Which is better Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist?

[garnetpalmetto]

Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

Coming to the Turbo from the Droid Razr Maxx HD, I'm used to the versatility and ability to customize Smart Actions. I was a little shocked to see that Moto Assist doesn't even have a work mode like Smart Actions did. What's the best way to get the most out of Assist and is there any way to either

1. Turn off an Assist once it's set up
2. Set up an Assist that doesn't exist
3. Add certain trigger actions (for instance, sleep mode only activates when the phone is charging and when it's a certain time?)

Any other people coming over from a Moto phone with Smart Actions who have any other ideas on getting the most out of Assist?

 

[Snareman]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

I agree - I wish they hadn't gotten rid of moto actions. Assist can do some of it, but it doesn't do as much. I had to get a 3rd party app like Locale, Automateit or Tasker and you can pretty much set up the same stuff. I prefered it when it was built into the phone though.

 

[TurboFast]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

I agree with you and Snareman. Coming from Droid Razr M I really relied in many of the Smart Actions. To preserve 4G data, I had a trigger that when the phone knew I was at home or at work (via location services) it would turn Wifi on.

The other one I really miss is at bedtime it would put my phone into Airplane mode so long as it was plugged in, screen off, and not moving between 11pm-6am. I haven't found an app that can replicate that... Including Automateit and Tasker

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[mobrules]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

I have spent some time using Automateit and Tasker. I decided to use Tasker and am pretty satisfied with it. Smart Actions was so easy to use and I still can't understand why they got rid of it. If they made it available again I would switch back to it.

 

[Ry]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

http://forums.androidcentral.com/ge...otorolas-motorola-assist-ask-me-anything.html

Goal of Motorola Assist is to be much, much smarter than their previous Smart Actions app.

 

[TurboFast]

Hey Ry, any idea when the Moto Assist will become smart? Right now they are pretty dumb, and very limited compared to the feature rich Smart Actions app of previous models.

See my post above for two features that I used regularly on Smart Actions in my Droid Razr M, which are no where to be found on the "Smart" Moto Assist. Any more info?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Ry]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

• Turn off an Assist once it's set up

In the notification shade, I can turn off an assist.

Example: Driving Mode activates, but I'm a passenger. Swipe down and tell it "I'm not driving".

 

[Ry]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

1. Set up an Assist that doesn't exist

Could you elaborate on this one?

 

[Ry]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

1. Add certain trigger actions (for instance, sleep mode only activates when the phone is charging and when it's a certain time?)

Not possible. You can set sleep mode for a certain time, but it will activate regardless of whether the device is charging.

 

[Ry]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

Hey Ry, any idea when the Moto Assist will become smart? Right now they are pretty dumb, and very limited compared to the feature rich Smart Actions app of previous models.

See my post above for two features that I used regularly on Smart Actions in my Droid Razr M, which are no where to be found on the "Smart" Moto Assist. Any more info?

Posted via the Android Central App

I get the impression that Motorola is going for simplicity. They probably had user feedback that told them they didn't use Smart Actions because it was too complicated. I doubt they will expand Assist to be more like Smart Actions.

 

[TurboFast]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

I get the impression that Motorola is going for simplicity. They probably had user feedback that told them they didn't use Smart Actions because it was too complicated. I doubt they will expand Assist to be more like Smart Actions.

Wait, now I'm confused bc you said above that "their goal was to make Moto Assist much smarter than Smart Actions"???

Does not compute. Come again?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Ry]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

Wait, now I'm confused bc you said above that "their goal was to make Moto Assist much smarter than Smart Actions"???

Does not compute. Come again?

Posted via the Android Central App

I quoted their Product Manager, Mark Rose.

I get the impression that they want things to be automatic or use the least amount of steps to set an Assist - smarter by somehow already knowing vs. the user having to manually enter every last detail.

 

[doogald]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

It's been two full year product cycles and it's pretty clear that Smart Actions is not coming back to Motorola phones. Motorola clearly made a decision to go closer to stock Android with simple extra features that benefit even the less technically proficient users since they were bought by Google. There are other apps that you can use (Tasker, Condi, AutomateIt, Llama) to do the same sort of powerful things that Smart Actions did.

 

[1Coopgt]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

I get the impression that Motorola is going for simplicity. They probably had user feedback that told them they didn't use Smart Actions because it was too complicated. I doubt they will expand Assist to be more like Smart Actions.

Totally agree with this . I could not get Smart Actions to work correctly on my Razr Maxx. it was a pain in the xxx . I deactivated it until I used it for the exploit to root the phone .

 

[anon(1733)]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

I never liked a smart actions. I could never get them to fully function. Motto assist seems more intuitive and works better. Sometimes I do get annoyed though when driving. Sometimes I like that it knows and reads messages and other times I want it to shut up. Now it needs to learn my thoughts lol.

 

[StormnNJ]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

Sometimes I like that it knows and reads messages and other times I want it to shut up. Now it needs to learn my thoughts lol.

I like the fact that it reads text messages in the house BUT I would rather the phone rang more than once in case I'm in another room.

 

[Jeff Hager]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

I got my Turbo this last weekend. Have a Razr Maxx that I used prior to that. The Razr Maxx had Smart Actions and I liked it and primarily used it to put my phone into vibrate mode when I got to work. But a couple weeks prior to getting my Turbo, the Maxx decided to act jealous and cause problems (just like those iphone commercials where the guy decides to get a new phone and Siri gets jealous and tries to help, but the guy leads on that nothing is happening and doesn't need help). Smart Actions decided to completely lose my Home/Work locations and I couldn't get them back, so Smart Actions became useless to me. Then the phone decided it was going to just turn off every time I put it in my pocket (a certain pressure point on the phone causes some issue internally). The phone has also been painfully slow for well over 6 months.

I already had a purchased copy of Tasker and decided to switch over to that. I use location based off of which particular cell tower I am connected to instead of wifi or gps location. This helped me a lot, especially in my office building where gps can't get in and we don't have access to the wifi for security purposes. Smart Actions was shaky in my office because of however it determine location. I would see my 'Work' smart action turn on and off multiple times.

I've been happy with Tasker. The learning curve is huge, even for a software developer like me, but worth it. The number of options is far beyond what I've ever explored.

 

[TurboFast]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

Jeff, if I've been informed correctly then even Tasker and Automateit cannot turn airplane mode on/off like the good old Smart Actions app could. This is the main reason that Tasker does me no good and I wish Moto had left Smart Actions intact on the Turbo.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[CharlieL3]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

Timeriffic can't turn airplane mode on/off either. I have E-Robot installed, and it can do a lot of things, but I haven't tried airplane mode yet because I don't use it.

 

[Jeff Hager]

Re: Smart Actions vs. Moto Assist

Jeff, if I've been informed correctly then even Tasker and Automateit cannot turn airplane mode on/off like the good old Smart Actions app could. This is the main reason that Tasker does me no good and I wish Moto had left Smart Actions intact on the Turbo.

I did some quick googleing on this and some testing on my phone. While it is true that you cannot control Airplane Mode in Tasker, without an additional plugin and root it seems, I did find an option to turn the phone's cellular Radio off along with the WiFi and Bluetooth radios also. I did a quick test to do this whenever I plugged the phone into the charger. Unplugging from the charger restored the radios to their previous state. This could also be done based on time, or location. It won't say that you are in Airplane mode, but all the radios are turned off, so effectively the same result.