Guide · 6 min

Tasker and friends

Run your custom triggers, show a design or hear when a trigger plays, from Tasker, MacroDroid or any app that sends Android intents.

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Three rules

Almost every setup that fails breaks one of these.

  1. Everything goes in the extras.The key, the name of your custom trigger, the design: each one is an extra, a name and a value.
  2. Data stays empty.With anything in Data, Glyph Museum never hears the intent. Mime Type, Package and Class stay empty too.
  3. Target is Broadcast Receiver.MacroDroid calls it Broadcast. Activity and Service send nothing Glyph Museum can hear.

Turn it on and copy your key

You need Glyph Museum 2.4. Open the Matrix tab, go to Triggers and tap Tasker and friends, the last row.

  1. Switch on Let other apps run custom triggers. The first time, this makes your key.
  2. Tap Copy key. It copies the whole key, without the spaces it shows with.
  3. To hear when a trigger plays, also switch on Tell other apps when a trigger plays.

While the first switch is on, Glyph Museum listens even with the app closed. With it off, anything sent is lost.

Details for Tasker, at the bottom, lists what each action sends. Tap one to copy it.

A custom trigger to run

Run starts a custom trigger by its name. Showing a design needs none, so for that you can skip this step.

  1. On the Triggers page, tap + and pick New custom trigger.
  2. Tap Add a condition, open Apps and pick Another app asks.
  3. Under Then, pick what it does, like Show a design.
  4. Type a name under the preview, like Night. That is the name you send.

A custom trigger with no name of its own shows one made of its conditions, and Run cannot reach it. Capitals and spaces at the ends don't matter: night finds Night.

While it lastsStays on for 10 minutes, or until you send stop. Another Run starts the 10 minutes again.
OncePlays when the request arrives, if its other conditions hold.

Tasker: run a custom trigger

Open Tasks, tap + and name the task. Then tap + and pick System › Send Intent. Fill it in like this:

Actioncom.pauwma.glyphmuseum.RUN
Mime Type · DataEmpty
Extrakey:Paste your key right after the colon.
Extraautomation:NightYour custom trigger's name after the colon.
Package · ClassEmpty
TargetBroadcast Receiver

Each Extra is name:value. Leave out quotes: Tasker sends them as part of the value, so automation:"Night" never matches.

The play button at the top runs the action right away, and the Matrix shows your custom trigger.

Tasker: stop it

A custom trigger that lasts stays on for 10 minutes. To end it sooner, send the same intent with a third Extra:

Extrastop:true

true (in any case) or 1 stops it. Anything else, like stop:2, runs it instead. To run, leave stop out.

Tasker: show a design

Show plays one design on the Matrix for a few seconds. It needs no custom trigger. Make another Send Intent:

Actioncom.pauwma.glyphmuseum.SHOW
Extrakey:
Extrapost:17978Or a save of yours by its title: save:Cute fox
Extraseconds:10Or, for an animated design, loops:3
TargetBroadcast Receiver

The post is the number at the end of its link: app.glyphmuseum.com/post/17978. Seconds go from 1 to 60, and 5 if you leave it out. Loops go from 1 to 30.

Tasker has three Extra fields. The key and the design take two, so pick seconds or loops for the third. A second Show replaces the first, and alerts still come before it.

Tasker: when a trigger plays

Switch on Tell other apps when a trigger plays in Glyph Museum first. Then, in Tasker:

  1. Open Profiles, tap + and pick Event › System › Intent Received.
  2. In Action, type com.pauwma.glyphmuseum.TRIGGER and leave the rest as it is.
  3. Go back and pick the task to run, or make a new one.

In that task, %event holds what played. Use it like any variable: a Variable Set of %MuseumEvent to %event keeps the last one.

UNLOCKLOCKSHAKETORCHCHARGINGVOLUMECAMERAALARMIN_CALL

Only the trigger's name is sent, never the design or anything about you.

MacroDroid: run, stop and show

In a macro, tap + next to Actions and pick Device Actions › Send Intent. Searching for "intent" finds it too.

TargetBroadcastIt starts on Activity. Change it.
Actioncom.pauwma.glyphmuseum.RUNThe field under Category, not Package.
Package · Class · Data · MIME typeEmpty
Extra 1key · your key · String
Extra 2automation · Night · String
Extra 3, to stopstop · true

Each extra has a name, a value and a type. Set the key's type to String. On Auto Detect Type, a key that looks like a number can go out as one, and that counts as a wrong key. There is no need for the quotes the form's tip mentions.

To show a design, change the action to com.pauwma.glyphmuseum.SHOW and send key, post or save, and seconds or loops. MacroDroid has five extras, so they all fit.

Give the macro any trigger: Power Connected, a home screen shortcut, an NFC tag. To try the action on its own, tap it and pick Test action.

MacroDroid: when a trigger plays

With Tell other apps when a trigger plays on in Glyph Museum:

  1. Tap + next to Triggers and pick Device Events › Intent Received.
  2. In Action, type com.pauwma.glyphmuseum.TRIGGER.
  3. Tap Add extra. Name it event and give it the value *, which matches any value.
  4. Under Save to variable, tap + and make a local variable, like museum_event.

In the macro's actions, {lv=museum_event} holds what played: UNLOCK, CHARGING and the rest.

"It says N tries with a wrong key"

The sheet counts every Run or Show that reached Glyph Museum without the right key, over the last seven days. Fixing your task does not lower it: old tries stay until they are a week old. Watch the Matrix instead, or whether the number still grows.

The key is in DataGlyph Museum never hears the intent, so nothing plays and nothing is counted. Put the key in an Extra: key: and your key.
Target is Activity or ServiceNothing reaches Glyph Museum, and neither app shows an error. Pick Broadcast Receiver, or Broadcast in MacroDroid.
The action is in PackageNothing arrives. In MacroDroid, the action goes in the Action field, under Category.
The action starts with ComNothing arrives. It starts with com in lowercase.
The key went out as a numberCounted as a wrong key. In MacroDroid, set its type to String.
You made a new key sinceOld tasks still send the old key, and each one counts. Copy the new key into every task.
The extra has another namekey written any other way is a missing key, and counts. A wrong name in place of automation, like animation, reaches nothing and does not count.
The name has quotes or a typoIt must match your custom trigger's name. Capitals and spaces at the ends don't matter, quotes do.
The custom trigger can't be reachedIt needs the condition Another app asks, a name of its own, and its switch on.
Let other apps run custom triggers is offNothing listens, and nothing is counted.

Check it with adb

With USB debugging on, a computer can send the same intents. If these work and your task does not, the task is the problem. Put your key where it says YOUR_KEY.

adb shell am broadcast -a com.pauwma.glyphmuseum.RUN --es key YOUR_KEY --es automation Night
adb shell am broadcast -a com.pauwma.glyphmuseum.RUN --es key YOUR_KEY --es automation Night --es stop true
adb shell am broadcast -a com.pauwma.glyphmuseum.SHOW --es key YOUR_KEY --es post 17978 --es seconds 10
adb shell am broadcast -a com.pauwma.glyphmuseum.RUN --es key wrong --es automation Night

Broadcast completed: result=0 only means Android sent it. The Matrix tells you whether it worked. The last line sends a wrong key on purpose: the sheet's count goes up by one.

Every field

All three are broadcasts. Everything else is an extra, with these names and types.

Run a custom trigger
Actioncom.pauwma.glyphmuseum.RUN
ExtraTypeWhat it is
keyString, neededThe key from the sheet, exactly as Copy key gives it.
automationString, neededThe name you gave the custom trigger.
stopBoolean or stringtrue or 1 stops it. Leave it out to run.
Show a design
Actioncom.pauwma.glyphmuseum.SHOW
ExtraTypeWhat it is
keyString, neededThe key from the sheet.
postNumberA museum post, the number at the end of its link. Needs post or save.
saveStringOne of your saves, by its title. With both, the post goes first and the save stands in.
secondsNumberHow long it shows, 1 to 60. 5 if you leave it out.
loopsNumberFor an animated design, how many loops instead, 1 to 30.
When a trigger plays (Glyph Museum sends it)
Actioncom.pauwma.glyphmuseum.TRIGGER
ExtraTypeWhat it is
eventStringUNLOCK, LOCK, SHAKE, TORCH, CHARGING, VOLUME, CAMERA, ALARM or IN_CALL.

Other apps like Automate work the same way: send a broadcast with these extras, and listen for the third one.

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