After spending some time transforming an old Samsung Galaxy S3 into my alarm panel I figured I would make a quick video to show it off. I apologize in advance for horrible cameraman work.
@lmosenk@swindmiller Hey guys Iāll see if there is a way to break down Tasker. Everything is pretty much ran through Tasker and Sharp Tools. The widgets are from Tasker and Sharp Tools. I found the lock icons online and made them into circles. The notification listener is to clear out the push notifications that come through on ST I didnāt want to manually clear them so each time I disarm they are cleared by Tasker and notification listener plug in.
I think there is a way for me to export from Tasker so I can share it.
Secure Settings took care of the auto re-lock of the phone and cutting the screen back on to dim. All these apps offer a trial period and then you need to spend a few dollars on them to continue to use.
Iām assuming the Interest is in the functionality of how I made it work and not the pretty pictures lol. Iāll try this week to see if I can figure out a way to export through Tasker. I just learned Tasker and everything else just for this project.
If anyone has any specific questions, let me know. Thanks for the support.
Thanks @jpetrone! I have been reading up on tasker and was very intimidated by it at first. After reading a getting started manual and now understanding how it works, WOW you can do alot with it.
Two questions. How did you get āArmedā to display on your lock screen? I setup Secure Settings and have it lock and then turn on but didnāt see how you displayed the stays on the lock screen.
The second question is, do you know how to make the icons bigger? I plan to only use this for an alarm panel and basically only want the 3 buttons (icons) on the screen but my family is going to have a hard time seeing them. Ideally I would like them to be huge since only 3 will be displayed.
I guess I could always use ActiON dash to switch the modes for arming and disarming.
Thanks,
Scott
@swindmiller I have 2 different lock screen wallpapers and have Tasker switch between the 2. Switch to armed wallpaper when stay or away and switch to the wallpaper that doesnāt say armed when disarmed. Your device would need to be rooted in order to allow Tasker access to the folders it needs to access in order to change the wallpaper. There could be other ways to do it without root but I only know of this way.
The widgets were created with SharpTools and then I changed the pictures to ones I grabbed from the Internet and then rounded them off and resized. If you create the widgets I believe you can resize then. If you canāt with your current launcher. You can try Nova launcher. I am pretty sure there is a setting to resize widgets.
I was very impressed with Tasker and all the things it can do and the plug-ins people make for it allow it to do even more.
You can export your Tasker profile to xml when others can then import. Hereās a how-to.
Someone could definetely make an standalone android app that does all of this. And it wouldnāt need root access if it was merely an app loading different screens instead of changing wallpapers. I would pay good money for that app, HINT HINT.
I put a link below for the export from Tasker, you guys will need to make some edits to match your own individual needs, but this should be helpful. The link also has the widget icons, wallpaper and lock screen wallpaper. But be mindful theyāre at a resolution to work for the Galaxy S3.
I really appreciate your efforts in sharing what youāve done. Iām glad I kept all of my old android phones. Maybe my wife will eventually stop complaining about my technological hoarding if I put some of the old stuff to work.
Thanksā¦this is great.
How are you waking your screen? I am experimenting with using the front camera to detect motion and then having the screen shutoff after 15 seconds of inactivity.
@swindmiller I have the option to keep the screen on when charging set to on in the developer options.
I had to use Tasker and secure settings to toggle it on and off to allow the screen to time out and lock and then it turns the feature back on, once itās locked. So the panel is always dimmed on.
The issue with the motion tracking is it eats up battery life due itās constant motion polling. Which requires it to be plugged in all the time. Also I found that it was randomly lagging which is unacceptable when trying to quickly disarm an alarm.
I wish I could find a way to add ādouble-tap to unlock/lockā like on my G3. Once you get used to it, double tapping is way better than any button. And 100% reliable.
@NoMoreClaymores, was it lagging throughout or are you talking about the lag it takes to turn it on?
I just noticed last night that I was able to unlock it quickly but when I hit the Disarm button there was a lag and an even bigger one to change the wallpaper. Could the motion sensing be why?
Hey guys I find when ST is having latency issues there is also delay in response to the widgets. I guess the price to pay for all cloud communication.
I keep mine plugged in all the time. My refrigerator is to the right of panel and I have a long white usb wire going from there to a qi charging pad which is attached to the back of the phone.
The usb port is busted on the phone so I had to use wireless charging.
Thereās sometimes a delay for the screen to wake up from the motion detection. Itās only a few seconds put itās definitely awkward staring at black screen unsure if itās going to turn on. The motion detection was not reliable enough for me to keep using. I tried a few apps on different phones and they all worked inconsistently .
I use a pin currently but I would prefer to use double tap to āwakeā the screen then a pin to unlock similar to what you have. Purely due to the fact that I donāt want the screen constantly on and hitting the unlock button quickly is difficult when wall mounted.
I bet you guys can make it where you can have the tablet or old phone, whatever youāre using pair to your cell phone over Bluetooth and when that happens, remove the screen lock? Maybe something to try. Or if you currently use presence you can have the screen lock remove as well based on a presence sensor arriving home.
Tasker, Sharp Tools and secure settings could do the presence option and Tasker and secure settings should be able to do the Bluetooth option/suggestion.
Maybe even wake the phone automatically when the contact sensor on the entry Doors open. That might be the best option. lol
