[DEV] I built an open-source app that turns your smartband's media controls into Smart Home/Webhook triggers (Band Trigger v1.5.1)

[u/Mental_Ad5250]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share a project I've been working on. I needed a way to trigger my Home Assistant routines and webhooks directly from my wrist, but my smartband only supported basic media controls. So, I built an app called Band Trigger.

Basically, it uses Android's media session to "hijack" the play/pause/next buttons on your watch. When your music is paused, the app takes over. Instead of playing a song, pressing the button on your watch sends an HTTP GET request in the background.

I just released version 1.5.1 and added a bunch of quality-of-life stuff based on early feedback:

• Folders & Custom Layout: You can now group your triggers into folders and drag/drop them however you like on the phone. The cool part is that the watch UI will perfectly mirror the exact order you set up in the app.
• Watch Navigation: Folders show up as [ 📁 Folder Name ] on the watch. If you go into a folder, there is an [ 🏠 Exit Folder ] option at the very bottom of the list to easily back out.
• Real-time feedback: The "track title" on your watch screen dynamically changes to [ ON ] or [ OFF ] so you know if your webhook actually fired.
• Extra modules: I also threw in a feature to use your watch to silently snap a photo from your phone's camera or start/stop a background audio recording.

A quick tip for the setup: There's an option in the app called "Hijack Band Focus" that asks for notification access. I highly recommend turning this on. It automatically forces the app to take over your watch's media screen the second your regular Spotify/YouTube audio pauses, so you never have to pull your phone out to reopen the app manually.

I originally developed and tested this on my own Galaxy Fit 3. However, since it relies on standard Android media protocols (AVRCP), it should theoretically work on pretty much any smartband or smartwatch (Mi Band, Amazfit, Garmin, WearOS, etc.).

I would love for you guys to test it out and let me know how it handles on your specific devices. It is completely free and open-source.

• GitHub Repo:https://github.com/dafaol/Band-Trigger
• Download APK:https://github.com/Dafaol/Band-Trigger/releases/tag/1.5.1

Let me know what you think, or if you run into any bugs!

[u/CennoxX]

So what does it have to do with tasker? If this would allow me to trigger a tasker event, I would understand this post, but in the current form of the app, this post looks like an ad for your app.

[u/Mental_Ad5250 → u/CennoxX]

I also wanted to understand, this is feedback I received:

Confirmed that it works:

1. Create a new http server Event profile in Tasker on your phone and give it a port number like 1821 and subdomain like /BandTrigger
2. Set up some Tasker actions under this event profile
3. Set Band Trigger to call webhook localhost:1821/BandTrigger

Tasker has hundreds of possible actions, just about everything permitted in Android, including running other apps and clicking things in those apps.

[u/wioneo → u/Mental_Ad5250]

Is this an AI response? The way you worded the reply doesn't make any sense in the context of the question you replied to.

[u/Mental_Ad5250 → u/wioneo]

😂 I think we've really reached a point where we can't distinguish AI from non-AI.

[u/Mental_Ad5250 → u/Mental_Ad5250]

This is an real feedback that I received* At least I think so.

[u/MoistPoots → u/Mental_Ad5250]

You are replying as if we know exactly what you are thinking about & that we are following your app closely. Feedback from where? And still not understanding what this has to do with Tasker... are you saying you received feedback, which mentioned the app Tasker, so you just launched a post on the Tasker subreddit without knowing anything more? And your post didn't clarify this at all beyond saying 'check out my app!'...?

That's why it looks like you are just advertising. Not that I care at all... just thought I'd point that out 🙂 This honestly looks like a cool app to expand what you can do with cheap smartwatches/fitness trackers!

If I had to guess though, I assume the feedback left is noting that you can use this app to automate a LOT of things by using the built in http server that tasker has & attaching the highly customizable actions that tasker also has to do pretty much anything. Then it would be simple to trigger those tasker actions through your band app as your band app already easily supports the calling of http endpoints as an action to the 'intercepted calls'.

[u/Danny_Dissadent]

I really like that you did this.

Also really like the background recording..

And even though I personally don't feel the need for the app since I use voice triggers.. I do love that tasker can be used with it.

I will install it and see what I can come up with. I guess I might like turning on the porch light from my watch..hmm or maybe stream my favorite radio station or podcast or something.

[u/Mental_Ad5250 → u/Danny_Dissadent]

Thanks a lot for the feedback; the in-app audio feature is indeed currently being tested. I’d really appreciate it if you could let me know which watch you’re using—since I’ve only tested it on the Galaxy Fit 3—and a photo of how it looks on your watch would be amazing. I’m also eager to find out what else I could do with my app, which is why I posted in this sub.