Tasker for Attorneys: Have Your Android Wear Watch Find Your Misplaced Phone

When I have my Galaxy Gear Live connected to my phone, it automatically turns the volume and vibration off on the phone. Of course, if I then misplace my phone under a pile of papers in the office, I can't find my phone. With the volume down, I can't just call it. How can I find it quickly and easily?

Fortunately, Tasker can come to the rescue.

First, get Tasker. Yes, it is a paid app. But it is worth the price of admission for the control and automation it can bring. To increase the usability with your Android Wear Watch, get WearTasker as well.

In Tasker, the first order of business is to create a variable. On the Tasker home page, go to the VARS tab. Add a new variable and call it %FOUNDPHONE.

Next, create a new task and call it “Kill Ringer”. The only action that we’ll add to this task is to set a variable. So, add a new action, choose the “Variables” action category, and choose variable set. The name will be %PHONEFOUND. Set it to 2. Save this task.

Next, in Tasker, go to the TASKS tab and create another new task. Give it a name you find useful.

In your new task, add an action. Choose the Variables action category. Then choose Variable Set. The name of the variable to set is %FOUNDPHONE. Set it to 1.

The next action to add is to increase your phone's volume. Select the Audio action category, and choose ringer volume. Set the volume to 7 or higher so that it will ring loudly.

Now, add another action. Choose the “Media” action category. In there, choose “Play Ringtone”. The type should be “ringer” and stream should be “Alarm”. Under if, the first box should be %FOUNDPHONE, the sign should be equals, and the third box should be 1. This step is important. If you don’t set the ringtone to only play when the variable = 1, then it might ring in an unceasing loop. That would be annoying, to say the least.

The next action we’ll add is a pop up. This way, when you find your phone, you’ll be able to easily quiet the ringer. Add a new action, choose the “Alert” action category, and then choose “Popup Task Buttons”. Under the Text, put in something like “Found my phone”. For mode, choose text. For task, you’ll put in Kill Ringer. Lastly, set the Timeout (Seconds) slider to 60.

What this does is create a popup on your phone with a button that says “Kill Ringer”. When you push the button, it runs the first task we created, which sets the %PHONEFOUND variable to 2, which stops the ringer. Also, the popup will disappear after 60 seconds.

The last task we want to add is to again set the %PHONEFOUND variable. This time, set it to 2. This way, if the previous popup disappears due to the timeout, your phone will stop ringing.

Now, leave Tasker and go to WearTasker. Click the floating action button at the bottom and choose “Add task”. The task to add will be the one we just finished creating in Tasker. Save and exit.

WearTasker will update your watch with this task. When you open WearTasker on your watch, it will have a button with the name of your task. Pressing it will run the task, increasing your phone’s volume and causing it to ring.

Now, when you misplace your phone in your office with the volume low, you’ll be able to quickly and easily find it.