Featured Play Store Newbie: MacroDroid [Tools]

There are a few automation apps in the Google Play Store, but MacroDroid is a fairly new one that looks to make things a little simpler. In speaking with the developer, he sees it as having the power of Tasker, but it's simple enough for your Mom to use. I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty good to me.

Apps like MacroDroid are useful to every Android user because they can automate tasks. It makes you more productive, and in many cases can prolong your battery. For example, you can easily program your phone to turn off your Bluetooth or Wifi depending on your location or even if you launch a particular app. You can also make things easier like for example, you can set your phone to upload the last photo to Facebook just by shaking your device or even respond to an incoming text message by sending your current location. Not only that, if your phone has NFC, you can utilize NFC tags to trigger certain actions.

The above examples are what we call Macros and to set one up, it couldn't be easier:

• Click ‘Add Macro'
• Select a trigger from a list – (e.g. Battery Level).
• Configure any trigger specific settings – (e.g. Battery Level < 10%)
• Select an action from a list – (e.g Enable/Disable Wifi)
• Configure any action specific setting – (e.g. Disable Wifi)
• Add more actions as required (up to 10)
• Optionally select a constraint from a list – (e.g. Day of the Week)
• Configure constraint as required (e.g. Saturday and Sunday)
• Add more constraints as required (up to 10).
• Choose a name for the Macro.

For setting up macros, you have your choice of 20 different triggers:

• Airplane Mode Enabled/Disabled
• App Installed/Removed
• App Opened/Closed
• Battery Level
• Bluetooth Event
• Day/Time
• Device Boot
• Device Docked/Undocked
• Dial Phone Number
• Headphones Inserted/Removed
• Location Trigger
• Media Button Press
• Mobile Service Status
• NFC Tag, Power Button Toggle
• Power Connected/Removed
• Regular Interval
• Screen On/Off
• Shake Device
• SMS Received
• SMS Sent
• Widget Button Press
• Wifi State Change.

As for actions, you have 20 different ones to choose from:

• Control Media
• Display Notification
• Enable/Disable Bluetooth
• Enable/Disable Auto Sync
• Enable/Disable Data
• Enable/Disable Wifi
• Launch Application
• Make Call
• Open Website
• Play Sound
• Popup Message
• Reboot/Power Off (Root Only)
• Record Microphone
• Say Current Time
• Send SMS, Set Airplane Mode
• Set Keyguard (lock screen)
• Set MacroDroid Mode
• Set Ringtone
• Set Screen Timeout
• Set Volume
• Set Wallpaper
• Share Location
• Speak Text
• Take Picture
• Upload Last Photo
• Vibrate

Last but not least, you have 10 different constraints

• Battery Level
• Bluetooth State
• Call State
• Day of the Week
• External Power
• Headphone Connection
• MacroDroid Mode
• Running Application
• Screen On/Off
• Time of Day
• Wifi State

Okay, I saved the best for last. It's FREE to try, which means you can give it a shot and see if it's something you will like. If it is, you can step up to the paid version for an in app purchase of $2.49. The free version limits you to 3 macros and a single action and constraint per macro. That's more than enough to find out if it's for you. Similar apps don't even offer a free version, so you don't have an excuse, just hit one of the download links below to get started.

Play Store Download Link