In January this year, Tasker made a significant announcement that would allow users to execute core system tasks on Android without root privilege. It sounds like a fascinating idea, and to be frank, the new changes have made things much easier for users who are still on the fence against rooting their device. So in this article, I bring you a comprehensive look into how Tasker is able to achieve system-level tasks without root privilege. And to demonstrate that, I will be showing how you can change preferred network type with Tasker without root permission. Having said all of that, let’s now go through the article and learn the steps in detail.
Here, we have enlisted all the sections so you can skip to the relevant part in a jiffy. First, we have explained the new permissions and then have moved to the steps. Even if you are a beginner in Android automation, you can follow this guide and learn how to use Tasker more effectively.
Automate Network Change on Android
ADB Permissions Explained
Before we go through the steps, I want to discuss the new ADB permissions that you are going to grant in this tutorial. The first one is WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS which allows an app to read or write the secure system settings. This permission is not available to third-party apps so you need ADB to manually allow Tasker to interact with system settings.
Now coming to what this permission does. Well, as I said above, the command actively keeps the port open on your device and Tasker uses it to push ADB shell commands within the device itself. The wireless ADB feature is intended for wireless PC-smartphone tethering, but here, Tasker uses it internally (through the open port) to push ADB commands without requiring a PC. And that’s why you are able to achieve tasks on Tasker which required root permission earlier.
First of all, install the Tasker app ($3.49) on your Android device. It’s a paid app, but well worth the price.
Now, you need to run the below command to grant Write Secure Settings permission to Tasker. It won’t return any output, but changes will be made.
Change Preferred Network Type With Tasker
Now that you have learned and granted all the necessary permissions, let’s take up a simple example: change the preferred network type on Android devices with Tasker. You can do other things too like turn on/off mobile data, Airplane mode, WiFi and much more. However, for this article, we will stick to this simple guide.
Next, open the drop-down menu and choose “4G” or whatever your network type preference is. Now, go back and you have successfully created a task. If you want, you can add more operations under one task. For example, I disable WiFi as well when I switch on 4G.
Finally, bring down the Quick Settings panel and tap on the edit button. Here, look for Tasker toggles and move them to the Quick Settings menu. And there you have it. You can simply tap on the toggle to activate the task and change the network type instantly. Keep in mind, due to some bug, both the toggles always appear active but that is not the case. You need to tap on it to activate the task.
