Support for Tasker on Android TV.
- Download / Update via PlayStore
- Opening without Sideload Launcher
- DPI adjustments, so the top bar with burger menu isn't cut off on some devices
- Bonus: usability with tv remote
- Bonus: ability to recognize / simulate tv specific keys like input or netflix
Posted 2 years ago. And Tasker still not updated to use correctly on Android TV :(
As you can see it doesn't have too many votes.. Sorry!
Something I'd like to see as well..
Was just Google-ing and stumbled on this page..
I'm pretty sure the animo is there it's just people don't know there is a way of voting for this..
There are enough topics on the subject
https://www.google.com/search?q=tasker+on+android+tv
Please add support for Android TV.
Thanks
Roman
Would love to get a proper Tasker on Android TV aswell!
For my use case, it would be to start a wireguard tunnel when some app are started.
"As you can see it doesn't have too many votes.. Sorry!"
Um, this is one of the most requested features here... Considering I had to wait for like three HOURS to get a confirmation email to even vote, that is saying something...
With home automation becoming more and more of a thing, I would love to be able to turn on/off, open an app, use a locally connected IR blaster or one of a dozen other things Tasker can do....
Pleaaaaaaase. :<
Even if there are zero changes to the interface, it's not like we can't connect a keyboard and mouse while setting it up.
Original post is 3+ years old and still no changes or fix of reported issues. So don't get your hopes up 🤬
Not a perfect solution, but it worked for me:
https://youtu.be/vs2ZQL_nYnY
@Brian
of course you can sideload it, but it get's frustrating really fast, when you get stuck because of the missing burger menu. then you have to go back to home screen and start the app again from the painfully slow sideload launcher, only to realize that you have to start your task from scratch..
@Brian Yes, you can sideload it
@Andy Like I said, not a perfect solution, but it's the only one we've got. And it's working for me, that's the most important thing. BTW, I do have a hamburger menu in tasker.
The example that I have is that when my doorbell rings and the TV is on, since my phone gets a notification from it, my phone sends a specific text via Join to the TV (sideload Join on the TV the same way as described in the video). Tasker reacts to that text and opens the nest app on the TV (sideload nest the same way as in the video), so I can see who's at the door
sure it's better than nothing ;)
i use it to dim the lights when i press play and to brighten it when i press pause.
also it automatically sets my sound system to music mode when i open spotify.
very strange that you got the menu.. what version are you on?
i don't have anything in the top bar (no menu, check mark, etc)
btw join has a handy way to install local apps directly on other devices. easiest way to sideload and it even appears on the android tv homescreen (whish tasker would too).
I don't know the version by heart, and I'm not able to check right now, because I recently moved in with my girlfriend and probably will be here for a long time. But it's one of the latest, cause I didn't do it long ago.
Very nice setup. I do that via home assistant.
Nice, I didn't know Join could do that. I'll definitely gonna use that in the future, thanks.
You're welcome
Doesn't seem that Tasker will get leanback support in the near future. But there's some 3rd party apps that can help on some of the issues.
There's an old app called TV App Repo. It can generate a companion loader for sideloaded apps that dont have leanback support. (You need the Github version, not the one in play store)
https://github.com/ITVlab/TvAppRepo/releases/
For easier sideloading apps from Android phone to TV box, check out Easy Fire Tools. (Works on all TV boxes)
It allows you to install apps directly from the phone unto the TV box.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.agondev.easyfiretools
I used Tasker to make a kid app that create an overlay on TV screen, showing various info. Such as connection type icon, vpn status, time and more.
Works great, but was a real pain creating and testing due to the problems running Tasker on TV box (Lack of hamburger menu and navigation)
I ended up doing the coding on phone. Then create kid app and test that on TV box. Not a very effective development cycle. 😒
I have latest version of Tasker on TV box and hamburger menu is still missing.
It might be an android OS issue since it works for others? My box is running Android 9/Pie.
Wow, that's nice. Would you be so kind to share this profile/overlay (don't worry, I'll fit it for my tv, just want to see how you did it)
I'll see if I can find the profile/script. It's not really usable as standalone, as it's made to work as a kid app.
With the issues with hamburger menu and the absence of any fix/update of Tasker, I gave up coding and running the script on the TV. And instead create a kid app using phone that was easier to run.
It was one of my 1st larger tasker scripts and I was working on an improved V2, but never finished it because of the problematic development cycle.
What Android OS version you you run on your TV box?
Mine is Android 9 Pie. And I have no hamburger menu. (I tried EVERYTHING)
I haven't checked that in a while, but it's the Nvidia shield pro with the latest update, so my guess is Android 10, although it could still be 9 with an updated interface, don't know what Nvidia did for that. The only thing I do know it's that they screwed up my Disney plus 😜🤣🤣
Heres my tasker project/script.
One of my first attempts at Tasker code, so not the best coding example
Ok, thanks, I'll try it out
Here's the kid app version if you want to try it.
Thanks
Please add Android TV support. I have been using Tasker as the hub for my home automation for a couple years and it’s great. But it’s very difficult to use on the TV and I have to do a lot of workarounds like backup and restore from my phone to program it. Please get this feature working. I would be happy to pay for it as an additional add-on, but I really want it to work.
Pro-tip: get an RF-based remote from Amazon that has, "mouse cursor" mode. That solves all of the UI issues. Also, consider TeamViewer, although the last time I tried it I thought it didn't work for some reason.
@Nick Betcher Or you can just use a spare mouse you have lying around, bit cheaper 😉
@Nick Betcher
no, it doesn't solve all the issues.
on many devices the top bar is cut off, so even with a mouse, you can't use it.
@Andy Sounds like an issue with the ROM shipped with the Android device. I've found that an NVIDIA SHIELD is worth every, single, penny that you put into buying it with. (And it doesn't have that issue either) Regular updates, amazing Q&A, polished finish, true connection to the community's desires, and not too expensive of a price. A++
@christophe vandingelen Sure, but then you kinda need a keyboard. An RF remote that I have has a useful (and not too painful) keyboard on the back of it and on the front a button for mouse cursor mode... Like $12 lol. But yeah, a mouse is kind of an obvious, "duh" -- and I'm pretty oblivious to the obvious occasionally LOL
in my case it's a sony tv.. it's rom is very close to stock android tv, compared to other brands.
nvidia shield is a good device, but i need android directly baked in for some of my tasks (hdmi cec isn't enough).
I have a 2019 Shield TV Pro and I'm also using a bluetooth keyboard and mouse. But it would still be much better to have Tasker work natively on the device instead of sideloading, manually updating, and having some of the UI issues that still exist.
@João Dias: As a fellow coder and someone that spends at least 10% of his entire life in Tasker (yes, as sad as that may or may not be), even very, very basic Android TV support is critically needed.
ALL GOOGLE TV AND SHEILD TV DEVICES CANNOT RUN TASKER. Yes, that is correct, NONE of them have the Hamburger menu and even accessing SOME of the most critical of features requires using a mouse or an app on an external device to control it with Bluetooth. This is of course after you've hobbled your way through installing it (sideload) and using a sideload launcher (or through the Android Settings).
As I look through all of the things that Tasker needs (even my own, very long, internal list), this is clearly the heaviest hitter and a lack of it shows how much you truly have on your plate. Don't get me wrong, I love Tasker more than I love even my own apps, and I fully understand how much work it is to keep up with all of these constant feature requests, major framework updates, Google's constant and increasingly crippling API limitations, plus their sudden and inexcusable requests for changes that should be given far more thought, but maybe it's time to bring in another developer. 😉 You have more on your plate than any one developer is capable of handling, and you're doing the best job that any coder I've ever met is capable of.
Just food for thought! Any organization in this world would have Tasker assigned to at least 4 individuals of varying talents, so consider yourself a super-coder. 😉
Thank you very much for your kind comment 😁
I would just say this though: are there really that many people trying to use Tasker on Android TV? 😅
I do get some requests here and there about it but there other issues that are much more pressing to me at the moment unfortunately...
I don't want to minimize the issue, I'm just trying to understand how many people this really affects...
About bringing in more developers, yes, that would be cool, but it's a very hard step to take :) Maybe I'll eventually have to do it but for now I think I can still handle it, albeit more slowly than I would like.
Thanks again! :)
@João Dias I think there are a lot of people that want this, but maybe don't react to this message specifically
@João Dias Yep, there are a number of useful applications for Tasker on an Android TV. My remote has a dedicated YouTube button, and I use Tasker's logcat feature to capture the button press, and open the ad-free SmartTubeNext instead. And some apps will run on Android TV, but will be rotated 90° in portrait mode, and I use Tasker to lock the rotation to landscape when they're opened, and reset when they're closed. My workaround for not having the hamburger menu is often to write my profile/task on my phone, export it, and import it to the TV, but I too would rather just do it all in one place.
Thanks!
@João Dias
This is a catch 22, is the application not popular on the platform because it can't run it correctly, or that it doesn't get support because it not popular.
I found other ways to do what I needed, but I stopped looking into it because it didn't work correctly... I subscribe to this to know if it ever gets fixed.
There isn't a huge customer base, so I don't know how much time you want to put into it (though this seems like a simple fix even if you tell users they need a mouse or something). But the whole platform also suffers from this same catch 22 issue... Devs don't support it because it isn't popular, but it isn't popular, in part, because devs don't support it...
I might have a use-case that is not standard but I am looking to use a cheap Walmart Android TV box to provide basic Android functionality to an outdated car navigation display for canbus gauges. I was hoping to achieve the handling of autostarting apps on boot, automating shutdown and other car related functions using Tasker. I tried sideloading Tasker to the box and while it *sort of* works, functionality is limited due to the interface.
I understand the difficulty and am not complaining, just maybe thought you might find it interesting :)
Thanks a ton for all of your work @João Dias!
@João Dias - I'm not sure if this is because something has changed recently for Android TV or what, but not only does it have a 'hamburger', but you can actually open settings > system > about > click build number 7 times > and boom enable developer options -including usb debugging!! Tasker would be AMAZING for being able to force apps to stay locked in landscape mode amongst many other things including the ability to access and use custom settings.. I tested the latest option of tasker on it and it functioned just fine as far as navigation and control -only issue really is that its listed as 'incompatible with this device' on the play store -i didn't extensively test functionality of all the features to be fair but seems to work fine so far..
Thank you for the update :) That's good news.
If it works already it might just be a matter of getting the UI to play nice with AndroidTV..
There are actually a few more requirements like making sure that the app is usable with a d-pad... 😅 I don't think Tasker is able to be controlled that way very well, is it?
Not really, ideally, and i'm talking blue skies, it would be awesome for tasker (on TV) to have some sort of webserver that would allow the owner to login to a webpage and create the tasks from there as a remote-like solution. obviously this could also be used on the normal tasker version, thinking about it it could even be a seperate application connected through some port... Would be awesome to be able to create/edit my tasker items through a webpage on my PC :-)
@João Dias, d-pad functionality is admittedly a bit janky, the elements aren't properly in order; I had to use a keyboard to tab through it at points; using a mouse works though just fine.. The *PRIMARY ISSUE* is being unable to obtain (verify) a license because you can't download it from the play play store and tasker (unless this has changed since my last post) doesn't have an alternative method of verifying the purchase/license coded into it, yet, anyway.. 😏
I would also be very happy if support for Android TVs could be added. Especially in the smarthome field, cool stuff would be possible, for example, overlay of notifications, display of the outdoor camera when there is movement outside. display of Messenger notifications on the Android TV, show caller informations and automatically mute the TV by incomming calls. Automaticlly skip youtube ads and many many other smart functions.
@ Patrick
Fyi: for your YouTube button, try Button remapper (I believe it's even in the play store), but you have a point, lots of use cases for Tasker on Android TV
I would also like Tasker support for Android TV.
Not a real priority for me, as with a few others I wanted it to solve a very specific problem which I have since handled in another way.
I would ask if its not too much work that the hamburger menu not showing is looked at so that those who do want it can at least do the work directly on their TV/Box, I feel that will at least make it useable for almost everyone :)
I agree -- most/all of us whom are asking for, "Android TV Support" aren't asking for much more than the basics: Android TV Launcher support, fixing the hamburger menu, fixing the inability to access numerous UI elements, and a few other basic Android TV things I'm forgetting off the top of my head.
@Joao: minimal amount of effort is being asked for at this time, not full-blown Android TV support. To be specific, most/all of us aren't even consciously aware of features specific to Android TV, so we don't really know what we're missing. I know there are a few cool things specific to Android TV I've seen in the dev docs, but since I've since forgotten them, they aren't much of a concern, lol!
I haven't tried this yet, but AppCloner may work for most/all of these issues. However, it would take a bit of work to fix the UI issues, plus AppCloner rarely seems to work, so YMMV.
@PixelBuster
Very nice. Looking g forward to playing more with it again.
Done it before, for example, I have set that when someone rings my doorbell (tasker on phone sends notification, via Join, to tasker on TV) and the TV is on, the media pauses and the Nest app opens (sideloaded) and via AutoInput (also sideloaded) it clicks the doorbell image, so I can see who's at the door, straight from my TV.
@Sequlla
You need to be able to sideload apps. I have an Nvidia shield pro, so I can put in a USB stick. I don't think it works for a Chromecast (with Google TV), but there might be some information on the internet about it.
Anyway, if you enable usb debugging, you can sideload any app you want. How to do it for your device depends, so my best advice is that Google is your friend.
Hope you can do it
You can sideload apps on Chromecast with Google TV.
To get the apk to it you can either use an app to send the file over or use a USB hub and flash drive.
any news on this? it has the 6th most votes overall and is more useful than ever with all the smart home devices and many android tvs out there.
right now i'm using it to change my phillips hue scenes with custom pop up menus, change sound mode depending on app, display infos from my phone and much more.
only the setup is a real struggle.. the top bar with the checkmark is missing for example, so i have to back out every time to make a change, also i have to designate a button to open the app or use sideload launcher every time.
I love my Tasker!! I use it for everything and on TV and it's pain in the butt. How else could I use my TV remote to interact with Home Assistant to get devices and open a Popup with multiple devices and control them? Only with Tasker! And it's a pain to do ☹️☹️
If you can't/won't/no time to update for ATV.....
How about some HOT KEYS? I tried to map the android key MENU to my remote so I could open the standard 3dot menu.... But that doesn't work. (seems devs have mostly forgotten about that button. Some devs keep it alive in.their apps through !
And then also a HOTKEY to press the CHECKMARK that we can't see? .... Just make a HOTKEY for everything and customizable (like on a ton of desktop apps). That seems easy though (in.fact us users could make something like that in Tasker [menu for hot keys, modifying them,reactinf, etc]..... It's a.studd you've already built.... We just need a code to open the hamburger with a HOTKEY.
Or just any HOTKEY coded for hamburger menu and, at least, CHECKMARK..... Your choice! Could be coded in a few minutes! Let us worry about the rest. We'll get clever how to click any key you choose (Tasker, button matter, we'll do the rest)
(sorry for the rant. I lost 4 hours of task masking last night because of the checkmark. I would love a TV UI. I have to count the under of up/down an item is in.a menu and click Dpad that many times cause they don't light up. But that's luxory.... HOTKEY would at least satisfy for now (or an awesome WEB UI hahahahaha)
I<3Tasker no matter what. Thanks for everything Joao! (now I just hope he reads it! 🤣🤣🤣)
Thanks for the suggestions! About Hotkey, do you mean a key on the TV's remote?
The main issue for me was the triple line menu is not accessible so the app cannot be used as this is the only way to access the app menu. Moving focus using a dpad cannot show it so if possible a default hotkey from an IR remote sending the generic MENU command could maybe work around this issue by forcing the menu to display.
I don't have it installed now as I cannot use it and i think many have tried to have tasker on atv and were blocked by this. If a screenshot or testing can help just mail me back, very happy to help the best app of all time ❤️
This old pist shows that it's only a simple change in an XML file that will enable the hamburger menu on Android TV.
It's sad that such a small error as fixing the GUI/Hamburger menu have such low priority and apparently is so hard to fix. :(
Guess it's time to take a look at Macrodroid.
Sorry. I need to use an Android TV device to test it on when I can :/
couldn't you emulate it with android studio for example?
or you could start another fundraiser.. there are google tv devices under 50€.
Yea, get a Google TV with Chromecast dongle. The HD version is can be as cheap as $20 second hand.
If you actually want want to invest so you can get something nice to use after.
There's many good boxes for $100 (Walmart brand is one)
Nvidia Shield is the best though. The AI upscaling is amazing.
I actually didn't remember to use an emulator for this before, you're right! How could I forget?
I was able to experience the issue now, so that's a start. The problem is that I'm not sure how to fix it yet.
You don't happen to have any experience with this issue on the development side, do you? 😅
not seeing the forest vor the trees.. happens to the best ;)
unfortunately that is as far as i can help, but i'm sure you'll find a solution or that someone else can help.
Unfortunately I didn't find a way around it yet. No matter what I try the pesky menu doesn't want to appear on the TV :/...
