App Focus: AutomateIt

I’m back with another App Focus where I review an app that I use and love.  For this week I’m sticking with apps that add features to your device that can found on some carrier skins.  Last week I focused on Power Toggles, an app that allows you to add a toggle bar into your notification bar among other things.  This week I’m focusing in on an app that mimics some of the features found in Motorola’s SmartActions.

If you’re unfamiliar with SmartActions, it is a tool that Motorola developed for their skin that makes life smarter!  It does things such as activate a music app when plugging in your headphones, or silencing your phone based on location.

Now the main thing that caught my attention was the ability to launch an app by plugging the headphones in.  I constantly use my phone in my car to listen to music via Rdio (another app I’ll review in time).  Normally I would sit my phone into it’s cradle, then plug in the 3.5 mm jack (I use a cassette to 3.5mm jack.  old school, but it works).  I would then have to turn on the screen, then launch the app.  Not terribly troublesome, but it could be made easier.

So what AutomateIt allows me to do is set up a a “Trigger” and set up an “Action” for that trigger.  For example, I can set the trigger to be “Headset Plug State Trigger” and action to “Start Application Action.”  I can then tag it so I know what the trigger is.  Now every time I plug in my headphones or any 3.5mm jack, my phone will automatically launch Rdio.  Again, it’s not saving me tons of time but it still makes it a little more convenient.

Another thing I have set up is to Trigger the Car Mode app every time I connect to my car’s Bluetooth system.  So when my phone connects to my car, it will automatically launch the car mode app for easier use.

There are tons of other triggers, such as sms triggers, locations triggers, battery level triggers, and several other actions such as changing volume, opening apps, changing screen brightness, etc.

Again, one of the best things about this app is that it’s free.  There’s other alternatives, but many of them cost money.  You can download the app through the link below.