On{X}: The Coolest Thing to Happen to Android. Courtesy of… Microsoft Israel?

http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/05/onx/

by cenanozen • 14 years ago

252 99 14 years ago

techcrunch.com

shadesandcolour• 14 years ago

IFTTT meets Tasker. Cool

tbeseda• 14 years ago

Even the verbiage ("recipe" etc.) and iconography seems uncannily similar to IFTTT.

arikrak• 14 years ago

Microsoft also launched something like Ifttt for Windows http://mayhem.codeplex.com/ but this looks much more useful.

dfxm12• 14 years ago

Unfortunately, the app requires that you login with Facebook.

saary8• 14 years ago

Facebook was chosen for the beta. What other authentication schemes would you expect?

(besides creating a dedicated account)

AndrewDucker• 14 years ago

BrowserID

OpenID

A dedicated account (my preference)

If you require Facebook then you're locking me out when I'm at work.

guelo• 14 years ago

Windows Live ID?

shangaslammi• 14 years ago

Since it's for Android, how about logging in using your Google account?

vibrunazo• 14 years ago

Are you familiar with the Android Account Manager? [1] You can let users log in to your app with pretty much one click of an existing account. Since virtually every android user already have a google account signed in on their phones. It seems that using a google account would be the most obvious route for ideal user experience (no need to type in a new account you haven't before).

[1] http://developer.android.com/reference/android/accounts/Acco...

bkmartin• 14 years ago

My vote would be a google account since my phone already requires this.

steve19• 14 years ago

Dedicated account || !facebook

asjo• 14 years ago

OpenID, or none, would be great.

tallanvor• 14 years ago

A dedicated account is the only option for me - I refuse to use apps or websites that require me to authenticate through a 3rd party.

dredmorbius2• 14 years ago

A dedicated account.

PKI (SSH or similar).

OpenID.

I'm another one for whom FB is an instant no-op.

saulrh• 14 years ago

I'll vote for Google ID or a dedicated login.

nl• 14 years ago

I don't think you should be taking votes on authentication schemes.

You should build the best possible product for the platform you are running on.

On Android there is an obvious default choice, and it isn't Facebook, nor is it a dedicated account.

darklajid4• 14 years ago

It seems there's a discussion on your forum now. [1]

Unfortunately, to chime in on the discussion one needs to log in with Facebook, which might keep a good chunk of those 'Please support something else' voices out. I know you wrote (both here and in that entry) that you plan to support other authentication methods. The reason why I post this is just to point out the flaw of asking the subset that willingly gives out their FB details in the first place.

1: https://dev.onx.ms/forums/topic/onx-authentication/

michaelcampbell• 14 years ago

Google ID or dedicated account.

dbrosius• 14 years ago

oh well. on{EXIT}

nucleardog• 14 years ago

Whelp. Guess I'm off to register "Dickface McCuntington" or "Juan DelTaco" or something...

altrego99• 14 years ago

I use llama for Android, which is a free app where you can do these things. The drawback it has is that there you do not get to program your scenarios using javascript, you instead need to create them through a GUI on phone.

Can the browser/login be completely removed from the picture, so that you get to manage your own scenarios either online or at home computer and push some compiled file to the phone yourself?

webwanderings• 14 years ago

That was one cool looking video!

darklajid4• 14 years ago

I thought that stuff was well covered already, with the leader being Locale (iirc).

Did anyone try a couple of these and can provide a comparison? The article is light on details, the biggest difference that I noticed is the configuration via a website. Well, and the Facebook login downer.

saary8• 14 years ago

The main difference is that you can write a JavaScript snippet that is pushed to your phone and executes.

The JavaScript can register on device triggers and you can control the logic to do whatever you like. You can code it to be very specific in contrast to other rule based platform which have to be broad to cover main scenarios.

You still have pre-coded recipes which you can choose and quickly configure and install, and one of the coolest things is that you can actual see the recipe's code and hack it to your own profit :)

darklajid4• 14 years ago

Thanks for the rundown and explanation. And I'm glad that you're planning to make FB optional.

joelhaasnoot• 14 years ago

Locale is no longer free though correct? I downloaded it in beta and tried some things but it was a little overwhelming, not sure if it has "simple" mastered.

psychotik2• 14 years ago

They likely did this on Android because it's the easiest platform to developer such a product. On iOS and WP, background apps are severely limited so it makes sense why Android is only platform that gets this.

dfc3• 14 years ago

There is no reason to say "likely," the article comes out and says that android was the easy platform:

"Shira Weinberg, the team’s Program Manager, explained that the less strict security model of the Android platform is well suited for deploying early stage technology previews."

I am not a mobile developer so when I read the statement I was not sure if it was an underhanded slap at andriod or a valid assessment of mobile platforms. Can anyone comment?

psychotik2• 14 years ago

I think the security thing is BS. It's the ability to run arbitrary background services on Android versus strictly limited background tasks on other platforms that matters here.

abraham• 14 years ago

_less strict_ does not mean insecure. iOS for example has very strict rules about when apps can run, how long they can run, and the resources they use. Everything is a tradeoff and in general Android leans in the direction of power and freedom.

saraid216• 14 years ago

It doesn't have to be an exclusive or; it was definitely an underhanded slap, from where I'm sitting.

bad_alloc• 14 years ago

In some cases this might backfire horribly. Imagine some guy sets his phone up to send an SMS to his spouse when he is held up at work. Imagine he also lets the phone send his location, because he travels a lot at work. Result: "X will be late today, he is currently at [coordinates of his secretary's house]". Don't get me wrong, this feature is awesome but when combined with naivity the device can do things that are equally naive.

supernooneo• 14 years ago

This article is bizarre. Why is written in such a strange way? "your favorite Redmond techno-giant is sitting on a horse" What the fuck does that mean?

jonnymkramer• 14 years ago

It is a reference to the Old Spice adverts which where a viral marketing sensation a few months ago.

alanh• 14 years ago

> a few months ago

February 2012, actually. Wow.

ori_b• 14 years ago

It's a not entirely fitting reference to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE

pragmatic• 14 years ago

It's blog smack. These blogs produce so much spammy content they have to vary it up with "witty" banter.

That might be a comment on the type of people who read and subscribe to techcrunch now.

nphrk• 14 years ago

I guess you haven't seen the Old Spice commercial [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE ].

grayrest• 14 years ago

I'd like an easy interface to events around the phone being at rest (no accelerometer input).

For the rest state: I assume that most people have their phone by their beds at night. I have a locale rule that puts my phone into airplane mode during the hours I'm normally asleep. This is much more easily/accurately expressed as "phone at rest for 15m". Similarly, I'd like to sync news when I pick up the phone to leave in the morning (I don't always unlock the phone when I do) so it can sync over wifi.

I'd also like to monitor signal strength. I do so in Locale and shut down the 3g data connection if the signal strength is under 25%. This combined with the airplane mode at night and an undervolted kernel gets my (old, otherwise stock) Droid Incredible up to 3 days of battery life through normal use.

saary8• 14 years ago

Great scenarios! Writing these down to make sure we will be able to cover them.

snotrockets• 14 years ago

From my quick run with the app, what I find lacking isn't in the events, but in actions: currently, it mostly notifies you (or others) about events.

It'd be more useful if it could also interact with the phone settings (for example, silence the phone at certain locations, &c).

Currently, this could be worked around by having an event launch SL4A that would run another script doing it; but this forces you to maintain a separate script for the desired action, instead of doing it at the same place.

sk55• 14 years ago

I use Juice Defender (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.latedroid....) for those scenarios

trentmb2• 14 years ago

"up to 3 days of battery life through normal use."

I use to be able to get weeks of use from a single charge of my old Motorola Razr.

petitmiam• 14 years ago

it's a shame we had to give up battery life for our phones to become 'smart'

mikeash2• 14 years ago

A modern smartphone will go for weeks between charges if you keep it turned off, too.

This comparison is not useful.

rplnt• 14 years ago

I can get a week on my Android phone if I use it as a phone. Only calls, few messages and occasional time check.

madrona2• 14 years ago

IIRC keeping the accelerometer hot is a big battery suck. For this reason Tasker wouldn't let you use accelerometer input as a first-order input. You had to prefix it with some other, less expensive condition, like time of day ranges, wi-fi SSID visibility, etc.

HorizonXP2• 14 years ago

On a BlackBerry, when it is put in the charger, it goes into Bedside Mode, and the clock application is shown. The user can set up the profile to be used during this state (i.e. what notifications to allow, etc.). It can also be programmed to only enter bedside mode during certain hours.

I know it's not exactly what you're asking for, but it's something they've done for several years, and done quite well. I'm hoping they extend it, and keep it in BlackBerry 10.

madrona2• 14 years ago

My Nexus 1 does this with the dock too.

darklajid4• 14 years ago

For me the nicest variant of this idea was the TouchStone thign from Palm/HP/Web OS.

Inductive charger that triggered a configurable mode on your phone -> Drop the phone on a magnet, get a clock or whatever and the phone charges without searching the plug beneath the bed.

tomjen3• 14 years ago

There is an already existing program that allows you to do pretty much the same thing, I have had it forever.

The app is called Tasker (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch....) works like a charm and can be programmed right on the phone.

exhilaration2• 14 years ago

The Android Reddit community loves tasker - I'm always impressed by the examples (http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/s2hrj/randroid_what...) and there's a whole Tasker community on Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/tasker

kevingadd• 14 years ago

The biggest problem with Tasker/Locale is that they're missing all the verbs you want and have really tragic consequences for performance and battery life.

onX claims to offer verbs like 'when i'm in the car' or 'when i'm walking'; Tasker/Locale offer verbs like 'is there a wifi network named X nearby' or 'is bluetooth on'. I spent money on Locale to try and solve these kinds of problems on my Android phone and regretted it.

dorian-graph2• 14 years ago

There's also Llama (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kebab.Llam...) which has been known as an 'easier' one to use than Tasker. I've tried both [and bought Tasker] and at the moment use Llama though I'm going to give on{x} a go now.

nodata• 14 years ago

Tasker is great, but the UI is a disaster.

confickerrrrrrr• 14 years ago

Wow! Thank you, MicroSoft Israel!

I can't wait to see the Stuxnet/Flame/Duqu plug-in that ties into this incredibly useful app!

seclorum• 14 years ago

Your sarcasm is warranted, in my opinion. I trust this on my phone about as much as I .. well .. trust .. my Android-controlled .. Googleplex'ing .. info-companion reporting agent ..

Point is: yeah, your phone is spying on you. Of course "Microsoft Israel" wants you to automatically data-enter your daily activities into their massive connected network.

JoshMock• 14 years ago

I'll be 100% behind this project when it has as much control over a device as Tasker does. Recipes in JavaScript and not having to "program" on the device itself are exactly the kinds of things I wish Tasker could do. The modeOfTransport monitor is pretty attractive too.

Beyond all that, I'm curious about on{X}'s battery usage. That's a huge selling point for always-on processes like this.

styluss• 14 years ago

isn't this like http://ifttt.com/

ricardobeat• 14 years ago

Yes, plus all the events/data available in a smartphone. I wonder if IFTTT has something alike in the works.

spinchange• 14 years ago

I would love to be able to log things to a calendar like arrival and departure from a given location.

MitziMoto• 14 years ago

This is really cool. Just set up a message to my wife when I leave work. "I'm heading home from work. Based on traffic data, it should take me XX minutes to travel XX miles". Took about 10 minutes to write thanks to some good examples in the documentation.

Looking forward to watching this evolve. Should be extremely powerful with the right set of triggers and hardware integration.

exhilaration2• 14 years ago

That's a pretty useful example, can you share the code?

eminkel• 14 years ago

This looks very promising. Like others have noted, even on the Play Store they are getting battered with negative reviews because of Facebook only authentication.

+1 for another authentication type.

nicholassmith• 14 years ago

This looks really interesting. And yes, there's other options on Android to do it, but Microsoft looks like they've taken a different focus on it.

I do wonder at the 'less strict security model' part though. I'd think more 'less strict process model' would be a bit more accurate as it's a processing issue, not so much security issue.

Wrap• 14 years ago

Stuff that has to do with Israel, Microsoft and vulnerable internet systems doesn't really go well with titles like "Coolest Thing to Happen"

jff• 14 years ago

Is anyone else able to access the blog or forums? I'm getting a database error.

fidz• 14 years ago

What's different with tasker for android?

ch0wn• 14 years ago

You can script it with JavaScript from the browser.

mark_l_watson• 14 years ago

Great irony but it makes sense that a small agile Microsoft development team could experiment faster on the nicely hack able Android platform.

__alexs• 14 years ago

Llama does some of this sort of thing already. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kebab.Llam...

papalalu• 14 years ago

no bluetooth..

also "back" doesn't seem to work, i have to go home/close manually

WickyNilliams• 14 years ago

I've yet to sign up to the service (until an alternative means of authentication is available), so I'm not sure if it's an obvious question but I'm curious about the metadata required to render a script as a recipe. Is this inferred from the script itself or is it manually input at some stage in the script's creation? I'm referring to this type of thing, where the bracketed words are treated as parameters:

  "Launch the [music] app when I am [walking]"

Also, are these parameters bound to the script at runtime or is a new script generated for each variant?

On{X}: The Coolest Thing to Happen to Android. Courtesy of… Microsoft Israel?

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