How to Automate Tasks in Android Phone?

Smartphones are called smart for a reason. They can automate tasks like automatically turning on the silent mode when entering your office. Similarly, you can virtually set any job the phone will do once there is a trigger. A trigger is an event, for example, reaching a specific location like your home, office, or car. Automation makes your life hassle-free and saves your time. In this article, we will explore how to automate tasks in Android phone.

Automation in Android

Apple has a dedicated shortcuts app for automating stuffs in Mac and iPhone. Unfortunately, Android has minimal automation tools like reminding you for sending emails or short messages automatically at a specific time. However, there are third-party applications available in abundance to automate the tasks in Android phones. Some automation apps are very complex to handle tasks. Here, we will present simple automation apps that will do almost any tasks you need in daily life.

1. MacroDroid – Device Automation

MacroDroid is a popular app that is extremely simple to use on your Android phone or tablet. It has a straightforward interface to set up automated tasks in easy steps. You can make macros in MacroDroid that will run when it hits the trigger you set up. The following steps will guide you on installing and using MacroDroid on your Android device.

• Install MacroDroid from the Google store by searching “MacroDroid – Device Automation” or use this link.
• Let’s take an example of setting an automation task to automatically put the phone on silent when you enter your office. To do that, press the “Add Macro” button on the home screen of the MacroDroid app.
• The next screen will show up three options: “Triggers,” “Actions,” and “Constraints.” First, set the trigger, which is the event when the actions must start. Tap the “+” sign on the “Triggers” button. A list of triggers will show up on the next screen from which you can choose the trigger required for the task. In our case, you can select “Location.”

• The “Location” trigger will display four more options which are “Cell Tower Change,” “Geofence Trigger,” “Location Trigger,” and “Weather. You can choose either “Geofence Trigger” or “Location Trigger”. Geofencing can locate more precise geographical areas compared to location option. Now, grant location permissions to the MacroDroid app if it asks for during the setup.
• The following screen will ask for the type of trigger specific to the location, like “Area Entered” or “Area Exited.” Press the “OK” button.

• The next step is to locate your area, your office in our case. Press the “+” sign on the coming screen and find the location of your office. You can search the address by typing in the search box and adjust the radius by sliding the pointer given at the end. It shows you the distance in meters and enter the name for the location like “My Office.” Your site is saved in the list now and go back to the “Add Macro” screen.
• On the “Add Macro” screen, now click on the “+” sign of the “Actions” button. Action is the task that you want the Android device to do if it has been triggered. A long list of actions are presented on the next screen. These are all the actions your phone can perform automatically. Every action has subtypes of settings. For example, if you want the phone to be on “Do Not Disturb” mode when entering your office, choose “Priority Mode/Do Not Disturb.” The app will ask to grant permission for “Do Not Disturb” access from the phone settings. Go to the phone settings by pressing the “Settings” button and giving the access. Once the permission is granted, the app will show the choices with radio buttons. Choose the appropriate option like “Block All” and hit the “OK” button. Now, you will see the task in the “Actions” list.

• The phone will get into “Do Not Disturb” mode whenever you are in the office area. Remember that not all the actions are possible due to new Android restrictions and you may need to have an additional helper app.
• The third button is “Constraints.” Constraints are optional and can be used to allow or prevent a macro or action from running based on certain conditions. A macro will only run if the constraint conditions are true.
• Similarly, you can add a lot of other actions and triggers for your convenience. The process is similar for other tasks too. For example, you can set a trigger that if the battery level is below 20%, then set the Wi-Fi, mobile data, Bluetooth to off, etc. You can further set another trigger and action that if the battery level is below 5%, the phone must send a short message to a number specified by you.

2. Automate

“Automate” is another app that can help you automate tasks on Android. Setting the tasks is easy in “Automate” as adding blocks and connecting them. “Automate” is, however, a bit complex relatively.

• Search for “Automate” on Google Play or use this link to find the app and install on your phone.
• Open the app, Automate home screen with flows will appear where you can find some handy flows to run instantly.
• Press the “+” button to create your flow. For example, you want to send a short message to a number. Once again, press “+” on the new screen, a list of tasks will pop up. Go to “Messaging” and choose “SMS send” from the sub-menu. A block will appear on the screen and tap on it to open its settings. Enter the number for the message, write the message and save all the settings at the end.

• Now connect the “Flow beginning” block to the Send SMS block by moving your finger. You need to connect the “GO” terminal of the “Flow beginning” block to the “IN” terminal of the “Send SMS” block.
• Go back to the home screen and find the flow you have created in the previous step.
• Open it and run it by pressing the “Start” button. It will send the SMS and show you the status. Make sure your phone has enough balance to send the SMS.
• You can create many other tasks following the same procedure.