How smart is your Android?

Think about it. As of recent, the boom on smartphones echoes still, and manufacturers are gearing up presenting their latest invention to the public. From small sizes but pack a serious punch, to the larger screens amping resolution and vibrant displays. But stop for a moment, and ask yourself. How smart is the device you hold in your hands now?

To elaborate, is it smart enough to know that it is in your handbag or pocket, thus ringing at top volume when calls or texts come in? Is it smart enough to know that you purposely put it in silent mode because you're in a meeting so even if it is in your pocket or handbag it would simply vibrate or not ring? Is it smart enough to know that you have a presentation in an hour and turns itself into silent mode? Those are just minor examples - setting the sound profile for different situations. Sure, most manufacturers lets you put you smartphone to silent with a click or a touch of a button or shortcut, but what if you dont have to do anything at all? 

If you're the type that uses your phone as your car's radio/entertainment device complete with bluetooth and gps navigation for traffic conditions? I do. I'd have to first turn on the bluetooth, then the media player or radio app on the phone, then turn on the gps and finally have to turn on the navigation app (not necessarily in this order). That's almost 5 minutes time wasted. What if I say that your phone can actually do all of these things without ever leaving your pocket? 

Guys, I'm not talking about voice command if that's what you're thinking. We all know how difficult that can be, especially with out local English accent. I'm talking about automating your devices. Let me introduce you to AutomateIt ~ an app available on Google Play (sorry iPhone n iPad users. I'm almost sure that a similar app is in your iTunes store).

The basic idea is this : you set up rules for your smartphone to do a specific task when a condition is triggered. For instance, turn off your wifi / data when you go to sleep at night, or ring at top volume when a specific text is received (very helpful if you keep misplacing your phone), conserve power when battery is low, turn on loudspeaker during call if it is away from your ear etc. get the idea? 

A rule is made up of 2 components, a trigger and an action. A trigger is a condition that must be fulfilled in order for the action to execute (in examples above, triggers are bold and actions are italic). AutomateIt allows you to create as many rules as you want for your smartphone, making it even smarter. For a more advanced user, try the Pro version which allows you to create composite triggers and actions. These allow rules to be made up of one or more triggers to perform one or more actions (I have one rule that detects when I'm in a vehicle, it will turn on my bluetooth and attempt to connect to the car, turn on my music player and the wave control that allows me to use motion to navigate my playlist, turn on my gps and my navigation app all at once). You can even have a rule to call another rule in AutomateIt (I have a time based rule that call the previous composite rule so that it only scans when I expect myself to be in the car - morning on my way to work, lunch at noon and evening returning from work) to conserve battery. 

Do give this app a go. It's a great addition to making your smartphone even smarter, and if you came up with an awesome rule, share it on the market cuz sharing is caring! Cheers!