Android_Car_Tracker

With the increased threat of car theft in the modern era, I decided to repurpose an old Android phone to become a car tracker. Using the 'Tasker' application, I had the ability to program this device to transmit it's current location via an API request. This solution offers a significant price advantage compared to similar methods whereby a constant mobile data (4G) connection is not required.

Demonstration:

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Setup Process - Send Location SMS:

1. Install/Buy 'Tasker' from the Google Play Store

2. Open Tasker application

3. Create a profile by clicking on the '➕' button in the bottom right corner and selecting 'Event'

4. Select 'Phone' event

5. Select 'Received Text' option

6. Add your keyword trigger into the 'Content' section. In my case it is '!Location' i.e. when I receive an SMS containing this keyword I will send this phone's current location

7. Press the back button to return to 'Profiles' page where we will click 'New Task'

8. Name the new task 'Send Location' as evident in the image below. This can be any phrase of your choice, it is simply a name

9. Click the '➕' button to add an action

10. Select 'Location'

11. Select 'Get Location v2'

12. Press the back button to return to the 'Task Edit' section as per the image below. Now click the '➕' button to add an action

13. Select 'Phone' event

14. Select 'Send SMS'

15. Add the following to the 'Message' section. We will be sending details of the phone's current location and battery percentage

16. Press the back button to return to the 'Profiles' section where you can see we have successfully created our first profile

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Setup Process - Send Low Battery SMS:

1. Create a profile by clicking on the '➕' button in the bottom right corner and selecting 'State'

2. Select 'Power' state

3. Select 'Battery Level' option

4. Move the value to '10' for both the 'From' and 'To' sliders. This will allow us to automatically send an SMS once the battery perecentage of the phone reaches 10%

5. Press the back button to return to 'Profiles' page where we will click 'New Task' and name it 'Low Battery Text'

6. Click the '➕' button to add an action

7. Select 'Phone' event

8. Select 'Send SMS'

9. Add the following to the 'Message' section. We will be sending details of the phone's battery percentage i.e. low battery warning

10. Press the back button to return to the 'Profiles' section where you can see we have successfully created our two profiles

11. Both these profiles are now active. To demonstrate the first profile we made, we will simply text the keyword '!Location' from our personal phone to this device (one to be used as a Car Tracker equipped with Tasker). This car tracker device will transmit the current location of the vehicle along with the phone's battery level to notify the owner if the device is due to be charged.

Extras:

• Ensure all battery optimisations are switched off on the device, this will prevent any issues with Tasker sending/receiving commands
• Personally, to avoid paying €20-€30 per month retrieving the device's location 24/7 using mobile data, I decided to use Tasker combined with a small credit balance of €5. If in the event I notice my vehicle has been stolen, I can simply send an SMS text to the device which is hardwired into the fusebox (constantly charging) and I receive the details of its current location via SMS (approx 30c per SMS). This solution is cheaper, more power/battery efficient and offers the same capabilities as the more expensive mobile data enabled option.

Reference: https://thomaschaplin.medium.com/track-your-android-location-remotely-via-sms-using-automation-with-tasker-6cb5e9bfd93d