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[Q] Switch Wifi and 3G according to location?

Hey there, I'm looking for a little app on my Froyo that will turn on the WiFi and disable the 3G as soon as I reach my home (for example) and when I move outside again, that it'll disable the WiFi and enable the 3G.
Whether it's done by GPS or done simply by noticing if the WiFi signal is available, I don't mind. Does anyone have a clue about this?

I'm not sure if either can do it since I've yet to use them, but you may want to look into two programs, one called "Tasker" the other "Locale"
Both have the ability to execute location based tasks.

I've used both Tasker and Setting Profiles to accomplish this. Tasker is very powerful, but a bit fiddly to get working correctly.
SP is simpler, and works very well. The jury is still out.

There are a few apps that will do that like tasker and locale, but for my needs I use setting profiles.

Y5
Y5 do it great. remembers WIFI location acording to cell info (doesn't waist battery for GPS) and turn on and of.
only bug in my eyes it that in order to shut down WIFI on a remembered location, you need to disable app or forget location.

Thanks so far for the replies! Right now I'm trying Y5. The rest doesn't really work for me. I've tried Tasker, but no... then I've bought "Setting Profiles" as it seemed to be promising, but it doesn't recognize the places where I'm at. Both through GPS as well as cell towers... it knows where I am, but doesn't change my profile. Big pity!
So, now I'm trying Y5. Only down side is that so far none of the programs has the ability to disconnect the 3G upon activating WiFi.

akito said:
Thanks so far for the replies! Right now I'm trying Y5. The rest doesn't really work for me. I've tried Tasker, but no... then I've bought "Setting Profiles" as it seemed to be promising, but it doesn't recognize the places where I'm at. Both through GPS as well as cell towers... it knows where I am, but doesn't change my profile. Big pity!
So, now I'm trying Y5. Only down side is that so far none of the programs has the ability to disconnect the 3G upon activating WiFi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think it does!
at least in HTC DESIRE it turn 3G off

Locale can do the job. For example, you can set 3 situations.
Set 'At Home' Situation - Condition: Location plug in(any good location plug in)
- Settings: Locale variable plug-in, add, type 'Home', True.
Set at Defaults - Add Locale variable, add Home = False
Add Wifi - Off
Add 3G - ON
Set Wifi - Conditions: Home = True
Settings: Wifi on
3G off
For my case, I've added Appli Detection condition for the Wifi situation where it detect my browser, etc and perform the wifi on. Hope this helps. IMO, Locale does best and is simple.

I use Tasker to do exactly what you ask.
When I get home, Wifi turns on, 3G turns off. And vice versa when I leave.
Same when I get to work.
I do both of these without the need for GPS or even cell tower location..it's based on when I'm near my home wireless network.
Also turns off wifi, 3G and screen rotation when I'm in bed.
And then makes me breakfast in the morning (well, not quite, but it's almost that good! )

Okay guys, I have definitly uninstalled Setting Profiles. I can't seem to rely properly on it. One time it works, the other time it doesn't. So, I simply don't want it anymore
Now I'm trying Tasker, seems promising. I have downloaded APNDroid next to it, as Tasker was notifying me about the fact it needs that program to be able to (dis)connect the 3G. Now.... I'm stuck for a bit. I have made tasks, but have trouble with the profile. The location, I would like that to be done as the scotsman has got it. According to if it finds your home as well as, in my case, work network. How to do that? Cause when I want to set my location, it takes me to google maps. And I take it that works by GPS. No problem neither, but drains the battery a bit more... Would anyone be so kind to give me quick and short step through?

akito said:
Okay guys, I have definitly uninstalled Setting Profiles. I can't seem to rely properly on it. One time it works, the other time it doesn't. So, I simply don't want it anymore
Now I'm trying Tasker, seems promising. I have downloaded APNDroid next to it, as Tasker was notifying me about the fact it needs that program to be able to (dis)connect the 3G. Now.... I'm stuck for a bit. I have made tasks, but have trouble with the profile. The location, I would like that to be done as the scotsman has got it. According to if it finds your home as well as, in my case, work network. How to do that? Cause when I want to set my location, it takes me to google maps. And I take it that works by GPS. No problem neither, but drains the battery a bit more... Would anyone be so kind to give me quick and short step through?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Tasker, but I do not believe you can use WiFi location if WiFi is off. Location base uses GPS. You can set an option to do tasks if the WiFi connects. 3G is automatically disabled on my Incredible when WiFi connects, so I do not have to implicitly set it off. Just be sure to adjust your radius when you use GPS location. You do not want to drive way down the street to have WiFi turn off and 3G come back on.
I use Tasker to also launch the car app when bluetooth connects in my truck. There are good examples on the Tasker Web site.

[Q] Tasker profiles?

Not being of mathematical mind im having trouble understanding the settings in a tasker profile i want to create.
What i need is a rule that would
a) switch on wifi when the screen is switched on
b) switch off wifi 2 minutes after screen turns off
Help would be appreciated!

android does that automatically. when the screen is of wifi goes to sleep after a certain timeout (you can change that timeout using OCLF)

Tasker meh!
I brought Tasker with nearly the same enthusiasm as I had when I got my Android phone. I couldn't wait to start making it my personal butler, alas this wasn't the case.
Yes I maybe I'm a retard and I'm sure I'm going to burn in forum flames of hell, and I'm sure the developer has worked very hard on this and he/she should be congratulated as I would never be able to do what they have done. That aside I'm a paying customer so I am entitled to my opinion. Unless we have all turned into Apple pricks
I'm really disappointed with how poor this is. I feel the UI is very unintuitive, cheap and kind of ugly, I have no idea how to use it and haven't the time or patience to sit in for a week to learn how to. Even the website is the same tatty thing that I saw back in the early part of the year.
I feel a great improvement would be that I could just scroll through all the different pre-made tasks and profiles (in the app not a broswer) created by Joe public and approved by the developer and with a tap of a finger and bit of personalizing, bob is your uncle! away we go!

Just my penny as being a very satisfied customer.
I find it very useful, and not very difficult to understand.
It is simply a tool that will trigger an (set of) action(s) on a set (combination of) event(s), nothing more, nothing less, make it as complex as you want.
@ftgg99, if ou take a look at the tasker website, especially the Wiki, there are enough examples.
I am using tasker now for awhile, and have been able to setup a lot of useful profiles, like
- Auto switch on/off Wifi when i am near my home (based on Cell tower location)
- Auto switch off Wifi after 10 min of a lost connection
- Auto switch off Wifi 10 min after being switched on and no connection was made
- Start skype when wifi is connected, logout skype on wifi disconnect
- Have a incoming SMS read aloud when phone is connected to carkit
- Auto mute between 23:00 and 06:00 except for favourite contacts
- Auto mute when in a meeting
- Disable Auto rotate for certain apps (Ebook reading in bed is annoying otherwise)
- Auto Enable GPS for specific apps and disable afterwards
- Auto switch on Bluetooth when WiFi connection lost (probably going to my car)
- Auto switch off Bluetooth after 10 min of a lost connection
- Auto switch off Bluetooth 10 min after being switched on and no connection was made

stinkypete said:
I brought Tasker with nearly the same enthusiasm as I had when I got my Android phone. I couldn't wait to start making it my personal butler, alas this wasn't the case.
Yes I maybe I'm a retard and I'm sure I'm going to burn in forum flames of hell, and I'm sure the developer has worked very hard on this and he/she should be congratulated as I would never be able to do what they have done. That aside I'm a paying customer so I am entitled to my opinion. Unless we have all turned into Apple pricks
I'm really disappointed with how poor this is. I feel the UI is very unintuitive, cheap and kind of ugly, I have no idea how to use it and haven't the time or patience to sit in for a week to learn how to. Even the website is the same tatty thing that I saw back in the early part of the year.
I feel a great improvement would be that I could just scroll through all the different pre-made tasks and profiles (in the app not a broswer) created by Joe public and approved by the developer and with a tap of a finger and bit of personalizing, bob is your uncle! away we go!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I first bought Tasker, I felt the same way. The UI felt difficult to understand and I couldn't really get it to do what I wanted. Every few weeks, I would redownload it and give it another try, then quickly give up. At some point, it started to make sense and I figured out how it all works.
Yes, Tasker has a large learning curve and the UI needs work, but the time it took to figure it out has been so well worth it.

stinkypete said:
<snip>
I feel a great improvement would be that I could just scroll through all the different pre-made tasks and profiles (in the app not a broswer) created by Joe public and approved by the developer and with a tap of a finger and bit of personalizing, bob is your uncle! away we go!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Part of the attraction of Tasker for me is that it's not centred around loading and personalising profiles from a public 'bank'. Yes there are profiles that people have shared, both on the Tasker website and in numerous threads on various forums. I treated these as learning examples, 'tutorials', and used them to gain an understanding of how to start writing my own profiles.
I've had Tasker about 3 / 4 months and have written approximately 15 profiles that have significantly changed how I interact with my N1, and how it interacts with my environment. These range from the very simple (reduce media volume when a wired headset is plugged in), to the horrendously complicated (workaround an issue with my bluetooth connection to my car kit).
I doubt whether I would have bothered to experiment to this extent if the focus had been on loading up and personalising publicised profiles.
I agree that the UI is perhaps less polished than other apps, however at most I would suggest that the dev has concentrated first on function over form. As a software developer who cut his teeth on mainframe COBOL I approve of that, particularly given the number of pretty but buggy apps on the market. Personally I care more about Tasker working correctly - I don't want my phone to ring during meetings if it's set not to - than looking pretty, as (in between tweaking profiles) I don't really see the app itself.

Sorry it took a while to read these replies!
Anywho, i now have had a different idea - tasker should switch on wifi, check if a known network exists and if it does connect. If not it should switch wifi off.

ftgg99 said:
tasker should switch on wifi, check if a known network exists and if it does connect. If not it should switch wifi off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which is exactly what the WiFi Near Profile does,
with the time interval for each check being possible to set to your own liking.
However, you adding additional restrictions based on the cell-near could save some useless scanning. Usually Wifi Access points have a fairly static location don't they, so why do a WiFi Near scan if you are not at your home/work/collage anyway.

daoth said:
- Start skype when wifi is connected, logout skype on wifi disconnect
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you achieve the logout on wifi disconnect? I can't get Tasker to kill apps, which is said to be a common problem under the latest FroYo stock ROMs (at least for my Desire HD)
I don't have root access btw, since that requires me to downgrade my ROM first, which would cause me to loose my warranty...

daoth said:
Just my penny as being a very satisfied customer.
I find it very useful, and not very difficult to understand.
It is simply a tool that will trigger an (set of) action(s) on a set (combination of) event(s), nothing more, nothing less, make it as complex as you want.
@ftgg99, if ou take a look at the tasker website, especially the Wiki, there are enough examples.
I am using tasker now for awhile, and have been able to setup a lot of useful profiles, like
- Auto switch on/off Wifi when i am near my home (based on Cell tower location)
- Auto switch off Wifi after 10 min of a lost connection
- Auto switch off Wifi 10 min after being switched on and no connection was made
- Start skype when wifi is connected, logout skype on wifi disconnect
- Have a incoming SMS read aloud when phone is connected to carkit
- Auto mute between 23:00 and 06:00 except for favourite contacts
- Auto mute when in a meeting
- Disable Auto rotate for certain apps (Ebook reading in bed is annoying otherwise)
- Auto Enable GPS for specific apps and disable afterwards
- Auto switch on Bluetooth when WiFi connection lost (probably going to my car)
- Auto switch off Bluetooth after 10 min of a lost connection
- Auto switch off Bluetooth 10 min after being switched on and no connection was made
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you get wifi to switch off when its not connected to any network, occasional i leave the house and i forget to switch wifi off. I tried location based wifi off but it wont be as fast or accurate as switching off wifi when theirs no connection after lets say 1-2 minutes. I considered getting another app to do this after i tried to get it to work with tasker, but i have enough apps running in the background.
Do any of you leave gps turned on always so that tasker works better with locations? for me with just network location it can take some time to update and to turn on a profile.

arielc said:
Do any of you leave gps turned on always so that tasker works better with locations? for me with just network location it can take some time to update and to turn on a profile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That may be linked to timings of background context checks when the screen is off.
Personally I always leave GPS on, but only use Net location / Cell IDs for my Tasker location contexts.

If anyone wants any ideas on Tasker profiles or want to know how to do something just go to my blog at http://dbilliter.blogspot.com. I update it regularly and will continue to try and improve the Profiles.

dbilliter said:
If anyone wants any ideas on Tasker profiles or want to know how to do something just go to my blog at http://dbilliter.blogspot.com. I update it regularly and will continue to try and improve the Profiles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the work...
The tasker website have some codes
http://tasker.wikidot.com/step-throughs
People please post more codes... would love to see more

drgopoos said:
Thanks for the work...
The tasker website have some codes
http://tasker.wikidot.com/step-throughs
People please post more codes... would love to see more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am posting one everyday this week and I think I have a couple more. I will post even more whenever I either come up with new ideas or someone gives me a new idea.

Ok, I have a very basic understanding of tasker. I actually was able to make my gps app turn on the gps when being executed. I only added gps off exit task after reading the wiki. However, I'm trying to find a way to do the following:
when selecting pandora icon (I say icon, as I may need a pointer to the actual app)
verify wifi connection status - if connected, then load pandora app; if not connected, kill pandora app (might be redundant but just in case)
I also need to create a general wifi connection status, such that if connection is lost, kill specific running apps (such as pandora; could add more later)
I tend to fall asleep using headphones and pandora. I'd REALLY hate to find out that my cable/wifi went down while asleep and I've just been listening to pandora using cell data for several hours.
Now, making a profile to turn on wifi is easy enough, but not sure how to do the above. I'd imagine it'd be something like:
If [pandora app] initiated
wifi_connected = 1 (or yes or whatever)
then load [pandora app]
any help would be appreciated
EDIT: Nevermind. Though knowing more about how variables are used in TASKER would be interesting (I'll play around with them some more), I found out that with wifi ON, cell data usage is cut off. I disconnected my cable connection and with wifi still on, I couldn't connect to anything. So worry was unfounded, it turns out.

dbilliter said:
If anyone wants any ideas on Tasker profiles or want to know how to do something just go to my blog at http://dbilliter.blogspot.com. I update it regularly and will continue to try and improve the Profiles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks once again.. am testing out a few of them

drgopoos said:
thanks once again.. am testing out a few of them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem. It is a hobby for me. I love doing it so I thought I would create a blog with the focus on Tasker to help people along. I know there are a number of other sites but I have been trying to make mine as basic as possible so that anyone could figure it out.

Some actual description of what the tasker profiles do would be very helpful... also less tit shots so that I don't catch crap for looking at the site from work would be nice.

dbilliter said:
No problem. It is a hobby for me. I love doing it so I thought I would create a blog with the focus on Tasker to help people along. I know there are a number of other sites but I have been trying to make mine as basic as possible so that anyone could figure it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was trying to make 2 profiles
Profile 1 - I have set up a profile so that when i plug in a headphone with no mic ( and no mic in options ) , it opens the music app
Profile 2 - i have also set up another profile , when i plug in a Headset with mic ( and mic in options) , it opens the dialer.
However when i plug in the headset it opens both the Dialer and music app . Is there a way to prevent the music app from opening.

drgopoos said:
I was trying to make 2 profiles
Profile 1 - I have set up a profile so that when i plug in a headphone with no mic ( and no mic in options ) , it opens the music app
Profile 2 - i have also set up another profile , when i plug in a Headset with mic ( and mic in options) , it opens the dialer.
However when i plug in the headset it opens both the Dialer and music app . Is there a way to prevent the music app from opening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the delay. I don't know of a way personally. I can only work with what I got and I don't have a headset with a mic so I have no way of testing. One option you could do though is have a menu pop up and ask you which you want.

[Q] Initiate Cell Phone's hotspot feature from a tablet.

Hey guys,
I am not sure if this has been attempted before or if it even remotely possible.
The end result however would be neat.
In essence, I want to be able to unlock my tablet, finger a widget and have it tell my phone wirelessly to turn on the hotspot feature so that I magically have internet on my tablet. Needless to say, both are Android and rooted.
My initial idea was to use tasker and create a profile using "bluetooth connection" so that on my tablet I would have a widget (Extended Controls) and could talk to my phone using that, so that if I want the hotspot to be activated on the phone I simply turn on the BT on the tablet. However, I can pair the two devices but they never actually connect up. Therefore that plan won't work, and I am wondering if any of you have any ideas...
I know I can setup BT tethering, and that it would be better for battery life, but it is also a lot slower than Wifi, and at that point would wonder what the benefit of 4G would be!
Anyway, if you have an idea, feel free to let everybody know!

I've actually developed an app to do that; it's called AutoTether and is available on the market. If you care to give it a try, feel free to PM me with any problems you encounter while using it.

Shame on me...
...for not finding this little gem!
I am glad you went ahead and did this. Sadly, it doesn't seem to work for me.
When looking for other devices, it does find my phone, but when trying to initiate the tethering form the tablet, I get the messages "Sending Command..." followed by "Cannot find target device".
I am assuming you are using bluetooth as a communication channel between the two devices, and I am wondering if it could be the kernel on my phone missing some module (LeanKernel Normal from imoseyon). I will poke more into this shortly once I get adb shell hooked up.
Let me know in the mean time if you think there is something else I am missing.
Assuming I get it working, it will have been one of the best purchased made so far

Mea Culpa
Okay, not my day.
Really sorry. I think the app works fine and the problem was with my phone.
Reboot fixed it. Before reboot wifi was reporting "error" status for some reason or other...
Anyway, good job, well done and thanks again!

Enjoy it, and if you like it please don't hesitate to review it or send me any feedback or feature requests you have. You should really check out the screen monitor mode, too: it completely automates everything by only turning the hotspot on when the screen is on! I always find myself forgetting to turn off the hotspot manually, so this has saved my phone's battery more than once.

This is a must have app!!!!!!!
I have never posted to any of the forums. I have browsed every page of of every section of the the Asus Transformer section and of the 300 apps I have installed on my TF this one just moved to my all time favorite. My TF and my Evo now work seamlessly together. I love the simple 1x1 widget it does not draw attention to its purpose and adds an illusion of 3g built in connectivity. Hats off to you.

Just a quick thing, would it be possible to re-enable wifi when the hotspot is deactivated?
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App

Doesn't seem to be working for me. I run a Droid 2, stock rooted, and TF 3.1.
I normally tether via bluetooth, but the app doesn't seem to offer bluetooth auto-tethering.
I'll keep the app purchased, as I'm getting a new phone soon and I'd like to be able to use this app in the future.

Thanks for the feedback folks! I'm going to look into the problem with your Droid 2 (please don't hesitate to PM me any details you can, since that'll help me get it working).
About automatically reenabling wifi: that's high on my list of priorities to add. It was originally part of the program, but I encountered a lot of bugs and had to take it out. It's good to know that you'd like the feature, and you can count on seeing it in the near future.

Wow
Auto Tether works great. Thanks. I have Samsung Vibrant and Transformer. I gave it 5 stars and a nice review.

Fantastic, Installing and testing now!
EDIT: Works perfectly
Greatest thing for Tablets so far!
This must go on the Required applications list!!

I'm interested in this, but my phone is an HTC Hero CDMA running aospCMod 2.3.4 and under Wireless & Networks it only lists Tethering, not hotspot. Under Tethering it only mentions USB tethering, no Wifi. Which leads me to my question...
Is it possible for this to work with the Wireless Tether app instead? I expect it won't, but it can't hurt to ask. Thanks!

Awesome, HTC Supersonic running CM7 and TF104 running Prime 1.4, works great.
Awesome App!!!

For anyone still following this thread, I've just released a small update for AutoTether that allows wifi to automatically re-enable itself when tethering is turned off (if it was previously enabled).
Everything should be quite seamless. Thank you for you ongoing feedback!

Will this work on sense phones? I have a mytouch 4g, and this is an awesome idea, but i could imagine sense getting in the way...

I can't guarantee it will work on a phone if the manufacturer has modified the hotspot function. If you have a Sense-enabled phone and you'd like to try the app out, you can PM me your name and I'll make sure you get a refund if things don't work (outside of the normal refund window).
I think the new 15 minute refund window is horribly unfair, especially for an app as complex as this one.

Tasker will easily do this.

Couple suggestions, not sure if possible...
Ability to enable/disable wifi on the client when enabling/disabling tether on the server
Ability to choose the connection on the server (mobile data/3g vs. 4g)

akarol said:
Tasker will easily do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Care to elaborate?

I've started getting FCs from autotether randomly, what can I give you for logs to help diagnose the issue?
Also, can screen monitor be disabled when using the widget to enable Tethering? Maybe make it a configurable item in the settings?

[Q] How to use public (open) WiFi everywhere EXCEPT at home?

Dear community, please help me. I'm going insane over this issue...
In my town there are several free & open WiFi spots to which you can connect without password. My problem is that this free WiFi is also within reach from my apartment and I want to make my phone & tablet to prefer my domestic closed&encrypted WiFi. I'm perfectly aware of the possibility to set WiFi-priorities. Problem is: those are only used when searching for a new connection. If my devices are connected to the public WiFi, they will never switch to my private one unless the connection breaks or I disable & enable WiFi in Android.
Right now, my rather silly "workaround" is to always delete the public WiFi from the list of known WiFis when I'm at home and re-add it when I go outside. But this procedure is getting quite annoying. I want Android to use this WiFi, just not when I'm at home...
I can't be the only one with this problem. Is there any way? Root and/or Xposed based solutions would be okay too....
I already tried the app "WiFi Prioritizer" from Google Play and it came pretty close to what I was looking for, unfortunately its background process was killing my battery.

What version of Android your phone and what the tablet has?
Στάλθηκε από το GT-I8190 μου χρησιμοποιώντας Tapatalk

Currently my Samsung i9100 runs AOSP NeatROM (Kitkat 4.4.4) and my Nexus 7 (2013) runs CleanROM (Lollipop 5.0.2).
It shouldn't matter though. I'm looking for some kind of universal solution that could work on any Android version... :-/

From what I have read and understood, your problem is that when you want to connect to a specific network (your home network) you can't because your device scans and connects to the '' free'' ones simply because you were connected to them before or you are still connected to one. From what I know and also have worked for me, is to simply tap on the network you want to connect each time(an analogue should pop up and ask whether to ''forget' the tapped network or to connect to it if you are already connected to another one.). Also I don't know if a module exists for this purpose on xposed framework.
Maybe there's another way to do it, but since I don't have bought the app (it's called IF BY IFTTT) I can't tell if it does or doesn't do what you want. What it does is that makes selected actions automatically by running in the background. I think that it can do almost ''anything'' (like to upload the latest photo you took from gallery to Instagram without your actions).
I hope I helped

No no, I can connect to my home network manually, that's not the problem.
My problem is that Android doesn't do it automatically, when it is within reach and the phone is still connected to another (the free) network.
What Android SCHOULD do is automatically drop the connection to the open Wifi, as soon as my higher priority home network is within reach.

I didn't said that you can't connect to your home network, I simply said that it doesn't seems to do it automatic. I have also prioritised my network preferences and still my phone doesn't connect to the first one if it is not disconnect from the other (by the way the two networks I have tried it to are my home ones). In conclusion in my opinion this option is where you want to connect first, not for changing the connection automatically based on the received signal(although it does if you completely lost the signal to the connected source). Probably in your case the free Wi-Fi is close enough to you and your phone or tablet doesn't disconnect from it which in my opinion is perfectly fine since my phone does exactly the same.

Oh sorry, maybe I misunderstood you before.
But yes, you summarized it completely correct. Only that this behavior is not perfectly fine for me, as I'm sick and tired of being connected to open, slow and unencrypted connection at home
I have the impression that Android's WiFi management is pretty bad

You can try the app that I mentioned earlier but I am not sure if will do what you want. I suggest get in touch with the developer and ask him. I am happy I helped.
PS.1 If I helped don't forget to use the thanks button as it helps me and lets community know that I have contributed.
PS.2 I don't take credit for the app, I just suggest it because I think it may work.
Have fun

Thanks for your help, I will try the app later today, it sure looks interesting. My only fear is that it will be a battery killer.
EDIT: This app didn't really do the trick for my needs... I'm back to always deleting the open WiFi out of the list of known WiFis... Too bad that there doesn't seem to be a good way to do what I need

[Q] Using watch with SmartLock

I have a Note 4 with Smart Lock. I wanted to set it up so that my watch can keep my phone from locking. I added the device to SmartLock successfully. Even if my watch is sitting right next to the phone, it is not unlocking it. I use a PIN. Is there anything else that I need to do, or is this just not going to work.
Thanks

I was looking for an answer to that too. I tried and it did not work at all.

I use tasker for lots of things, but I could never get it working with this. I have a task set up to unlock the phone if the bluetooth is connected to the Gear S2. Even when my connection is just fine, tasker doesn't see the connection and never unlocks the phone.

I use Gear s2 from Tmobile with my Note 4 with no problems. When locked I use patern not pin if that makes any difference. Running lollipop 5.1.1 , no root, latest gear manager from play store.

It is added to my trusted devices

This might be a misunderstanding on my part about how this is supposed to work. I have a PIN set up, and when I have my watch connected, it doesn't require the PIN. It just puts up the screen that I have to swipe. I expected that it wouldn't put up the swipe screen at all. I don't want it to, but can't find a way around it. I tried setting up tasker to disable the lock, but it didn't work. Apparently tasker doesn't know when the watch is connected. It does work for my bt headset.

I don't think it can be done. It looks like smart lock removes requirement for any kind password but doesn't remove screen lock altogether.

usmaak said:
This might be a misunderstanding on my part about how this is supposed to work. I have a PIN set up, and when I have my watch connected, it doesn't require the PIN. It just puts up the screen that I have to swipe. I expected that it wouldn't put up the swipe screen at all. I don't want it to, but can't find a way around it. I tried setting up tasker to disable the lock, but it didn't work. Apparently tasker doesn't know when the watch is connected. It does work for my bt headset.
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If you have one of those flip cases, it does unlock automatically. Other than that, I don't know a way around it.

bendez1985 said:
If you have one of those flip cases, it does unlock automatically. Other than that, I don't know a way around it.
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Same issue here. Guessing a 2 part app (specific to s2 and android) might be able to solve the problem. The s2 app would communicate with the android app (not sure if background communication is possible for s2 apps though). Upon a cut in connection, the android app would trigger the lockscreen.
Thoughts?

darekz said:
I don't think it can be done. It looks like smart lock removes requirement for any kind password but doesn't remove screen lock altogether.
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I've never understood the need for that. When I don't have security on my phone, I have always just shut it off. An extra swipe accomplishes nothing.
Before the gear, I was using tasker to unlock my phone when connected to my wifi and when my bluetooth headset was on. I'd carry it with me, turned on, and my phone would not lock at all. It was flawless. Never saw the lock screen and never had to enter my PIN.
I might just go back to that, as the extra screen is really annoying and serves no purpose. I just have to remember to always have my BT headset turned on and on me. I always have my watch, but always seem to forget the headset.
I wish I knew why tasker doesn't recognize the the connection to the watch. My settings clearly show that the phone is connected to the watch, so it should recognize the connection, but doesn't. I don't know how much support tasker is getting any longer. I saw something about the developer having to take a break because of medical issues. There are now many other automation apps out there. Maybe I'll give some of them a try and see if one of them will accomplish what I am able to accomplish with tasker and my wifi/bluetooth headset.
When I add the watch to SmartLock, I get the following message:
Smart Lock can't detect the security features of this device. To help protect your phone, Gear S2 (393A) will only be able to keep your phone unlocked once it's already unlocked by you. Your Gear S2 (393A) can keep your phone unlocked when it's nearby, even if someone else is holding it.
Not sure what that means or what it does to the unlocking feature.

I don't know much about tasker but one time I played with tasker plugin called trigger. Maybe that can be help for you. It is possible that tasker looking for certain Bluetooth profiles being active and since gear s2 has no speaker there is not headset or headphone profile. On my gear s2 3g Bluetooth shows call audio profile.