Difference between revisions of "Helper App"

Revision as of 10:15, 12 August 2024

<< WORK IN PROGRESS NOT READY YET >>

Over recent years the Android Operating System has slowly begun to block certain features and prevent apps from performing actions such as enabling/disabling Wifi and Bluetooth. In order to distribute apps on Google Play it is mandatory to update the Android SDK that apps are built against and it is this requirement that prevents these features from working.

To workaround the issue MacroDroid introduced a helper application that was built against a much older Android SDK (Android 5) that is still able to support these restricted features. Instead of making the calls directly, MacroDroid directs the requests to the helper app and the  feature can still be supported. Unfortunately Google have now made it very difficult to install APKs this old on Android 14 and above. The standard helper file can only be installed on Android 14 via a command line request via a connected PC.

Connectivity Helper (Android 14+)

To work around this new limitation a limited helper file (MacroDroid Connectivity Helper) has been built that can be installed easily on Android 14 and above. This helper app supports the following features:

Enable/Disable Wifi and connect to specific network.
Enable/Disable Bluetooth and control connections to A2DP devices.
Enable/Disable HotSpot.

The connectivity helper app work with MacroDroid V5.47.8 and higher and can be download and installed from here: <todo>

Universal Helper (Android 13 and below)

For users running Android 13 or lower (or for users who are happy to install via a connected PC), the universal helper app should be used. This helper app supports all features from the connectivity helper plus the following:

Disable Camera action (Android 10+)
Shell Script action (Some commands may only work when run via helper)
System Setting action (Some settings may only work when run via helper)

The universal helper app works with all modern version of MacroDroid and can be downloaded from: https://macrodroidlink.com/helper/MacroDroidHelper_v1_16.apk

If you wish to install the Universal Helper on a device running Android 14 or higher please see the following page.

Installing Universal Helper on Android 14+

Xiaomi Devices

TODO - Additional information regarding complexity of Xiaomi devices.

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 == [[File:icon_universal_helper.png|100px]] Universal Helper (Android 13 and below) ==