Automagic Forum

Would it be possible to add a USB trigger? I would like to be able trigger actions when I connect to my PC or connect a USB device.

To connect to a USB device, an OTG (on the go) cable is required. Is it possible to detect when this is plugged in?

Edit: Martin, Sorry I did not see your post stating that there is no way of directly detecting a USB connection. However, I am more interested in detecting when the OTG cable is plugged in. I believe this works in a similar way to how docking is detected. When the device is docked it detects a resistance between pins 4 and 5 on the USB connector. With the OTG cable, pins 4 and 5 are shorted together. I am hoping there is a way to detect this so that I can trigger a number of actions when my USB DAC is plugged in. Thank you.

Edit: Hi again, I've been looking at other automation apps and have found that it is possible to detect certain USB devices, but there are limitations. I still think this would be a good addition to the list of triggers, even if it wasn't guaranteed to work.

I have also experimented with my own OTG cable, and have found that when it is inserted, it briefly notifies you of a USB connection even with nothing connected to it. I am hopeful that this means it is possible to detect the OTG cable and create a trigger for it.

I checked the documentation and it seems that it might be possible to detect some events (Android 3.1+) but the documentation is not very clear. I add it to the todo list but there might be limitations.

Perhaps you can also detect the notification with a trigger Notification on Statusbar Displayed.

Hi Martin, thank you for looking into this.

As for the USB connected notification, could you give me some help with this trigger. I am not sure what package to select, or if anything else is required. Thank you.

You can set the package name of the trigger to * to match all packages and then add an action Notification on Screen: {package_name}.
Alternatively you could also add a condition Debug Dialog to the flow to show all variables and the corresponding values when the flow is executed.

Regards,
Martin

Thanks Martin, that was very helpful. The package name is 'android'. hopefully I can use this in conjunction with a condition to trigger the actions I require.

I love this app! Keep up the good work! Hope to see the USB trigger in the near future. Thanks again.