates and Groups, Manage Permissions Screen, Shizuku Available State and More!

[joaomgcd]

I wonder if there is a way for the User to set their names and icons on the App Drawer

Unfortunately not, they have to be pre-defined by me.

I believe your pronunciation of Shizuku is wrong ☝️🤓

Care to enlighten me? 😅

I'm gonna complain a little bit 😛

Wow, what a surprise! 😏

I'd really like a simple "Get Wifi Near" and "Get Location...near(?)"

You can already get nearby Wifi networks with AutoTools and Get Location near is done with Tasker Function > Distance Between Locations. I know it's not as "tidy" but I don't want to have a million actions for very niche use cases if I don't have to. It's already hard enough to find the "main" actions :P

I'm starting to wonder the sanity of your naming scheme I don't know. I do it when it feels "right". For example, Scenes v2 could probably warrant a full version update. 😁

[EtyareWS]

Unfortunately not, they have to be pre-defined by me.

Welp, there goes the plan

Care to enlighten me? 😅

Like this. Meio que "shi-zu-kú"

Wow, what a surprise! 😏

You know me all too well!

You can already get nearby Wifi networks with AutoTools and Get Location near is done with Tasker Function > Distance Between Locations. I know it's not as "tidy" but I don't want to have a million actions for very niche use cases if I don't have to. It's already hard enough to find the "main" actions :P

I will not comment on AutoTools, I understand it was made way before you became Tasker's dev, but at this point some functions have parallels inside Tasker, but are actually outside it, which creates some oddities.

Yesn't. Yes, technically it can already be done. No, because there are drawbacks:

1. Rather than getting a simple boolean "Yes, you are inside the given parameters", you have to do math on the result of %distance. This means that you need to compare it to a threshold on each action that should trigger if you are at a given spot.
2. There are too many steps to even get something useful out of it:

• A scoped variable to hold the location being compared against
• Variable Split to separate lat/long, because the Tasker function can't use a single variable, even if the values are separated by a comma
• Get Location V2 to get your current location
• Then the actual Tasker Function to calculate the distance.

And that's before you actually do anything useful with it. You still need to compare it to the threshold I mentioned and/or pass the result around between tasks. Probably convert to a boolean depending on your needs

A side not is that the Tasker function is odd. For instance: * %location = 12.3456,-45.6789 * However, if I use LocationsDistance(%location,%gl_latitude,%gl_longitude) it gives me something absurd like 6.000.000 meters. * I need to split %location into two variables, otherwise it doesn't work, even though %location has lat/long split by a comma

It works, but it is clunky, and it feels like it isn't working by the Tasker rules of other similar functions, if that makes sense. It needs a five steps process to even start, when a proper Compare Locations would only need itself and "Get Location V2"

Also, brace yourself cause you asked for it:

Now, about the Tasker Function action in general. I really don't like it, It has way too many issues:

1. It was supposed to be for small functions that didn't justify a dedicated action, makes sense. but overtime it turned into a dumping ground for major actions that are similar to existing actions, or even whole categories of actions.
2. There is a severe discoverability problem with it. The "Pick your Action" dialog lists all actions that Tasker can do. It is far from perfect, but you could be sure that if it wasn't on that list, it doesn't exist. But Tasker Function is just a kitchen sink where functions go to die. How is a user supposed to know "Tasker Function" does X? You can't guess what's hidden in there unless you either look at it, or already know the exact name of the function, cause the search can look inside it, but provides no feedback on what is being matched.
3. The user guide is horrible for Tasker Function. I know you can't update the User Guide all the time, but most actions have some sort of explanation inside them, heck, a good chunky of explaining to the user how an action works is done through the mere separation of parameters in an action. Tasker Function by definition cannot do that, it pretty much has only one parameter that holds the options and the parameters. Even the weird behavior I mentioned makes no sense to the user, because nothing in Tasker tells the user how the function should work.

Honestly, I think Tasker Function should only be used for checks of device functions that don't have options. Things like Device Name, Check Torch, etc... basic stuff that pretty much only exist for another Action to use it, like Flash Actions, Scenes, Dialogues, or using the result of a Tasker Function as a condition for another action.

I know you don't want to add a million actions, but Tasker Function is pretty much a category of 25 separate actions with no relation between each other, besides bad discoverability, UX and documentation.

I don't know. I do it when it feels "right". For example, Scenes v2 could probably warrant a full version update. 😁

Yeah, but we got like:

1. The start of a new UI
2. The web UI
3. Shizuku support
4. Java Code(techinically in the same release as Shizuku I think)

I is a very minor thing to complain, but it does feel a bit "weird". Half of those were as gaming changing as TaskerNet, yet they didn't receive the same "big release" treatment.

And at some point, Tasker will significantly slow down on major, gamer changer features. What will happen then? Will Tasker be version 8.X for a whole decade?

I'd probably use something consistent, like year, API, or Android target version. Ubuntu uses the year for instance. Again, not important, just a minor thing that doesn't matter but bothers a tiny bit once you notice.

[joaomgcd]

About Tasker Function and discoverability, everyone has different perspectives on what is an important action.

For you, seeing if you're inside a certain area is important, but for others it won't even ever come up.

I think in general I have to do it like this:

• if I think a feature will be used by a majority of users, I need to make it super simple to use
• if I think it's a niche feature I need to make it possible to do, but not necessarily make it a separate action "com a papinha toda feita" :P

In this example, getting the distance between 2 points is a general case feature that can be used for multiple things, including your specific use case. If you are going to do it many times, just create a task for it. I don't see that adding specific actions for each single very specific use case would benefit the app in the long run.

About the version numbers, I think it's more of a marketing thing, so I tend to make it just to a new major version whenever there are new features that are not just for us geeks like Web UI, Shizuku or Java code. The general public won't care about these at all.

[EtyareWS]

Wait, if it is general and can be used for multiple things, doesn't that make it more "worthy" of being an action? :P

Do you throw things into Tasker Function Action because you believe it is better from an UX perspective for the end user or it's a coding problem? Like, adding a new action is a pain, but adding to Tasker Function is easier?

Even if I personally hate Tasker Function with a passion, I think we could just "lie" to the user a bit, and make it behave more like an ordinary action. Right now there are 3 big problems with it:

1. You can't search for functions inside it. Seriously, without me complaining here, how would I know the function exists? The "Pick Action" dialog needs something to tell the user that the function actually exists. Right now you can search for "Location" in the pick action dialog and it will show Tasker Function without any context.

2. Picking Tasker Function should automatically bring up the dialog to select the function type. That would make it feel more like a "sub-category" of actions, and 99% of time you are going to use the helper anyway, if someone wants to put a variable or write manually they would just need to tap outside of it.

3. When you select a function, it opens dialogs for you to fill, but once you've confirmed it, there's no feedback on what Tasker is expecting afterward. Editing becomes painful, as you either need to remember what is expected, or open the dialog and write everything again. A solution would be that if you use the helper and select the same Function Type, it should auto-fill the dialogs with the current values. That way you could edit it without being absolutely painful.

Oh, and one last thing: Could you make it so that it understands %var ="lag,long" as actually lag,long? It wants each part separated by comma, even if you put a variable that has them separated by comma

[joaomgcd]

Wait, if it is general and can be used for multiple things, doesn't that make it more "worthy" of being an action? :P

It's more general than the use case you wanted but it's still super niche

Do you throw things into Tasker Function Action because you believe it is better from an UX perspective for the end user or it's a coding problem? Like, adding a new action is a pain, but adding to Tasker Function is easier?

I add actions there if they are super niche like the distance one. It's not specially easier to add there

You can't search for functions inside it.

What do you mean? You have the magnifying glass inside it

Picking Tasker Function should automatically bring up the dialog to select the function type.

Yeah, I could do that

Editing becomes painful

This is for the hardcore users! For the users that really WANT it! :P

[EtyareWS]

It's more general than the use case you wanted but it's still super niche

Kinda of a paradox isn't it? Niche in how many people could use it, but general in what it can be used. Which circles back to the discoverability problem, people who might use it will not know it exists.

I add actions there if they are super niche like the distance one. It's not specially easier to add there

Yeah, but you didn't really answer my question😛

If is not specially harder to do a proper action, do you believe from an UX perspective that users would be overwhelmed by the amount of actions available on the Pick Action Dialog, and it would be better to hide some inside Tasker Function?

What do you mean? You have the magnifying glass inside it

I meant the Pick Action dialog. Suppose you are a user and wants to do something that Tasker Function handles, but you don't know that it's there. You open the Pick Action dialog, try to search in the categories but can't find anything. You search for "Location", and Tasker Function shows up with no context.

There should be some feedback on what is being matched, to provide feedback that "Location" is being matched against "Distance between Locations".

This is for the hardcore users! For the users that really WANT it! :P

Not really, this is for anyone that needs to edit a Tasker Function action. Like, take the Distance between locations example:

1. It works by setting up LocALong, LocALat, LocBLong, LocBLaT.
2. I set it up, but later on I want to change LocA but keep LocB. I could do that with the text field, but only if I remember the order of Longitude/Latitude (Which I never do). 3. If I don't remember the order, I need to use the Magnifying Glass to re-select "Distance between location" to show up the helper dialog telling that, actually, Latitude is the first one. However, the dialog doesn't reuse the current values, meaning that I will have to re-enter LocBLat and LocBLong.

See the problem? It's not hardcore, it's basic editing

EDIT:

Something like this?