June 8th, 2012Top StorySupercharge and Automate Your Android Phone with On{X}By Melanie Pinola
In this post, we'll walk through how to use on{X}'s easy to use pre-made rule templates to get your phone to do things automatically, like remind you to take an umbrella if it's going to rain. Here's how to get more out of on{X} using those "recipes", and if you're so inclined, we'll also walk through how to code your own JavaScript instructions for your phone. About on{X}
Some of the best pre-baked recipes include these automated instructions:
As you can see, the app works as a kind of personal assistant—reminding you to do things—and can cut down on repetitive (time wasting) actions like opening your calendar when you get to work. Each of these rules are customizable and you can also dig into the code to create new rules based on them. Similar to Tasker, another app that can automate really cool things, on{X} allows you to easily create rules on the on{X} website, which then sync to your phone. The on{X} recipes interface for adding or editing rules is extremely intuitive (akin to webapp automator ifttt), so it's easy for anyone to add a new automated action to their phone. As an added bonus, if you know how to code in JavaScript, you can edit or create brand new rules to your liking. Set Up On{X}Before you start using it, you have to complete a few simple steps to get started with on{X}:
Visit the recipes page on the on{X} site, click on the ones you want to add, and hit the "add" button. Voila! The recipe will be pushed to your phone. It's that easy! Well, almost that easy. In order for your phone to know, for example, that you've reached home, or left work, you may need to do some slight customizations. Customize On{X} RecipesEditing an on{X} recipe is easy. You can change any variable that's highlighted, and you can select other options then add the rule to your phone.
Similarly, you can change the time, message, apps, website, and most other details in these recipes. So instead of: Launching the music app while walking, you can launch the maps app when you're driving. Instead of texting your wife you're on your way when you leave work, you can text anyone when you arrive at the airport. Just plug in your own details for those highlighted variables. This super-simple customization is the app's biggest selling point. Find More On{X} Recipes from Other UsersUsers can also code their own recipes and share them with others (after on{X} approves the recipes). With the service being brand new, there aren't a lot of shared recipes just yet, but you can find some code examples and a good bit of coding discussion in the on{X} forums. Some useful recipes include:
To add these recipes to your phone, go to "write code" in your on{X} menu on the website, then paste in the code from one of these recipes. Edit the variables to match your preferences (e.g., your location or time) and then simply save the script to have it sent to your phone. Modify On{X} Recipes by Editing the CodeBecause the code behind all of the on{X} recipes is just one click away, you can use the recipe templates as a base for coding your own rules in JavaScript. You can also look up code examples in the on{X} documentation. (If you're just starting out coding, see our Learn to Code Night School and other resources for getting started with the basics if any of the terms are confusing.) Let's say you want to know every morning if your commute is going to be longer than normal. There's no standard template for that, but you also don't have to start from scratch. The "Show me the Aquarius horoscope every day at 9:00 AM" is very similar—instead of the horoscope, you're asking your phone to show you what traffic will be like. The on{X} documentation shows there are feeds for news, traffic, and weather in addition to the horoscope feed. Click on that horoscope recipe's "< > code" link at top right to get a look at the script. Then click "create new rule from source code" to start editing the code. Peeking at the horoscope code, variables that you can change are your horoscope and the time for the notification. Delete the horoscope sign variable (line 3), since we don't need it, and change the time (line 4) to for whenever you want to get your traffic alert (e.g., half an hour before you usually leave home for work or before you head home). For the console logging ("console.log" on line 8), change the text from "Started script: Show me the horoscope every day" to "Started script: Show me the traffic to work every day". Next, we don't want to show the daily horoscope, so delete the "showHoroscope" function (lines 10 through 25). Then in place of what we've deleted, we'll insert the code to set the traffic coordinates and get the traffic feed. The on{X} documentation has instructions and an example for using the traffic feed. Copy the lines that start with "// get the traffic for I-90 ramp in Bellevue to I-5" and include the array called "wps" that sets your traffic start and end points. Paste them into the horoscope template, where the variables are declared. Edit the location coordinates to be your start and end points (home and work, for example. Again, Bing Maps can quickly get you an address' latlong coordinates). Finally, copy the traffic feed function from the documentation ("feeds.traffic.get") to the code in place of the "showHoroscope" one. This code displays a notification on your phone with driving distance in miles and duration in minutes. (If you don't care about the driving distance, you can delete this part of the notification.content: "distance=' + traffic.totalTravelDistance + '".) Click "save and send to phone" to create your rule. Thus at your designated time, you'll get the estimated travel time between your two locations, which should take into account traffic conditions. You can publish your rule for on{X} to consider making public for others to use. This is just one example of how you can create new rules by copying and editing code from the documentation or what others have shared. You can also start from scratch if you like, building on a basic "Hello World" example code. (By the way, I've added the full recipe on Pastebin. It could definitely use some work, like showing traffic warnings. If you have any improvements, let me know.) On{X}: Full of PossibilityRight now, on{X} is very much a beta app. The recipe templates are really intuitive to use, and the open API makes it easy to code and share rules, but there are still limits to what you can do. Some essential controls—such as ringer volume/vibration, Wi-Fi and GPS signal, and screen lock—are still missing. But these are sure to come and, for now, there's still lots you can do and explore with both the recipes and the JavaScript API. Got any ideas for cool on{X} recipes? Share them with us in the comments.  |
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