Provide a way to start tracking from an Automate/Tasker flow

[chmduquesne]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. I always forget to start tracking my sport activities, and as a result I am missing the gps tracks of glorious hikes. I would like to program my phone to automatically record my gps track when the right conditions are met.

Describe the solution you'd like I would like to start recording from the App automate. This way, I can be fully in charge of determining exactly when the start/stop recording actions should be started. In my case, I would use my gps location, provided with a change of personal activity.

Describe alternatives you've considered I have considered using strava, which allows to do that via the data uri http://strava.com/nfc/record. You can also provide the ride type in an Extras json object.

[dennisguse]

I guess you want an application link, right? https://developer.android.com/training/app-links There seems to be some web-based configuration required: https://developer.android.com/training/app-links#add-app-links

Could we also handle an intent instead? I don't know what Automate/Tasker supports.

[chmduquesne]

Yes, it is also possible to send an intent. Both Automate and Tasker can send arbitrary broadcast intents:

• https://llamalab.com/automate/doc/block/broadcast_send.html
• https://tasker.joaoapps.com/userguide/en/intents.html

Tasker documentation is clear about the limitations (and I believe Automate has the same limitations):

Limitations

• Tasker can only receive intents which are sent to broadcast receiver components, not to activities or services.
• some intent senders require that a corresponding intent filter is specified statically (i.e. in an Android Manifest). Those intents cannot be received.
• intents which are broadcast with a specification of a particular package component to receive it cannot be received.

[chmduquesne]

I guess you want an application link, right?

I am not picky about the way it should be implemented, whatever is the most convenient. Any way that would allow me to start/stop tracking from a flow would make me happy 🙂

[arjan-s]

I second this feature request! I've worked on Fossil Hybrid HR support in Gadgetbridge, and would love to add support for GPS tracking starting/stopping from my watch. Intents seem to be the way to go, both for my use case and the original one above.

[dennisguse]

@arjan-s go ahead. One limitation: TrackRecordingService should not be exported to other applications.

Current implementation: TrackRecordingService is started and OpenTracks activities bind to this service and start/pause/stop recordings.

Anti-goals: expose any information about OpenTracks state (e.g., is a recording running) to any other application.

We may need to add another component that is exported and can start/ stop TrackRecordingService.

Open points:

• do we start any UI (beside the service notification)?
• we may need to define an intent action?

[dennisguse]

We may be able to use TrackRecordingActivity to start recordings via external intent - almost everything is in place for this.

Another anti-goal: resuming a track.

[dennisguse]

@arjan-s @chmduquesne Do you have time to test this? https://github.com/OpenTracksApp/OpenTracks/pull/1072

[chmduquesne]

@dennisguse is the feature is available on a prebuilt version of the app?

[dennisguse]

@chmduquesne Yes, there is a build for each branch. Can be downloaded here: https://github.com/OpenTracksApp/OpenTracks/actions/runs/1637768469

(just search for APK).

[arjan-s]

@dennisguse Hey, that's great! I can test it in a few days probably. Are you planning to add a STOP_RECORDING intent too? My goal is to allow certain wearables to start/stop OpenTracks recording via Gadgetbridge, but that would obviously require an intent to stop recording as well.

[dennisguse]

Adding stop, won't be a problem.

Only limitations: we should not expose any information about OpenTracks current state.

@arjan-s If START_RECORDING works, STOP_RECORDING is just 2seconds copy and paste :)

[arjan-s]

@dennisguse That would be great!! For my use case there isn't a real need for feedback. Just the possibility to start and stop recording would already be awesome to have!

Now I just need some time to write down all my settings, install the OpenTracks test build, and reselect all settings. :)

[arjan-s]

@dennisguse I installed the linked nightly, which turned out to have a different package I'd, so I didn't have to uninstall the F-Droid version. 👍🏻 I didn't get the intent to work though. I used Tasker to send it, which works fine for other apps. Changing the intent action to the nightly package name didn't work either. Any idea what I might be doing wrong?

[dennisguse]

I tested it with Easer. Best guess: I guess you used the wrong nightly (we have two: the F-Droid one and the Github one; while only the later is built per branch).

Here is a PlayStore build of this branch. OpenTracksUpstream-releasePlayStore.zip

[arjan-s]

Interesting... I apparently did the correct thing, but it simply has no effect. I'm sending the correct intent (tried with both Tasker and Easer), but I get no response at all from OpenTracks. Also uninstalled the official (f-droid) OpenTracks so I just have the nightly running. Btw I was running the correct GitHub nightly, but I just tried your new Play Store build and it doesn't do anything either.

[arjan-s]

Tried running OpenTracks directly from source in debug mode with Android Studio, but still nothing. No logging at all about any received intent. Then I figured I could send the intent with adb as well, and that finally gave me some output:

$ adb shell am start-activity -a de.dennisguse.opentracks.publicapi.START_RECORDING
Starting: Intent { act=de.dennisguse.opentracks.publicapi.START_RECORDING }
Error: Activity not started, unable to resolve Intent { act=de.dennisguse.opentracks.publicapi.START_RECORDING flg=0x10000000 }
$

Still no clue why, but apparently the intent is not registered in Android somehow.

[dennisguse]

"Interesting" as it should be working.

https://github.com/OpenTracksApp/OpenTracks/blob/a5802bb24f3bb98bd853a3ce1100d1b013c12c73/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml#L77

I will try tomorrow with my 2nd device.

[arjan-s]

Yeah, I don't understand it either. The manifest seems to be correct (although I'm not a very experienced Android developer). If it helps, I'm running it on Android 11 from Samsung.

[dennisguse]

I am running LineageOS 18.1 / Android 11 :D

PS/ me neither :sunglasses:

[arjan-s]

Found it! Thanks to this answer. Add the following in the <intent-filter> to make it work:

<category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />

I do have 3 issues with the current implementation though, of which the first two are blocking for my Gadgetbridge plans (sorry...):

1. Can't stop recording with an intent (already said this before and it's a todo in the PR I see)
2. Screen has to be on and unlocked for the recording to start (makes this useless for starting recording from a wearable using Gadgetbridge)
3. Currently no way to select activity type when using the intent

[dennisguse]

+1

Don't know how we can handle the 2nd: we may use an intermediate service that does all the handling and not an activity.

[kulbhushanchand]

Hi @dennisguse Thanks for this awesome app. Somehow, I am unable to start the track recording by sending intent from the tasker. I think may be I'm not using tasker correctly, so I decided to ask you here instead of creating a new issue. I'm using the latest FDroid version 3.24.1 and have enabled the api option in OpenTracks. In the "Send Intent" action in tasker -

Action: de.dennisguse.opentracks.publicapi.StartRecording
Cat: Default
Package: de.dennisguse.opentracks
Target: Activity

Nothing happens when running the task.

[arjan-s]

@kulbhushanchand The value you have put in Action should be in Class. Then it'll work correctly.

[kulbhushanchand]

Thanks a ton @arjan-s 🙏 Working flawlessly now...

[dennisguse]

@arjan-s does it make sense to document this somewhere in our README?

[arjan-s]

@dennisguse yeah it would be good if the API section contained a bit more details or examples

[dennisguse]

@arjan-s would you have the time to do this? I am not a user of this, so I don't know exactly what people are looking for :man_shrugging:

[arjan-s]

@dennisguse yeah I figured you would ask that. :) No problem! Expect it in a few days.

[dennisguse]

@arjan-s Suggestion mode engaged :sunglasses:

[arjan-s]

For future reference: I corrected the text in the README in https://github.com/OpenTracksApp/OpenTracks/pull/1125