PowerToggles plugin support

[iamchris]

Is PowerToggles plugin support planned?

PowerToggle can be used to create widgets with on/off toggles.

Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ainless.pc

Website:
http://powertoggles.com/

Plugin API for Power Toggles:
https://github.com/sunnygoyal/power-toggle-plugin

PowerToggles already supports Tasker where you can use the Tasker app to quickly create an on/off toggle that can be inserted in a PowerToggle widget. The on and off state will be controlled by Plugin support in Tasker.
In Automagic I also see in "Plugin (Experimental)" the plugin "Modify PowerToggle state" but that doesn't work because Automagic acts not like a plugin for PowerToggles.

[Bushmills]

I think you got it the wrong way around. Not Automagic is supposed to act as a plugin for Power Toggles. Instead, Power toggles, if, quote, "will be controlled by Plugin support in Tasker", acts as a plugin for Automagic, just as it does for Tasker. The majority of tasker plugins are reusable and function with Automagic.
But Automagic also provides its own toggle widgets, which can be used too to turn on and off device functionality. Chances are good that you don't even need PowerToggles any longer.

[iamchris]

Thanks for the quick reply, but your assumption is not correct.
Automagic has to act as a plugin for PowerToggles otherwise it will not appear as toggle button in PowerToggles. It is a 2 way communication.

Please refer to the PowerToggle plugin development page
https://github.com/sunnygoyal/power-toggle-plugin

Here you can read the following:
"When a user click the toggle button, the app calls the corresponding receiver with the desired new state."
and
"Plugins can notify Power Toggles of a state change due to some external action (like changes made on a different UI) by appropriately calling the sendStateUpdate method."

If Automagic is not acting as a plugin for PowerToggles it will not appear as a 2-state toggle in PowerToggles (under plugins section).
Right now Automatic is only selectable as a Shortcut that has not a 2-state toggle.
(Please also refer to the Tasker Toggle help page of PowerToggles: http://powertoggles.com/tasker/)

I know that Automagic also provides its own toggle widgets, but for me its it is much easier to setup a new toggle bar with PowerToggles because it has already 40+ toggles including (not to forget customizable folders) that I have not to re-build all myself in Automagic.
The look of PowerToggles is very nice and highly customizable, it's free, no ads and opensource.
So it would be so perfect to have 2-state toggles in PowerToggles that are executing sophisticated tasks created in Automagic.

[Bushmills]

If PowerToggles uses the tasker event API (basically the extension for the second way of two way communication between tasker plugins and tasker), that's supported by Automagic as well, through the Plugin trigger (in contrast to Plugin action). In the past I experienced a case of an app which, while supporting this API, was still not usable by Automagic. Reason: that app tried to access control apps only if tasker appeared in the list of installed apps - while technically able to talk to the control app (Tasker or Automagic), it failed to use Automagic service because Tasker wasn't installed. Anyway, that got fixed quickly by the author of that app, which since provides two way communication to Automagic as well.
So: check in Plugin trigger whether PowerToggles appears in that list. If so, there's the facility allowing PowerToggles to initiate talk to Automagic.
If not: make sure that PowerToggle actually uses this tasker event API, and, again if so, verify (ask author) whether there's any trickyness involved like the case of the app I mentioned above.

[Bushmills]

Another possibility could be to create an Automagic flow with a Shortcut trigger. Give that shortcut a name, and it may be visible by PowerToggles, and called in response to PowerToggles actions. But I'm afraid that passing variables from PowerToggles to Automagic should be a problem if you'd have to resort to a solution like this one.

[iamchris]

Using a Shortcut in PowerToggles to Automagic is already possible but as I said, it will not appear as a 2-state toggle in PowerToggles (under PowerToggles plugins section).
That is the main feature that I am interested in, showing in PowerToggles if an Automagic flow is active.

I have checked if PowerToggles appears in the Plugin Trigger of Automatic. It doesn't.
Also installing Tasker is not changing anything, either in PowerToggles or in Automagic.

I am going to contact the author of PowerToggles why other applications can not act as a plugin even if they offer the Tasker event API.

[MURTUMA]

I have checked if PowerToggles appears in the Plugin Trigger of Automatic.

Please, notice that Plugin and Plugin Event are two different triggers. An app might show up in one but not the other. But if both shows empty, your best bet would be to convince PowerToggles developer to support Automagic.

[iamchris]

I have placed a feature request in the PowerToggles group:
https://plus.google.com/106739557836226 ... eKABqJx8iY

I hope it will be picked up ...