Tasker is brilliant, but Android needs a simpler, native automation tool

I rely on many great Android apps to enhance my smartphone usage experience. Many features I use daily are already baked right into Android, but these apps help fill in the gaps that Google ignores. One of these is a simple, reliable automation tool. Tasker is my current solution, but in an ideal world, I shouldn’t have to install a third-party tool to gain automation smarts.

Android leaves me short, so I use Tasker

Tasker is an enormously powerful app that lets one control almost everything on their device with set-it and forget-it flows. Once you’ve mastered it and unlocked its potential, there’s very little you can’t do with it.

Although I’ve seen people create obscenely complicated flows that command their lives, I use the app to complete mundane tasks I’d rather avoid. It triggers my flashlight when I vigorously shake my phone. It sets my backlight to always on when I browse select apps. I also once used it to shuffle through a set list of wallpapers, triggering each at a specific time of the day.

It’s a brilliant tool, but I often feel Tasker can be too complicated for its own good, especially for my modest needs. The app boasts a broad and varied feature set, but it’s overly complicated with an unfriendly, unapproachable UI, which makes it difficult to learn. I often have to forum-hop and spend hours troubleshooting the simplest flows to just give up at the end.

Tasker also demands that you understand some advanced Android tricks that put it out of reach for novices. You’ll need to use adb (and, in some cases, root access) to unlock its full swathe of abilities. It also packs a seven-day trial, which is welcome but isn’t enough time to explore it from head to toe before investing in it. Many people don’t want to buy an app that they’ll only use 10% of, either.

As far as embracing automation on an Android phone goes, Tasker is probably the best solution for power users, but it isn’t practical for many others. Alternative apps, like MacroDroid and Automate have their own issues, too, like limited flows and shallower integration.

Why a built-in Android automation tool makes sense

It’s obvious, then, that an automation suite built by Google and tucked into Android has room at the table. A native solution with a simpler, smarter UI that’s easy to learn and execute would be a better service to those who don’t want to download, pay for, or learn a third-party app.

Notably, some Android OEMs have already recognized this problem and built solutions of their own. Samsung Routines is a great example. However, Apple Shortcuts provides the best example of what a potential Google product would and could accomplish.

As it would be made by Google, such a tool would also offer more seamless integration with other services, from plugging into the company’s services like Gmail, Calendar, or Photos to its smart home devices or even opening it up to allow third-party developers to collaborate.

To fit it into Google’s grander AI schema, the company could leverage Gemini to help users create automation flows or utilize Gemini Nano to recognize when you repeat actions on your device in certain conditions (time, place, after receiving a certain email, etc.) and suggest a flow that would automate that specific task for you. The possibilities are broad.

There’s an opportunity here for Google to roll its vast service offering and powerful tools within Android into an automation suite that makes daily phone usage quicker, simpler, and more convenient.

Automation is for everyone, not just power users

I’m by no means wishing for Tasker’s or its alternatives’ demise. As I’ve already mentioned, it’s incredibly capable and would presumably extend well beyond what an equivalent built-in Android solution ever could. But my issue with it isn’t its functionality; it’s its accessibility. Plus, a native Android tool would immediately bring the benefits of automation to everyone, not just power users. Every Android device, affordable or flagship, would be able to leverage it. Just because more powerful tools exist doesn’t mean we should gatekeep simpler solutions.

We’re all busy animals. Tasks that are tedious or mundane can often be completed using automation. Personally, I’d love it if Android allowed me to message my loved one when I’ve entered or left an area, open my podcast app when my Bluetooth earbuds connect, or disable social media and news apps at a specific time so I can get some unbothered sleep — all of it without downloading any additional apps.

Automation tools may not be on Google’s radar for Android 16, and that’s a shame, but I hope it’s a marker on the company’s roadmap in the future. For now, it looks like I have a date with Tasker’s documentation this weekend.