Trigger: Regular Interval

This trigger will fire at a regular interval (e.g. every hour). You can specify a reference start time that the interval should be relative to. For instance if you want a regular interval to occur exactly on the hour, you should specify a reference start time on the hour.

Options

Interval Time - The time period between each trigger fire, specified in hours, minutes, and seconds. Can also use a dictionary variable containing hours, minutes, and seconds keys.
Reference Start Time - An optional time of day that the interval should align to. When enabled, the trigger will fire at times that are synchronized to this reference. Can also use a dictionary variable containing hour and minute keys.
Ignore Reference Start Time - When enabled, the interval starts counting from when the macro was last saved rather than aligning to a specific time.
Use Alarm - When enabled, uses Android's alarm functionality to ensure precise timing. This is recommended for most devices to ensure the trigger fires at the correct time, especially when the device is in deep sleep.

Variable Support

The interval and reference start time can be set using dictionary variables:

Interval Variable - Dictionary with keys: hours, minutes, seconds
Reference Time Variable - Dictionary with keys: hour, minute

When variables are used, the trigger will automatically reschedule if the variable values change.

Requirements

Schedule Exact Alarm permission (Android 12+)

Examples

Example 1: Hourly reminder

Send a notification every hour:

Triggers

Regular Interval: 01:00:00

Actions

Display Notification: "Hourly Reminder"

Constraints

Time of Day: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Example 2: Periodic data sync

Sync data every 30 minutes, aligned to the hour:

Triggers

Regular Interval: 00:30:00 (Reference Start Time: 00:00)

Actions

HTTP Request: POST to sync endpoint
Set Variable: [last_sync] = [hour]:[minute]

Constraints

WiFi Connected

Notes

For intervals longer than 24 hours, the trigger will first align to the reference time before applying the full interval
The trigger persists its next scheduled time to a database, so it can continue from where it left off if the macro is temporarily disabled and re-enabled
It is recommended to enable the "Use Alarm" option if you require the trigger to fire exactly at the correct time, as many devices block precise wake-ups without it
When using variable-based intervals, changes to the variable will cause the trigger to reschedule automatically
Legacy macros that used minutes will be automatically converted to seconds internally

See Also