Automagic interactions

[ZioTempa]

Hi everybody, this is my first post here. I bought a fitbit versa 2 and I'm very happy with it but there's just one thing that I'm missing, some companion app to interact to Automagic. In case you don't know what Automagic is, maybe you know Tasker, anyway it's an IFTTT type of application. Programs made with Automagic are called 'flows' that is to say a sequence of programming blocks stored into the application. I'd like to know if some devs here could try to program some very basic app to install on the watch that exposes the name of the flows available in Automagic and let you run one of them. This would be just a perfect starting point. Thank you

Vinz

[LekoFraggle]

While I envision this not being too difficult to create, I can say that unfortunately, I do not think there will ever be an app in the fitbit store that does this.  In order to create an app that would interact with automagic, one would actually need to use a localhost and interact with a seperate app (I forsee this being possible in Tasker). However, when making and publishing apps, one of the guidelines is that any functionality involving the host device needs to be available on both Android and Apple.  

I do not think Tasker would work on an iOS device (without modification), and if it did, its tasks would be sandboxed, and unavailable for third party access.

So, unless the people behind Automagic themselves were to release either an SDK for both Android and iOS, I do not think officially publishable support will be available.  

I could be mistaken in any of my suppositions, and if so, someone please correct me, but I think these would be significant hurdles. 

Having said all of that, because of the nature of Android, someone could possibly make an app, but unless I am mistaken, it will not be in the fitbit store any time soon.

[ZioTempa]

Wow, I didn't know of such constraint, that's a very big limitation. I
don't think that applications such as Tasker or Automagic make sense on iOS
because they would have too many limits while on Android you can
potentially do anything to the phone. So it seems that the only way would
be to develop it by myself and use it exclusively on my device because I
wouldn't been able to publish it. It's a shame that I don't know where to
start and I don't even know if it's worth it to learn how to develop such
app
Thanks for your answer
Vinz

[ZioTempa]

Wow, I didn't know of such constraint, that's a very big limitation. I don't think that applications such as Tasker or Automagic make sense on iOS because they would have too many limits while on Android you can potentially do anything to the phone. So it seems that the only way would be to develop it by myself and use it exclusively on my device because I wouldn't been able to publish it. It's a shame that I don't know where to start and I don't even know if it's worth it to learn how to develop such app

Thanks for your answer

Vinz

[LekoFraggle]

Yes, I know it seems a bit harsh.  Here is the guideline..

"Your App must work on all combination of Fitbit apps and Fitbit devices that are advertised as supporting Apps (including making sure that your App works with iOS and Android versions of the Fitbit app)."

I understand it from their perspective.  I can see them wanting to avoid the consumer installing an app that does not work with their phone and complaining about how horrible the watch is. The flipside is, instead, they complain about the watch's limitations, but this is not an apple or Android Wear watch. It does not pretend to be, and I actually bought it because of that (after 3 Android Wear Watches, I was sick of hoping it made through a day on one charge).

As for if it is worth it, I guess that depends on your interests.  All I know about programming started with projects like this though this would definitely not be a beginner project.

If you want to know more about Fitbit, I would start here. Fitbit app design is simpler than Android by far. The most difficult piece would be getting the list of automagic tasks. Yet, I bet there is a Tasker community that could help with that.  As I write this, it is possible that one could make a published service within tasker that you could grab from the fitbit companion app.  If that is true, you may not need to code an Android app at all. If not, to build an Android App, I would start here. From there, we may be able to help you get a local host working (I did it, and there are many people much brighter than I on this forum:).