One of the biggest reasons I downloaded Tasker is because of it's integration with Zooper Widget Pro. I was creating home screens left and right, but I was limited by the app's constraints. At the time, Zooper wasn't capable of displaying missed calls, unread text messages or email counts. UCCW was, but I couldn't leave Zooper behind.
Tasker was the solution.
I had read about Tasker's power and the possibilities it could open up, and the stories were true. Within (almost) no time, I had figured out how to create a Profile that, when I received a new SMS, Tasker would send the sender's name, number, and text body to Zooper and display it on my home screen. Sweet baby Jesus, it was beautiful.
All you need to do to integrate the two apps is to include the Zooper Widget Pro plugin in one of your Tasker Actions. The plugin allows you to create your own Zooper variable, then you can use that variable in any of your widgets. Whatever you decide to call it will be usable in Zooper with #T...#, just replace the '...' with your variable's name. You then need to choose what the variable will return which will, for the most part, be a Tasker variable starting with %, but you can use anything that you want.
Now, Zooper Widget Pro is now capable of displaying counts for calls (#SMCALLS#), texts (#SUSMS# and Gmail (#SUGPrimary#, #SUGAll Mail#, #SUGWhatever#, #SUGYou Get The Picture#), but with the now not-so-recent update to the Hangouts app to include SMS integration, people want more. Tasker time!
Here's a way to create an unread count for Hangouts (or any other app for that matter):
Before we begin, make sure you have Tasker enable under Accessibility Services in your Settings or it won't work.
In Tasker -
- Add a new Profile - call it Hangouts (or whatever).
- Select Event, then UI, then Notification.
- Tap the cool little spaceship picture and scroll through the list to find Hangouts.
- Tap the icon, then tap the Tasker icon in the top left corner. A popup should appear to create a new task.
- Tap '+ New Task' - Call it Hangouts (or whatever)
- Tap the + on the bottom of the screen and select Variable, then Variable Add.
- In the Name field, input the variable %HNGTS (or whatever). Don't worry about the other stuff.
- Tap the Tasker icon in the top left and then add another action with that + on the bottom of the screen again.
- Tap plugin and select Zooper Widget Pro...
- Tap the pencil next to Configuration.
- In the ZW Variable field (which is our new Zooper variable we are creating) input 'HNGTS'. This will appear in Zooper as #THNGTS#.
- In the ZW Text field (which is what the ZW Variable will display) input 'Unread Hangouts: %HNGTS'. Make sure to include the % or you unread count will always be 'Missed Hangouts: HNGTS.'
- Tap the Tasker icon a couple more times to bring you out of the Action edit and save your tasks (although I've run into a few errors with Profiles disappearing so I go one OCD step further by going to my home screen, clearing Tasker from my recent apps, and then re-opening it. Neurotic).
This part adds 1 to the unread count every time you receive a new Hangouts notification, whether it's an SMS or and actual Hangout (whatever those are), killing two birds where Zooper would only kill one.
Onward...
- Add a new Profile - call it Hangouts Clear (or whatever)
- Select Application, and choose Hangouts
- Tap '+ New Task,' - call it Hangouts Clear (or whatever - keep in mind, Profiles can have the same name but Actions can't)
- Tap the + at the bottom of the screen again.
- Select Variable, then Variable Set.
- You can manually input %HNGTS under Name, or tap the Tag icon and select it from the list. Under To, input 0
- Add the Zooper Widget Pro plugin again and repeat the same step as above: ZW Variable -' HNGTS', ZW Text - 'Unread Hangouts: %HNGTS'
This part sets the unread count to zero every time you open the Hangouts app (We'll just assume you actually read everything when you do).
Next, create a Zooper Widget and select Rich Text. Under Edit Text Manually, replace the default time variables with your newly created #THNGTS# variable. Boom. What that as good for you as it was for me?
To finalize, open your Hangouts app and it will set your %HNGTS variable to 0 so your home screen is ready to display your unread message count. Sweet.
This can also work with any other app. Just switch out the variable to a different name like %GPLUS, %FBOOK, %TWTTR, or whatever else you want to monitor.
Tasker and Zooper integration doesn't stop here. There's an endless amount of possibilities in each app, and together they can make your brain melt. To do list? Check. Music Player? You betcha. Updating Google+ feed of all your Communities?...That one might need a few more plugins, but you get the idea. Your only limit is your imagination.
Now, Zooper Widget Pro is now capable of displaying counts for calls (#SMCALLS#), texts (#SUSMS# and Gmail (#SUGPrimary#, #SUGAll Mail#, #SUGWhatever#, #SUGYou Get The Picture#), but with the now not-so-recent update to the Hangouts app to include SMS integration, people want more. Tasker time!
Here's a way to create an unread count for Hangouts (or any other app for that matter):
Before we begin, make sure you have Tasker enable under Accessibility Services in your Settings or it won't work.
In Tasker -
- Add a new Profile - call it Hangouts (or whatever).
- Select Event, then UI, then Notification.
- Tap the cool little spaceship picture and scroll through the list to find Hangouts.
- Tap the icon, then tap the Tasker icon in the top left corner. A popup should appear to create a new task.
- Tap '+ New Task' - Call it Hangouts (or whatever)
- Tap the + on the bottom of the screen and select Variable, then Variable Add.
- In the Name field, input the variable %HNGTS (or whatever). Don't worry about the other stuff.
- Tap the Tasker icon in the top left and then add another action with that + on the bottom of the screen again.
- Tap plugin and select Zooper Widget Pro...
- Tap the pencil next to Configuration.
- In the ZW Variable field (which is our new Zooper variable we are creating) input 'HNGTS'. This will appear in Zooper as #THNGTS#.
- In the ZW Text field (which is what the ZW Variable will display) input 'Unread Hangouts: %HNGTS'. Make sure to include the % or you unread count will always be 'Missed Hangouts: HNGTS.'
- Tap the Tasker icon a couple more times to bring you out of the Action edit and save your tasks (although I've run into a few errors with Profiles disappearing so I go one OCD step further by going to my home screen, clearing Tasker from my recent apps, and then re-opening it. Neurotic).
This part adds 1 to the unread count every time you receive a new Hangouts notification, whether it's an SMS or and actual Hangout (whatever those are), killing two birds where Zooper would only kill one.
Onward...
- Add a new Profile - call it Hangouts Clear (or whatever)
- Select Application, and choose Hangouts
- Tap '+ New Task,' - call it Hangouts Clear (or whatever - keep in mind, Profiles can have the same name but Actions can't)
- Tap the + at the bottom of the screen again.
- Select Variable, then Variable Set.
- You can manually input %HNGTS under Name, or tap the Tag icon and select it from the list. Under To, input 0
- Add the Zooper Widget Pro plugin again and repeat the same step as above: ZW Variable -' HNGTS', ZW Text - 'Unread Hangouts: %HNGTS'
This part sets the unread count to zero every time you open the Hangouts app (We'll just assume you actually read everything when you do).
Next, create a Zooper Widget and select Rich Text. Under Edit Text Manually, replace the default time variables with your newly created #THNGTS# variable. Boom. What that as good for you as it was for me?
To finalize, open your Hangouts app and it will set your %HNGTS variable to 0 so your home screen is ready to display your unread message count. Sweet.
This can also work with any other app. Just switch out the variable to a different name like %GPLUS, %FBOOK, %TWTTR, or whatever else you want to monitor.
Tasker and Zooper integration doesn't stop here. There's an endless amount of possibilities in each app, and together they can make your brain melt. To do list? Check. Music Player? You betcha. Updating Google+ feed of all your Communities?...That one might need a few more plugins, but you get the idea. Your only limit is your imagination.
No comments:
Post a Comment