[Plugin] Hotword Plugin Free - Tasker Tips & Tricks

[Plugin] Hotword Plugin Free - Tasker Tips & Tricks

Hi everyone!
After my first plugin I had an idea of creating another one, but this time not an "action" but an "event".
The free but ad-supported version of the plugin can be found here and if you want to support the development and don't have ads you can find the paid one here.
Of course the description can be found there, but as a quick recap, this plugin can listen for hotwords and signal Tasker when a hotword is recognized!
It uses Snowboy Hotword to listen to the mic and process what it hears super fast and completely locally.
Hotword models can be found and trained at the Snowboy Website and the downloaded model can be imported in my plugin.
Next from Tasker you can create an event of the Hotword Plugin and tap on the hotword you want to react to, next you can do with it what you want!
You can listen to multiple hotwords at the same time and run a different event for each one. So for example if you shout "lights on" the lights might turn on and if you shout "play music" the music starts playing.
You can see it as AutoVoice Continuous but a lot faster and more consistent, plus you can train any hotword you like and pronounce it in any language you prefer (to be defined at the website).
Of course you can modify the sensitivity if you feel like it can't hear you or if it goes off all the time and you can start or stop the service via a Tasker action if you like.
Personally I use the app in combination with my ADB shell plugin to launch assistant on my NVIDIA Shield AndroidTV handsfree by shouting "hey google" to an old android phone lying besides the tv.
Since a lot of time went into developing this plugin and making it work (a way lot more than my last plugin) I put it in the Play Store for the price of a small coffee but since I know people like free apps, I decided to also create an add supported version.
Again, you can find the free version here and the ad-free version here (Of course I will update both at about the same time when I fix something).
So if you like the idea and want to try it out please have a look!
And if you have any questions, troubles, ideas, bugs (yes I'm sure they're there even after thoroughly testing), please leave them below!
Edit: If you don't have access to the Google Play store, I just uploaded both versions to XDA Labs:
Paid version
Free version

If you don't have access to the Google Play store, I just uploaded both versions to XDA Labs:
Paid version
Free version

I don't think it is your fault, but it seems that this hot word detection system is way too sensitive for me, it detected words when there were only noises.
sadly, but the idea was promising though

alienyd said:
I don't think it is your fault, but it seems that this hot word detection system is way too sensitive for me, it detected words when there were only noises.
sadly, but the idea was promising though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That happens when the sensitivity is too high, have you adjusted the sensitivity setting in the app?
For me the same happens when I set the sensitivity to 10 and when I set it to 0, nothing will ever trigger. For the phone and words I'm using, the sweet spot is around 4 or 5

yeah, thanks for the reply. I did play around with the sensitivity on default and then some lower level, however it still seemed to trigger to often. Maybe a little bit more playing around would help, or, may be it's just the nature of my language...

Great app, does the work pretty good but why does it have to disable google assistant. When this app is listening, assistant stops listening. Why can't they both work together. Or can we configure this app to trigger assistant and not the Google app itself.

@Humpie does it work when the screen is off ?

Comparison to Autovoice
Hi,
Just wondering about the difference between this and Autovoice, or if there is an integration that would make sense.
Thanks.

I was hopeful, but even at the lowest sensitivity setting available, it still triggers when the tv is on downstairs and completely quite upstairs.:crying::crying:

ngreen1980 said:
I was hopeful, but even at the lowest sensitivity setting available, it still triggers when the tv is on downstairs and completely quite upstairs.:crying::crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kind of my problem too...

alienyd said:
yeah, thanks for the reply. I did play around with the sensitivity on default and then some lower level, however it still seemed to trigger to often. Maybe a little bit more playing around would help, or, may be it's just the nature of my language...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ngreen1980 said:
I was hopeful, but even at the lowest sensitivity setting available, it still triggers when the tv is on downstairs and completely quite upstairs.:crying::crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
alienyd said:
kind of my problem too...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, what you could try is to download a hotword from snowboy.kitt.ai that is a bit more trained. In my experience they are a lot more consistent and trigger more accurately.
I do find it strange that even the lowest sensitivity setting still triggers it Did you stop and start the service just to be sure after changing it?
I am thinking about enabling more steps of sensitivity btw, but I'm not sure if I can make it even lower. I'll try though

scissorscrush said:
Great app, does the work pretty good but why does it have to disable google assistant. When this app is listening, assistant stops listening. Why can't they both work together. Or can we configure this app to trigger assistant and not the Google app itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately this is how the audio record function works in Android. Only one app at a time can access the microphone. Google has made an exception for the built-in "Okay Google" (and I'm not sure how they do it), but fortunately a workaround is possible. You can enable and disable the listening service of my plugin from within Tasker.
So what you can do is create a new profile for when the event "Hey google" (for instance) in hotword Plugin triggers and create a task wherein you put "stop hotword plugin", "Voice command" (which triggers assistant) and after a while "start hotword plugin" again. (Or you can just enable it yourself from the notification)
It's also possible to stop and start hotword plugin automatically when assistant is in the foreground (I think), but I haven't managed to get it to work myself as Assistant is an overlay app and the detection of which app is running can be a bit slow in Tasker...

madkiran said:
@Humpie does it work when the screen is off ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Certainly, yes!

PhilipTD said:
Hi,
Just wondering about the difference between this and Autovoice, or if there is an integration that would make sense.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My plugin is comparable to the continuous listening mode of AutoVoice, however there is a difference. AutoVoice can continuously listen to what everyone says, convert it to text and then pass that on to Tasker where you can make something happen when a certain word is heard. I did try this before creating this app, but it can be very slow, especially when more words are heard after the hotword you want. AutoVoice will listen until it hears that you stopped talking and then send all it heard to Tasker. It will also often just not get the word correct, so it's not handy to be used as hotword detection.
In comparison, my plugin uses a different engine (not the google speech recognition engine, but Snowboy) which is specifically designed to recognize trained hotwords. So the downside is that you have to train a certain hotword before you can use it, but this does result in a way more accurate detection. It's also way faster as it doesn't have to wait til everyone is silent again and stopped talking, it just instantly triggers after you say the word and signals Tasker.
You can integrate this with AutoVoice if you like, well, more like, let it work together to create something awesome. You can create a task for when a certain hotword is triggered where you stop my plugin from listening, start an AutoVoice prompt where you can say your command (like "set the tv to 10") and then afterwards start my plugin again.

Want to give this a try.
Continuous listening usually leads to too much battery drain.
Is the problem handled in the plugin? Tasker monitors sensors and hardware by intervals which is why it in itself does not eat the battery. Using Tasker's scheme would have (optionally) long waits to test audio when the screen is off.

Where is this "voice command" option.
Could you give us an example of your Tasker settings that allow you to use this instead of gAssistant?
I paid, cause I love this idea. Can't wait to try it, but I wholeheartedly support anything better than "OK Google"!

Dovidhalevi said:
Want to give this a try.
Continuous listening usually leads to too much battery drain.
Is the problem handled in the plugin? Tasker monitors sensors and hardware by intervals which is why it in itself does not eat the battery. Using Tasker's scheme would have (optionally) long waits to test audio when the screen is off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will lead to battery drain, but this is necessary. It would be extremely unreliable if it stopped listening for a while, as in, it would stop working and no longer react to your hotword which defies the entire purpose of the app.

phishfi said:
Where is this "voice command" option.
Could you give us an example of your Tasker settings that allow you to use this instead of gAssistant?
I paid, cause I love this idea. Can't wait to try it, but I wholeheartedly support anything better than "OK Google"!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Voice command" can be found under the Tasker actions under the Input tab. Thank you very much
I attached an example of how you can launch assistant whilst pausing my plugin from listening for a while so assistant can actually hear you.
You can execute this task for the hotword event you like so "hey google" or "computer" whatever you like and have set up in the hotword plugin

Humpie said:
It will lead to battery drain, but this is necessary. It would be extremely unreliable if it stopped listening for a while, as in, it would stop working and no longer react to your hotword which defies the entire purpose of the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So the question becomes, with any of these things, how I want to use them. Use a Tasker script to toggle the service. For example, if phone is face down, turn it off. Or if I pick up the phone, turn it on. Scripts have "exit" options to reverse the toggle.
I would want to do this with OK Google as well but this plugin offers the option, Google does not.

Dovidhalevi said:
So the question becomes, with any of these things, how I want to use them. Use a Tasker script to toggle the service. For example, if phone is face down, turn it off. Or if I pick up the phone, turn it on. Scripts have "exit" options to reverse the toggle.
I would want to do this with OK Google as well but this plugin offers the option, Google does not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is indeed possible to achieve with my plugin, however if your phone supports always listening OK Google with screen off already, it usually has a dedicated chip for this that uses very little power. I know my 6P does and leaving OK Google to always listening results in no significant more battery drain

Related

Initiate Google Search on the phone

If I were to pair a Galaxy Gear with a M8, could I initiate a google search on my phone by pressing something on the watch? Basically I want to somewhat recreate the Moto x's ability to receive commands without the phone being on, and without an active tethering connection which will kill the battery on both devices.
Thanks so much!

my gear is setup to use google voice search/goggles/translate so i can voice command it, ask it to translate etc. caveat is i have to be BT tethered the whole time (battery life impact - i can get 18 hours on moderate use). I have the google now launcher installed and toggle between that and Nova depending on mood
works really good - when i take a photo with my gear, goggles automatically tries to identify it, i can tell my watch to launch apps and ask queries like you normally would with google voice
current limitation i have is i cannot use the hot phrase 'ok google' to initiate voice. i have to press the search i con to get started - still on the hunt on how to activate with 'ok google'
thevaristy said:
If I were to pair a Galaxy Gear with a M8, could I initiate a google search on my phone by pressing something on the watch? Basically I want to somewhat recreate the Moto x's ability to receive commands without the phone being on, and without an active tethering connection which will kill the battery on both devices.
Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

animatechnica said:
current limitation i have is i cannot use the hot phrase 'ok google' to initiate voice. i have to press the search i con to get started - still on the hunt on how to activate with 'ok google'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Humm, "ok google" should work if Google Now has been triggered and running. Usually, you can do a followup search with "ok google".
Keeping the microphone running would be a MAJOR battery killer. Dont believe me, try it on your phone and see how quick it drains. On the Gear, tethered, you would probably get about 4 or 5 hours.
Just not quite there yet with battery technology, but hey who knows, maybe Google's Android Wear has cracked this nut and figured out a better way to initiate speech recognition.

ronfurro said:
Humm, "ok google" should work if Google Now has been triggered and running. Usually, you can do a followup search with "ok google".
Keeping the microphone running would be a MAJOR battery killer. Dont believe me, try it on your phone and see how quick it drains. On the Gear, tethered, you would probably get about 4 or 5 hours.
Just not quite there yet with battery technology, but hey who knows, maybe Google's Android Wear has cracked this nut and figured out a better way to initiate speech recognition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. On the phone there is typically a setting to set the hot phrase for google now, this setting does not show up in the gear
Sent from my KFAPWI using Tapatalk

I'm using offline recognition on my gear in conjunction with Tasker and AutoVoice. I have it launch background continuous recognition whenever the screen is on, then so it when the screen turns off. I also have two orientations that turn the screen of right away without waiting for the timeout. (the positions when I naturally rest my arm on a desk and when my hand hangs at my side.) So far, this hasn't had much effect on battery life.
I use a key word of "Galaxy" to let it know I want to forward a commend to my phone, which I do with M2D Manager. I've already got quite a set of voice controls on the phone, so no need to replicate them on the watch. Otherwise, it handles the command on the watch.
The net effect here, is I lift my arm in standard watch fashion, and say commands directly. It's functionality similar to having always on recognition.
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

hawkjm73 said:
I'm using offline recognition on my gear in conjunction with Tasker and AutoVoice. I have it launch background continuous recognition whenever the screen is on, then so it when the screen turns off. I also have two orientations that turn the screen of right away without waiting for the timeout. (the positions when I naturally rest my arm on a desk and when my hand hangs at my side.) So far, this hasn't had much effect on battery life.
I use a key word of "Galaxy" to let it know I want to forward a commend to my phone, which I do with M2D Manager. I've already got quite a set of voice controls on the phone, so no need to replicate them on the watch. Otherwise, it handles the command on the watch.
The net effect here, is I lift my arm in standard watch fashion, and say commands directly. It's functionality similar to having always on recognition.
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@hawkjm73 Could you elaborate on how you have this setup exactly? This may be my answer to ditch trying to get this damn "Google Now Search" to work offline in handling voice commands such as call, ect... :fingers-crossed:

hawkjm73 said:
I'm using offline recognition on my gear in conjunction with Tasker and AutoVoice. I have it launch background continuous recognition whenever the screen is on, then so it when the screen turns off. I also have two orientations that turn the screen of right away without waiting for the timeout. (the positions when I naturally rest my arm on a desk and when my hand hangs at my side.) So far, this hasn't had much effect on battery life.
I use a key word of "Galaxy" to let it know I want to forward a commend to my phone, which I do with M2D Manager. I've already got quite a set of voice controls on the phone, so no need to replicate them on the watch. Otherwise, it handles the command on the watch.
The net effect here, is I lift my arm in standard watch fashion, and say commands directly. It's functionality similar to having always on recognition.
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THIS! This is exactly what I am looking for. Screen on, send voice commands to the phone. How is this done?

thevaristy said:
THIS! This is exactly what I am looking for. Screen on, send voice commands to the phone. How is this done?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With a combination of Google Now Launcher and Offline voice recognition enabled...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY9OT1retpU&feature=youtu.be

Apologies for the delay in answering.
There are quite a few components working together here.
First and foremost: Null Rom. Without that, nothing else happens.
Second: offline voice recognition
This was pretty much taking all the language files from my phone and transplanting them to the watch, minding permissions.
Third: AutoVoice and Tasker
These are market apps and are fantastic for automation. You'll need them on both phone and watch. I'm using two profiles for this. The first turns on AutoVoice recognition in continuous mode whenever the screen turns on, and off when the screen goes off. The second profile is an AutoVoice recognize with "galaxy" as the command filter. It initiates an intent with the rest of what I say as a data payload.
Fourth: M2D manager
This is also available on the market, and needs to be on both devices. It is a Bluetooth bridge for Android intents. Tasker sends out an intent formed for M2D with the voice command as data. M2D transmitted it to the phone where it seems out a specified intent, still containing the command. Tasker listens for that intent. Once it had it, I use the AutoVoice test feature to send the command text in as if it had been spoken to the phone, so I can use all of my previously written voice control profiles. M2D also works the other way around, which I take advantage of for notifications and such.
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

hawkjm73 said:
Apologies for the delay in answering.
There are quite a few components working together here.
First and foremost: Null Rom. Without that, nothing else happens.
Second: offline voice recognition
This was pretty much taking all the language files from my phone and transplanting them to the watch, minding permissions.
Third: AutoVoice and Tasker
These are market apps and are fantastic for automation. You'll need them on both phone and watch. I'm using two profiles for this. The first turns on AutoVoice recognition in continuous mode whenever the screen turns on, and off when the screen goes off. The second profile is an AutoVoice recognize with "galaxy" as the command filter. It initiates an intent with the rest of what I say as a data payload.
Fourth: M2D manager
This is also available on the market, and needs to be on both devices. It is a Bluetooth bridge for Android intents. Tasker sends out an intent formed for M2D with the voice command as data. M2D transmitted it to the phone where it seems out a specified intent, still containing the command. Tasker listens for that intent. Once it had it, I use the AutoVoice test feature to send the command text in as if it had been spoken to the phone, so I can use all of my previously written voice control profiles. M2D also works the other way around, which I take advantage of for notifications and such.
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I can follow most of what you said, however, when it comes to tasker, I'm a bit challenged. Right now I do have Tasker on both watch & phone along with Taskgear. With the help of some others, I have a couple profiles set on each (visa-versa) to show the battery levels respectively per other device on a widget on each.
If you could kindly share your tasker setups, I think I could pull this off! :fingers-crossed:

[Q] OK pebble now!

I'm not an experienced programmer. Or in that way inclined but would I'd like to develop or would want helping. An app that would activate the google now voice search from a pebble application.
1. Activate pebble and access the OK pebble now app.
2. Would activate the google now voice search on your phone.
2.5 speak your request through your headset (if wearing a headset) (hands free).
3. Speak your request through the microphone through your phone.
4. Does the request in your pocket. Shows task complete on the pebble.
5. Show message sent to recipient.
Thanks in advance. if an experienced pebble developer decided to take on the project. i'm willing to pay them £10 through paypal once the job is finished. all i want to see is the project complete.
Vibrate on task complete.
I tried my hand at the application and couldn't do it.
UI is very simplistic.

I've just found an application that has functionality like what I'm asking for. Its called tasker and it works in conjunction with pebble tasker. So commands and apps can be open from the watch and to be opened up on the phone itself without even touching your phone. But its so long winded.
There's so many more options that you can do with the tasker/pebbletasker but I just want a google now voice search launcher.
No with the pebble receiving an update that allows you to have shortcuts to the apps that you assign them buttons too. This is a perfect opportunity to have a google now voice search launcher or a siri launcher so it covers both platforms.
Don't forget, I am willing to pay someone that will develop this idea. I will be creating images that I would like the UI to be.
Sent from my LG-D802 using XDA Free mobile app

Update With Proposed UI design
Here's pictures that i've designed that i would like for some to develop this app.
as you can see it's very minimalistic and it's very simple.
Somebody make me an offer and i will pay them to develop this app, it will be benefical for those working at an office and those working in retail that would like to reply back to family/friends whilst working.

$12 USD really isn't worth the time for any real development. We need people interested in this and create a bounty.

Kickstarter URL
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/417577635/ok-pebble-now?
Here's the link for the kick starter project, I've set up for this particular application.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/417577635/ok-pebble-now?

Did you ever get any traction on this? I just got my first pebble and this is the first thing I went looking for. I downloaded tasker and bought pebble tasker but I seem to lack the patience to figure out how to make that work. I agree that a shortcut would be perfect so I could operate google now in my pocket. All I use it for is to set reminders and save voice to text notes in evernote but it's a pain in the rear to get myphone out every time. I tried an app that listens for okgoogle even while the screen is off, but it triggered intermittently for no reason and other times would refuse to work at all. This would be the ideal solution. Count me in for $20.

kfreels said:
Did you ever get any traction on this? I just got my first pebble and this is the first thing I went looking for. I downloaded tasker and bought pebble tasker but I seem to lack the patience to figure out how to make that work. I agree that a shortcut would be perfect so I could operate google now in my pocket. All I use it for is to set reminders and save voice to text notes in evernote but it's a pain in the rear to get myphone out every time. I tried an app that listens for okgoogle even while the screen is off, but it triggered intermittently for no reason and other times would refuse to work at all. This would be the ideal solution. Count me in for $20.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly i didn't get anywhere with this application. I would have easily loved something like this and like yourself i couldn't be bothered to go through the tasker app and setting it up. Just a install an install and go app i wanted.
If you know any developers out there that are willing to give this a shot.
When you say 'Count me in for $20', do you mean you are a developer that will be willing to develop this application?

techguy276 said:
Sadly i didn't get anywhere with this application. I would have easily loved something like this and like yourself i couldn't be bothered to go through the tasker app and setting it up. Just a install an install and go app i wanted.
If you know any developers out there that are willing to give this a shot.
When you say 'Count me in for $20', do you mean you are a developer that will be willing to develop this application?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly, no. I can't develop anything but film. But I'll put $20 in for the developer who puts it together.
There is someone who created a nice dashboard app that lets me find my phone if lost, control wifi, lock the screen, and a number of other things. I think I'll email that developer and see if they can just add that. I really want this and I want it to work. And with the new Pebble coming out soon I think I'll be picking one of those up as well so I'm committed to the platform. This is the one thing I feel I'm missing.

Not really what you are after, but I very easily set up a Tasker task to wake up my phone (but keep it locked) so I could give it "OK Google" commands. This way I can send texts or navigate home without taking my phone out. Pebble Tasker makes it only a click away.

imaginaryenemy said:
Not really what you are after, but I very easily set up a Tasker task to wake up my phone (but keep it locked) so I could give it "OK Google" commands. This way I can send texts or navigate home without taking my phone out. Pebble Tasker makes it only a click away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did this as well, but now, every time I launch PebbleTasker on my phone, Voice Search begins opening repeatedly and I can't even get to it to try to add additional tasks. Have you run into this? Did I do something wrong? Al I did was create a profile, then a task to launch the VoiceSearch App. It came up on my pebble fine and works flawlessly. It wasn't until I went to add somethign else to the PebbleTasker that I ran into this. Since then I've deleted the task from PebbleTasker and it still does it. Very odd. Any ideas?

I didn't do mine this way because your phone needs to be awake for the Voice Search app to open. However, I just set it up to see if I had the same issue as you, and I didn't. Everything worried as it should. I don't know why it isn't working for you.
My task is just to wake up my phone, then I give my "OK Google" voice command.

imaginaryenemy said:
I didn't do mine this way because your phone needs to be awake for the Voice Search app to open. However, I just set it up to see if I had the same issue as you, and I didn't. Everything worried as it should. I don't know why it isn't working for you.
My task is just to wake up my phone, then I give my "OK Google" voice command.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK. I'm setup a little different. I installed the Xposed mod which lets me do this without a task to wake the phone. I simply set a task to launch VoiceSearch, and when I press the button on pebble tasker, the app launches without even lighting up the screen.
Here's the link to it. forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/mod-secure-google-search-t2606688
I think there's something else going on here though. It was working fine Sunday. I'm having general issues with Google now it seems. Reminders aren't getting set to notes and instead are getting sent to alarms. Even if I say "remind me to get cheese the next time I'm at walmart", it tries to set an alarm then it stops because it's waiting for me to set a time. I installed Keep thinking that might fix it...no joy. I cleared the cache and all data, uninstalled google app and the launcher, restarted to clear the cache partition, rebooted in safe mode, went back to regular mode and still get the same problems. Kind of stumped right now. I can't delete older cards and if I go directly into reminders and try to push the plus sign button to add a reminder, it correctly identifies my words and they go on the screen and it just stops there. it's not locked up or anything. It just won't go any further. So something is really wrong with google. just dont' have a clue what it could be at the moment.

Yeah, it sounds like like the Pebble task is the least of your worries. I read here that someone else was having a similar reminders issue. I have no idea if he is rooted or not, so I don't know if it is Xposed related. Good luck.

imaginaryenemy said:
Yeah, it sounds like like the Pebble task is the least of your worries. I read here that someone else was having a similar reminders issue. I have no idea if he is rooted or not, so I don't know if it is Xposed related. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The plot thickens. I have a Nexus 7 mounted on my refrigerator basically for Google now and the way I can just say "make a note" and it will save a note in evernote for me. It's stock and with the latest auto update is running 4.4.4. A power cord is connected perpetually. I haven't touched the thing physically in MONTHS. But apparently in the last 3-4 days it has developed the same problem with reminders not working. It gets stuck just like my phone does when I'm manually trying to make a reminder. It's like the entire reminder function was removed and my phone just grabbed onto alarms as a last resort rather than not do anything at all. I've googled it and haven't found anyone else with the issue (or they haven't noticed yet). but to have it on two different devices at the same time - one of which I haven't even touched indicates that there's a conflict with an update and probably a common app between the two devices.......now to figure out what it might be.......

kfreels said:
The plot thickens. I have a Nexus 7 mounted on my refrigerator basically for Google now and the way I can just say "make a note" and it will save a note in evernote for me. It's stock and with the latest auto update is running 4.4.4. A power cord is connected perpetually. I haven't touched the thing physically in MONTHS. But apparently in the last 3-4 days it has developed the same problem with reminders not working. It gets stuck just like my phone does when I'm manually trying to make a reminder. It's like the entire reminder function was removed and my phone just grabbed onto alarms as a last resort rather than not do anything at all. I've googled it and haven't found anyone else with the issue (or they haven't noticed yet). but to have it on two different devices at the same time - one of which I haven't even touched indicates that there's a conflict with an update and probably a common app between the two devices.......now to figure out what it might be.......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, a lot of voice-initiated command will become available with Pebble-core's connection to Alexa
Currently, the pebble is also capable of doing such with 'snowy' commands. See mydogsnowy.com
I have no stake in that product whatsoever, and in fact I struggling a bit with its voice-recognition ... I'm dutch, so perhaps my english is not adequate for the recognition. So... your mileage may vary, but from what I've tested and seen described it's really promising

kfreels said:
I did this as well, but now, every time I launch PebbleTasker on my phone, Voice Search begins opening repeatedly and I can't even get to it to try to add additional tasks. Have you run into this? Did I do something wrong? Al I did was create a profile, then a task to launch the VoiceSearch App. It came up on my pebble fine and works flawlessly. It wasn't until I went to add somethign else to the PebbleTasker that I ran into this. Since then I've deleted the task from PebbleTasker and it still does it. Very odd. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
where to buy such a gadget

Issue with Tasker not performing correctly when using Google maps.

On my S7 edge, I have Tasker setup usibg Auto Notification to have menus pop up while navigating to allow easy switch between music and navigation screens. For some reason, this causes Tasker to not monitor switching between apps properly, and some plugins like autoshare and even auto notification don't work properly. Tasker basically doesn't work right for several minutes and then it finally catches up and everything starts happening at once. I could really use help with this, it's annoying when Tasker does things 30 minutes after it was supposed to happen at the wrong times.

Is "use reliable alarms" set to always?

Tyler2265 said:
On my S7 edge, I have Tasker setup usibg Auto Notification to have menus pop up while navigating to allow easy switch between music and navigation screens. For some reason, this causes Tasker to not monitor switching between apps properly, and some plugins like autoshare and even auto notification don't work properly. Tasker basically doesn't work right for several minutes and then it finally catches up and everything starts happening at once. I could really use help with this, it's annoying when Tasker does things 30 minutes after it was supposed to happen at the wrong times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My heaviest Tasker use is in my car mode....always navigating with Google Maps. I have a ton of profiles which monitor both apps and notifications to make many decisions...with some extremely complex tasks attached.
Everything usually works fine. But sometimes I make a bad task that loops indefinitely, or I have a root or accessibility problem, or for some reason an error occurs in my programming....those kinds issues usually cause major lag or profiles don't fire at all.
I would think that Tasker itself is probably performing as expected and there is an error (or a method that could be better) in your profiles. My advice is to save a run log and review line by line.
Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

Reliable alarms was set to never. Could that have been my issue? I know for a fact it's Tasker that's the problem cause when I go into Tasker after being on the home screen it still thinks I'm in the maps app. Or the music app. I've reviewed all my tasks very carefully.

Tyler2265 said:
Reliable alarms was set to never. Could that have been my issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's likely. Try it and see if things improve.

ktmom said:
Is "use reliable alarms" set to always?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ktmom said:
I think it's likely. Try it and see if things improve.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't end up changing much, at least not yet. See I have a profile for Google maps, Google Music, and home screen so that whenever one of these becomes active, I get a flash popup telling me what app is open. Whenever I start navigation it's like Tasker stops monitoring which app is open. Autoshare stops working too. Whenever I go to use an autoshare action, I get an error. But then that action ends happening later on, even after it gives out an error. I'm not sure what to do.

Maybe you're experiencing a reported conflict with google play services as described in this thread

ktmom said:
Maybe you're experiencing a reported conflict with google play services as described in this thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure. It only seems to happen when Google maps is running but even when I do big tasks E.G moving big files using ES File explorer, still seems to cause tasker to struggle. So I'm not sure what to think but I wish it would work properly.

Bixby or Google Assistant

What has your experience been?
Does one do something better or different than the other?
There should be an expansive list of instructions for both!
Maybe it's just personal preference....
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

skinnytoo2 said:
What has your experience been?
Does one do something better or different than the other?
There should be an expansive list of instructions for both!
Maybe it's just personal preference....
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use both. Bixbie is good for system stuff, Google assistant is good for everything else like looking up stuff or things on the internet

I wake up screen with Bixby and for most of the other stuff use ok google

Can you reprogram the bixbi button to
Single press open bixbi
Double press open Google assistant
Press and hold take a photo?

Here a decent video :
https://youtu.be/R3OOsNZ7Y-g
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

I suggest you to watch this video. It shows what Bixby can do that Google Assistant can't, and at beginning clearly states that you really shouldn't compare them.
Of course Google Assistant will be better finding information from web, but Bixby kills it when controlling the phone. Two different assistants for two differed jobs.
I vote for Bixby AND Google Assistant
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f7Dz3QNy-gU

Using the phone. Bixby. When it comes to looking up just about any bit of information: Google Assistant. The only thing Bixby is good for is if you ask it to search the internet for a specific set of keywords or a phrase. And even then, it's only about equal with Google Assistant. But it won't answer simple, direct questions like GA. I don't know why these two things are being directly compared.
I'm hopeful that Bixby will be able to do what GA can do, though. But I think Google has quite a huge advantage there considering the data it has about how people search for information.

I compare them because one stop shopping beats two stop shopping. It would be nice just to deal with one AI especially in consideration of the fact that they are increasingly becoming trainable and they are also massively invasive in terms of privacy. I figure the latter horse is already out the barn but there is no reason to sell yourself out more than necessary.
All in all I see little need for a lot of what Bixby does well, I'm never going to use it to swipe right for instance or any of its other similar capabilities, on the other hand voice commands I actually do use like setting timers and alarms work just fine with GA and it's much faster. Right now I see that button going unused and eventually getting remapped until Bixby becomes a more compelling choice.

So I still don't really understand if Bixby can pull stuff up on the web?
I was hoping for one assistant that can do both . Hopefully Bixby development will enable that for us Note8users

skinnytoo2 said:
What has your experience been?
Does one do something better or different than the other?
There should be an expansive list of instructions for both!
Maybe it's just personal preference....
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use both.
Ryland

gingi999 said:
Can you reprogram the bixbi button to
Single press open bixbi
Double press open Google assistant
Press and hold take a photo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you can by using bx actions and bk disabler (Samsung variant)
in BK disabler search bixby and disable everything except bixby voice (some reason this needs to be running )
once you do that go onto bx actions and set it up (you do need to use ADB but it tells you exactly what to do on first run)
ive got mine set to single click nothing long click google assistant and double click camera
personally i see no real use to bixby had a play with it and in reality for how i use my phone it does nothing that google assistant don't already do (each to their own on this, its just how i personally use my phone)
hope this helps

I'm using both, they work well together.

harveydent said:
I'm using both, they work well together.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same. Using both is working pretty well for now.
Still wish Microsoft would take the training wheels off Cortana for Android. She's the main thing I miss from my Lumia Icon.

Screw it. I'm gonna roll with Bixby for the next week and see how things go.

roaduardo said:
Screw it. I'm gonna roll with Bixby for the next week and see how things go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the very least, use Bixby to get free money from Samsung Pay.

The way I see it, Bixby is good for controlling your phone without the need to touch it (basically another form of input other then touch). Everything else GA dominates for now. I've been using both. Bixby is great for handsfree control while driving. Also a handy backup if you breaK your screen and lose touch input until you can have it repaired.
Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

I've found they work great as a team together.
I use Bixby to control things inside the phone. Things such as making calls to contacts, changing settings, setting reminders and alarms, and controlling my music.
I find Google to be great at handling things that happen outside my phone. Calling businesses that are not in my contacts is a big one. Also most of my street navigation, shopping, and search needs.
They both seem to excel in thid manner for me working as a team. I'm new to Bixby and still watching some YouTube to find out more what it can do.
On a final note, I am still not comfortable talking to my phone as much as others. It's great when I'm alone in my car or home; but, I just feel silly talking to my phone with my family or coworkers around. Also, it seems to me it would annoy others for me to be using my voice to do things I can do quietly.

I love Bixbys idea when it works. A lot of times I have to repeat myself and only works when I hold down the Bixby button. When I try to use the "hi bixby" command it always end up with connection error.
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Well something is buggy on my end. I've created 5 quick commands and for some reason one of them gets stuck after the first or second item in the list of commands it needs to execute. I have a "car mode" type of thing where when I'm about to head out my WiFi turns off, BT turns on, screen brightness turns up to 100%, AOD turns on and finally screen locked. It does this just fine but then when I get home the quick command to basically do the opposite of this gets stuck. Like the Bixby icon shows and the list appears but nothing happens. My other quick commands work fine but this one in particular is acting all wonky.
I'll keep playing around with Bixby but right now I'm not seeing a large improvement to my daily habits. I seem to be able to do things that I want to do much quicker than the speed Bixby performs at. I think eventually I'm just going to go back and keep Google voice search (not Google Assistant) as my default. That can open apps and can launch navigation destinations which is all I need whilst I'm in the car. For every other time I'm good just performing the actions myself instead of relying on Bixby.

Capzlawk said:
I've found they work great as a team together.
I use Bixby to control things inside the phone. Things such as making calls to contacts, changing settings, setting reminders and alarms, and controlling my music.
I find Google to be great at handling things that happen outside my phone. Calling businesses that are not in my contacts is a big one. Also most of my street navigation, shopping, and search needs.
They both seem to excel in thid manner for me working as a team. I'm new to Bixby and still watching some YouTube to find out more what it can do.
On a final note, I am still not comfortable talking to my phone as much as others. It's great when I'm alone in my car or home; but, I just feel silly talking to my phone with my family or coworkers around. Also, it seems to me it would annoy others for me to be using my voice to do things I can do quietly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same way I use mine.
And I also don't want to be the douchebag talking at his phone in public, so I usually hold the phone up to my head as if I'm making a call, hold the Bixby button and quietly/softly say the commands. Works almost all the time as long as I don't dial it down to a whisper. What's more embarrassing is when it answers back in public.