Android apps by Ken Fehling

Wi-Fi, Sync,... Scheduler

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:16:22 +0000

This TaskBomb add-on allows you to schedule turning on and off Wi-Fi, Sync, Bluetooth, and airplane mode. Using TaskBomb you can integrate these behaviors with whatever else you want to schedule. For example:

"Switch off WiFi and Sync when I set my morning alarm and go to bed; turn them back on 30 seconds before my morning alarm goes off."

Since TaskBomb uses relative scheduling, you can add as many actions as you want and it doesn't mean any more work for you when it comes time to set your alarm, even if you wake up a different time everyday.

Switching off wireless overnight is an easy way to conserve energy. The plan is to eventually add more functions such as 3G and 4G.

Requires the TaskBomb app, available free in the Android Market:

http://androidideas.org/taskbomb/google-play

See the website for tons of info, help, and tutorials:

http://androidideas.org/taskbomb

TaskBomb is an automation app (sometimes called "task scheduler", "job scheduler", "batch processor", etc.) that allows you to schedule apps and actions to automatically run. It's similar in function to the cron command on Linux and somewhat like an alarm clock (you can set alarms and snooze actions). TaskBomb aims to be small and simple, and leverage the power of the apps you have on your phone.

One of TaskBomb's greatest assets is its unique and flexible scheduling system that allows you to create modular, reusable schedules that can be run at any time, attached to alarms, or added to other schedules.

This add-on is basically a little app, but you don’t run the app itself. Once you install this add-on, it will appear as a choice in the “Data” field of a task definition. You use the “Toggleable items" menu to choose which item to set, then use the task’s “Activity” to select whether turn the item on, off, or toggle it.

Recent changes:
3G toggling has been added. It requires at least Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and is still considered a beta feature because it needs testing on a greater variety of phones and carriers. So far so good! Please email me with your phone model and carrier if it doesn't work for you.

Volume Changer for TaskBomb

Thu, 12 May 2011 23:14:13 +0000

Use TaskBomb with this add-on to schedule volume changes, for instance muting at a specific time or gently increasing the volume to ease you into your morning wake up music.

Requires the TaskBomb app, available free in the Android Market:

http://androidideas.org/taskbomb/google-play

See the website for tons of info, help, and tutorials:

http://androidideas.org/taskbomb

Volume changing options:
- Media volume
- Ringer volume
- Alert volume
- Ringer mode (silent mode)

TaskBomb is an automation app (sometimes called "task scheduler", "job scheduler", "batch processor", etc.) that allows you to schedule apps and actions to automatically run. It's similar in function to the cron command on Linux and somewhat like an alarm clock (you can set alarms and snooze actions). TaskBomb aims to be small and simple, and leverage the power of the apps you have on your phone.

One of TaskBomb's greatest assets is its unique and flexible scheduling system that allows you to create modular, reusable schedules that can be run at any time, attached to alarms, or added to other schedules.

This add-on is basically a little app, but you don't run the app itself. Once installed, go into TaskBomb and you'll find "Set volume change" as an option in the "Data" field when you define a task.

SL4A Script Launcher

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 13:49:40 +0000

This add-on adds SL4A scripting functionality to the TaskBomb task scheduler app. SL4A is a very useful scripting environment for Android that lets you use scripts written in Python, Perl, Ruby, Lua, Java (BeanShell), JavaScript (Rhino) and other languages. Combined with TaskBomb's powerful scheduling system you can simply set these scripts to run at a given time or add them to more complex routines.

Requires the TaskBomb app, available free in the Android Market:

http://androidideas.org/taskbomb/google-play

See the website for tons of info, help, and tutorials:

http://androidideas.org/taskbomb

TaskBomb is an automation app (sometimes called "task scheduler", "job scheduler", "batch processor", etc.) that allows you to schedule apps and actions to automatically run. It's similar in function to the cron command on Linux and somewhat like an alarm clock (you can set alarms and snooze actions). TaskBomb aims to be small and simple, and leverage the power of the apps you have on your phone.

One of TaskBomb's greatest assets is its unique and flexible scheduling system that allows you to create modular, reusable schedules that can be run at any time, attached to alarms, or added to other schedules.

This add-on is basically a little app, but you don't run the app itself. Once installed, go into TaskBomb and you'll find "Select script" as an option in the "Data" field when you define a task.

Recent changes:
- Improved file picking. Now script files from outside the default SL4A scripts directory can be used.

- Made a lot of little improvements. Scripts can be run from the app's little sub-dashboard (no more "View only"). Also now SL4A doesn't show up in the "recent" list after launching a script.

Video Toolbox editor

Sat, 05 May 2012 00:20:07 +0000

Video Toolbox provides a set of tools to do the simple things you want with movies on your Android phone or tablet: rotate, trim, flip, resize, and convert.

Try before you buy with the trial/demo version; it's identical except output videos contain a watermark.

http://androidideas.org/videotoolbox/trial/google-play

Supports editing all media formats created by Android camera (camcorder) apps as well as some additional formats.

Input formats: MP4, 3GP, M4V, WebM, MKV, OGV, AVI, MOV

New input formats (beta): FLV, WMV, MPG, ASF

Output formats: MP4, WebM, MKV, AVI, MOV

Please disable task killers; they can interfere with a long rendering process.

Video Toolbox isn't a traditional linear video editor with a timeline, although it allows you to simply edit and convert your videos. It provides a toolkit containing most of the functions that you’d want in a mobile setting, with an interface that makes sense in on a small form factor.

About the tools

Rotator tool:
Turn a video clockwise or counterclockwise by 90, 180, or 270 degrees

Trimmer tool:
Cut a clip out of a film

Resizer tool:
Change the height and width of a video, proportionally if desired

Flipper tool:
Reflect a video horizontally or vertically

Share tool:
Helps you send videos to YouTube, Facebook, Gmail, etc.

Uses FFmpeg, which is licensed under the LGPL. See the "About" page inside the app for more details.

If you have any questions or suggestions please email me at ken@androidideas.org. If you use the comments section for this I can’t really respond or ask questions to clarify.

Recent changes:
Some rare files may have issues. If you find any, instead of leaving an angry comment please email me at ken@androidideas.org and I'll get working on fixing it. If I can't satisfy you I'll refund you. Communication is key.

Recent changes
- Increased compatibility of AVI output
- Allowed QT files as input
- Improved support for certain AVI input files
- Issues with long render jobs in the background should be fixed.

TaskBomb task scheduler

Thu, 12 May 2011 19:13:46 +0000

TaskBomb is a task scheduling app that's small and simple, yet flexible.

Please email me if you have any suggestions or problems. If you use the comments for this I can't really respond or ask questions to clarify.

See the website for tons of info, help, and tutorials:

http://androidideas.org/taskbomb

Features:
* Automate many of the things your phone can do:
- Automatic app running
- Automatically open some given file or url with some given app
- Play a song, playlist, or online stream
- Open a browser to a web page
- Automatic shortcut running
* Add-ons to do things like
- Change the volume or gently raise it at a given time
- Check if an online music stream is available
- Run SL4A scripts at a certain time
- Turn on and off Wi-Fi, Sync, and Bluetooth
* Relative scheduling system allows you to create reusable sets of tasks to run at any time.
* Snooze offered for any task or schedule you choose.

# Note: Make sure task killers aren't interfering

Task Bomb is an automation app (sometimes called "task scheduler", "job scheduler", "batch processor", etc.) that allows you to schedule apps and actions to automatically run. It's similar in function to the cron command on Linux and somewhat like an alarm clock (you can set alarms and snooze actions). TaskBomb aims to be small and simple, and leverage the power of the apps you have on your phone.

One of Task Bomb's greatest assets is its unique and flexible scheduling system that allows you to create modular, reusable schedules that can be run at any time, attached to alarms, or added to other schedules.

With home automation as a growing application of Android, this app could just be what you need to serve as a master controller for the bits and pieces you want to automate.

You can schedule things ranging from very simple:

"Play this song at 8:00 AM on weekdays."

to more complex:

"Run some scripts of mine before bed. 7 hours later start playing my favorite streaming radio station, or my second favorite one if that’s not available, or a local playlist if neither are available. Increase the volume gradually over 3 minutes. If I’m still not up after 10 minutes, switch to a playlist of sad songs."

Put another way, Task Bomb is basically an Android job scheduler. Job scheduling is sometimes synonymous with batch scheduling, although batch schedulers typically use the command line.

See the website below for lots of info, including tutorials and help. Please email any questions, suggestions, and feature requests to ken@androidideas.org

Recent changes:
- Fixed a bug that was 1.8.10 in the "On/Off" buttons on the alarms list screen

- Fixed a bug in getting data description from certain content:// strings

- Changed how the alarms list works to fix a bug on some devices that prevented alarms from listing
- Fixed a bug in the time picker dialog

- Fixed a mistake in the "Select activity" dialog that prevented activities from being selected

Color Sounds

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:17:25 +0000

Color Sounds is an experimental generative music app that translates color into sound. There are three modes: manual mode, camera mode, and record mode.

The manual mode is a grid music sequencer, somewhat like the Tenori-on or Monome but based on colors.

The camera mode picks up colors from the environment to generate sound.

The record mode (working on certain devices) allows you to save a video of the camera mode.

Please email me at ken@androidideas.org if you have any suggestions or problems. If you use the comments for this I can't really respond or ask questions to clarify. Thanks.

Recent changes:
The sounds have been improved and made a little louder (except for the high yellow sounds, those are now softer and less irritating). Part of what makes them easier to hear has to do with the pitch range, which has been shifted up a bit overall. The blue sounds (bass) were made able to be heard at all, without external speakers, by changing them from sine waves to square waves.

The record and camera modes now keep the screen on regardless of the screen timeout setting.

Video Toolbox editor (Trial)

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:18:04 +0000

This free trial version is meant for evaluation purposes. Please be aware of the limitations, which are:
- Watermark on rendered videos
- Expires after 30 days

Full version: http://androidideas.org/videotoolbox/full/google-play

Video Toolbox provides a set of tools to do the simple things you want with movies on your Android phone or tablet: rotate, trim, flip, resize, and convert.

Supports editing all media formats created by Android camera (camcorder) apps as well as some additional formats.

Input formats: MP4, 3GP, M4V, WebM, MKV, OGV, AVI, MOV

New input formats (beta): FLV, WMV, MPG, ASF

Output formats: MP4, WebM, MKV, AVI, MOV

Please disable task killers; they can interfere with a long rendering process.

Video Toolbox isn't a traditional linear video editor with a timeline, although it allows you to simply edit and convert your videos. It provides a toolkit containing most of the functions that you’d want in a mobile setting, with an interface that makes sense in on a small form factor.

About the tools

Rotator tool:
Turn a video clockwise or counterclockwise by 90, 180, or 270 degrees

Trimmer tool:
Cut a clip out of a film

Resizer tool:
Change the height and width of a video, proportionally if desired

Flipper tool:
Reflect a video horizontally or vertically

Share tool:
Helps you send videos to YouTube, Facebook, Gmail, etc.

Uses FFmpeg, which is licensed under the LGPL. See the "About" page inside the app for more details.

If you have any questions or suggestions please email me at ken@androidideas.org. If you use the comments section for this I can’t really respond or ask questions to clarify.

Recent changes:
Some rare files may have issues. If you find any, instead of leaving an angry comment please email me at ken@androidideas.org and I'll get working on fixing it. Communication is key.

Recent changes
- Increased compatibility of AVI output
- Allowed QT files as input
- Improved support for certain AVI input files
- Issues with long render jobs in the background should be fixed.

Stream Me If You Can

Thu, 12 May 2011 19:52:09 +0000

Use TaskBomb and this add-on to wake up to your favorite online radio stream (Shoutcast, Live365, etc.) without the risk of the stream being down or having no service. You specify a list of TaskBomb tasks that play streams; each are checked in order of preference, You can list a default action at the end which runs if none of the streams are available.

Supports streams wrapped in M3U and PLS playlist files, as well as direct stream URLs.

Requires the TaskBomb app, available free in the Android Market:

http://androidideas.org/taskbomb/google-play

See the website for tons of info, help, and tutorials:

http://androidideas.org/taskbomb

TaskBomb is an automation app (sometimes called "task scheduler", "job scheduler", "batch processor", etc.) that allows you to schedule apps and actions to automatically run. It's similar in function to the cron command on Linux and somewhat like an alarm clock (you can set alarms and snooze actions). TaskBomb aims to be small and simple, and leverage the power of the apps you have on your phone.

One of TaskBomb's greatest assets is its unique and flexible scheduling system that allows you to create modular, reusable schedules that can be run at any time, attached to alarms, or added to other schedules.

TaskBomb’s greatest asset is perhaps its unique and flexible scheduling system that allows you to create modular, reusable schedules that can be run at any time, attached to alarms, or added to other schedules.

This add-on is basically a little app, but you don't run the app itself. Once installed, go into TaskBomb and you'll find "Stream Checker" as an option in the "Data" field when you define a task.

Recent changes:
- Fixed a bug with deleting fallback lists from the list item menu

TaskBomb Premium Unlocker

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:18:30 +0000

Requires the original free version of Task Bomb (updated to at least version 1.4):

http://androidideas.org/taskbomb/google-play

Extra features:
* Export all app data (tasks, etc.)
* Export a schedule
* Import from a file

TaskBomb is a task scheduling app that's small and simple, yet flexible.

Please email me if you have any suggestions or problems. If you use the comments for this I can't really respond or ask questions to clarify.

See the website for tons of info, help, and tutorials:

http://androidideas.org/taskbomb

Features:
* Automate many of the things your phone can do:
- Automatic app running
- Automatically open some given file or url with some given app
- Play a song, playlist, or online stream
- Open a browser to a web page
- Automatic shortcut running
* Add-ons to do things like
- Change the volume or gently raise it at a given time
- Check if an online music stream is available
- Run SL4A scripts at a certain time
- Turn on and off Wi-Fi, Sync, and Bluetooth
* Relative scheduling system allows you to create reusable sets of tasks to run at any time.
* Snooze offered for any task or schedule you choose.

# Note: Make sure task killers aren't interfering

Task Bomb is an automation app (sometimes called "task scheduler", "job scheduler", "batch processor", etc.) that allows you to schedule apps and actions to automatically run. It's similar in function to the cron command on Linux and somewhat like an alarm clock (you can set alarms and snooze actions). TaskBomb aims to be small and simple, and leverage the power of the apps you have on your phone.

One of Task Bomb's greatest assets is its unique and flexible scheduling system that allows you to create modular, reusable schedules that can be run at any time, attached to alarms, or added to other schedules.

With home automation as a growing application of Android, this app could just be what you need to serve as a master controller for the bits and pieces you want to automate.

You can schedule things ranging from very simple:

"Play this song at 8:00 AM on weekdays."

to more complex:

"Run some scripts of mine before bed. 7 hours later start playing my favorite streaming radio station, or my second favorite one if that’s not available, or a local playlist if neither are available. Increase the volume gradually over 3 minutes. If I’m still not up after 10 minutes, switch to a playlist of sad songs."

Put another way, Task Bomb is basically an Android job scheduler. Job scheduling is sometimes synonymous with batch scheduling, although batch schedulers typically use the command line.

See the website below for lots of info, including tutorials and help. Please email any questions, suggestions, and feature requests to ken@androidideas.org

Recent changes:
Fixed the "Cancel" button in the export file picker. It was only going up one directory, now it exits completely.

Call / SMS Scheduler

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 13:39:54 +0000

This TaskBomb add-on allows you to schedule sending text messages, making phone calls, and even playing a series of tones after a certain pause of seconds.

Requires the TaskBomb app, available free in the Android Market:
http://androidideas.org/taskbomb/google-play

See the website for tons of info, help, and tutorials:
http://androidideas.org/taskbomb

TaskBomb is an automation app (sometimes called "task scheduler", "job scheduler", "batch processor", etc.) that allows you to schedule apps and actions to automatically run. It's similar in function to the cron command on Linux and somewhat like an alarm clock (you can set alarms and snooze actions). TaskBomb aims to be small and simple, and leverage the power of the apps you have on your phone.

One of TaskBomb's greatest assets is its unique and flexible scheduling system that allows you to create modular, reusable schedules that can be run at any time, attached to alarms, or added to other schedules.

This add-on is basically a little app, but you don’t generally run the app manually. Once you install this add-on, it will appear as a choice in the “Data” field of a task definition. Then you can schedule it to run automatically.

Recent changes:
Added an "End call" action. To use it create a task with the action type "STOP" and select "End call."