Hi Guys,
here is my short Guide get a presence State from a FireTV (or Stick).
[In the following Guide i call the Amazon FireTV Stick / Fire TV just “FireTV”]
This Guide is based on this Post on Reddit and this Post from crackberry.com
Whats the Problem?
The FireTV will be everytime online and everytime reachable via Ping, so its not so easy to get
a State if the FireTV is in usaged or not.
Whats the Solution?
Short: set a Dummyswitch via the Andriod App Tasker to “On” or “Off”. We will setup two Profiles in Tasker one Profile is for “Display On --> Switch Dummy on” and the other “Display off --> Switch Dummy off”. If this two Profiles you have the presence of the FireTV, if you set him to sleep or it goes by it self it will switch off the Dummy. It also works after a Powerloss of the FireTV. But notice this is not a solution like a Ping if you turn off the Power (disconnect the Powercable) of the FireTV when the Dummy is on in Pimatic it will not turn off. You can if you want handle this with a Ping to the FireTV and a Rule in Pimatic to set the Dummy off when the Dummy is on and the FireTv has no Ping.
What you need?
- a FireTV / FireTV Stick
- The APK of the free App Tasker (you didnt need the Pro Version)
Update: You need the old “free Edition” of Tasker, but this version is no longer in the Store - The FireTV / Andriod App “Remote for FireTV” (its costs ~ 1,8euro)
- The FireTV App “Downloader”, its free
- a non Admin-User in Pimatic
- a Dummyswitch in Pimatic
- the Tool “PS-Patcher 1.6.zip”
################## Disclaimer ##########################
If you try something that i showed in this Guide, you do this on
your own Risk. Im not responsible for any Problems / Damage on
your Device.
######################################################
So lets Start:
-
Setup your FireTV
Frist you should set up your FireTV, i dont show this because its just basic. When you finish with the normal Setup, go to the Deviceoptions and turn “developermode” on and the Options “App from unkown source”, “ADB-Debugging” -
Install on your Andriod Phone / Tablet and the FireTV the App Remote for FireTV
You need this app because you need the “Mouse”-function thats App offers - the normal App from Amazon hasnt a Mouse option. This app is pretty simple so i dont explain it. -
Get the APK-File from Tasker
There multiple ways to get the APK, i will you only show one of them, go to the Google Appstore Website and search for Tasker. Then Copy the Link and go on this Website, the Website will give you a link to download the App. Just Download the APK. -
Modify the Tasker APK - get "PS Patcher 1.6"
Now we have to modify APK because the App wants Google Maps for some Options and on a FireTV is no Googlemaps. To modify the APK we need the Tool “PS Patcher 1.6” just download the ZIP and unzip it. -
Modify the Tasker APK - Config "PS Patcher 1.6"
Now start the “PS_Patcher-1.6.exe”, make sure you have java installed on your Machine, if "PS Patcher reports that it cant find Java go to the “Path”-Tab and Enter the Path of your java Installation. (For Example “C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_144\bin\java.exe”). If you done this open the APK with “PS Patcher” over the frist Field in the Tool. Now go to “Options”-Tab and set the follwing options:
- “Decompile resources (enable to use custom Maps API Key”
- “Force rebuilding even if no patching is requierd”
After this you can start the Tool over the button “Analyze APK File” when the Analyze has finished press the button “continue” , it will now create a new APK without Googlemaps.
The next 2 Steps can you also do with a SDcard and a File-Browsing APP on youre FireTV but it dont it so, so i show you how i do it with my FireTV
-
Install the APP “Downloader” on your FireTV
This App allows you to download APKs to your FireTV, its need a URL to do this. -
Upload your modified Tasker-APK to a Webspace and download it with “Downloader” and Install the APP
I have my on Webspace so i uploaded the APK and enter the URL In Downloader on the FireTV, After the Download it will automatic shown the Installation for the App -
Setup a Dummyswitch and [optional] a new nonAdmin User
Just create a new Dummyswitch for our FireTV. I recommended that you also create a new User-Group with a new User for Tasker without Adminrights. -
Setup Tasker
Now you can start Tasker on your FireTV, and you have to set up 2 Profiles with a Task for each. The difficulty about this is thats Tasker is not made for the FireTV, so you need the APP “Remote for FireTV” on a Andriod device. Setup the Connection to your FireTV and choose the Option “Mouse” now you can reach all the options that you need over youre Smartphone(it is still a little bit pain in the as* but you only have to do this one time, so take the time you need and try not to freakout
)
I will not explain step by step what you have to do in tasker because i have already made a little Guide for Tasker and this is pretty similar. Create a new Profile and choose “event -> Display on” (you need then also a Profile for “Display off”) and setup the Task like i explained it in my other Guide see here: Examples for using Andriod App Tasker with Pimatic -> "2. Example - “If your Andriod Alarm clock is ringing turn lights on” its the same Task but with a other Event.
