can't find the installed shortcut

Post your questions and help other users.

Moderator: Martin

Post Reply
nbi
Posts: 25
Joined: 30 Apr 2016 21:49

can't find the installed shortcut

Post by nbi » 03 Jan 2019 04:51

I created and tested a flow on my phone (Marshmallow). I imported that flow on my Nougat (7.1) media box. I also executed "install shortcut". The shortcut cannot be found anywhere! It's not on the desktop nor any obvious folders. I have an unusable flow because I cannot find the shortcut in the Android GUI. WTF !? Any ideas?
Martin - it might help to let the user know where the shortcut is installed when they execute "install shortcut". Thanks.

User avatar
Desmanto
Posts: 2709
Joined: 21 Jul 2017 17:50

Re: can't find the installed shortcut

Post by Desmanto » 03 Jan 2019 17:51

Your media box Launcher might have swallowed the shortcut. Some certain launcher, especially the custom made one, doesn't support direct shortcut creation. Try to add new shortcut directly from the launcher, choose Automagic and choose the shortcut you want.

Mine also show similar things. After change the launcher to nova, then it is adding up properly.
Index of Automagic useful thread List of my other useful posts (and others')
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 (whyred), AOSP Extended v6.7 build 20200310 Official, Android Pie 9.0, Rooted.

nbi
Posts: 25
Joined: 30 Apr 2016 21:49

Re: can't find the installed shortcut

Post by nbi » 03 Jan 2019 19:47

You're probably right on the launcher having consumed the shortcut. I already sent the manufacturer's tech support a query on shortcuts and their desktop, but I'm not holding my breath. The launcher doesn't have an interactive interface that I can find so your suggestion unfortunately won't help. Too bad an app can't communicate with Automagic asynchronously. If that were possible then a simple app that only tells Automagic to run a specific flow could take the place of the missing shortcut.

User avatar
Martin
Posts: 4468
Joined: 09 Nov 2012 14:23

Re: can't find the installed shortcut

Post by Martin » 04 Jan 2019 09:46

Many launchers hide the shortcut features in the widget section. You can try to long-touch a free spot on the launcher, select widgets and then search for AM Shortcut.

If this does not work then it might be possible to install a shortcut using a different app. Check this post for an APK (instructions in the forth post):
Shortcut on Amazon Fire tablet

Every other app that can send broadcasts can also use the same mechanism to start a flow. You just have to add a trigger General Broadcast to the flow.

Regards,
Martin

nbi
Posts: 25
Joined: 30 Apr 2016 21:49

Re: can't find the installed shortcut

Post by nbi » 05 Jan 2019 06:26

The device in question is a media box, not a phone. There is no touchscreen so I can't do a long-touch unless it can be simulated via keyboard. There is a crude workaround for lack of shortcuts. I can create a simple app that does nothing more than create a token (file) somewhere on the file system. Then the file watcher trigger could be used to start a specific flow. But that assumes I can solve the more pressing problem of why Automagic won't start upon boot on Nougat. :?

Your BroadcastSender app is a concept similar to the token detection I suggested above. Where can I find more detail on the BroadcastSender app? One potential problem is the need for multiple instances. I wanted to create a unique shortcut to launch a vlc session for a particular video stream (TV station). The flows associated with each shortcut differ only in which TV channel is served up. I don't think your BroadcastSender app would help because I can't create a unique instance of the app by simply copying it and renaming it. OTOH, if I create an app from scratch I can hardcode the uniqueness at build time, i.e. there could be a CBS, ABC, etc. app for each TV station. They all create a unique token corresponding to the channel of interest. And based on that uniqueness the appropriate flow would be executed. I don't think that could be done with the BroadcastSender app unless it's rebuilt for each instance.

User avatar
Desmanto
Posts: 2709
Joined: 21 Jul 2017 17:50

Re: can't find the installed shortcut

Post by Desmanto » 06 Jan 2019 11:42

This should be a very simple problem. Just use mouse, hold the click, it will send long tap on the home screen. After then, you can add the widget/shortcut accordingly. Only just use another launcher. You might want to try More Shortcut, to see if that can send the shortcut to the homescreen.
Index of Automagic useful thread List of my other useful posts (and others')
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 (whyred), AOSP Extended v6.7 build 20200310 Official, Android Pie 9.0, Rooted.

nbi
Posts: 25
Joined: 30 Apr 2016 21:49

Re: can't find the installed shortcut

Post by nbi » 07 Jan 2019 04:43

Desmanto wrote:This should be a very simple problem. Just use mouse, hold the click, it will send long tap on the home screen. After then, you can add the widget/shortcut accordingly. Only just use another launcher. You might want to try More Shortcut, to see if that can send the shortcut to the homescreen.
The link you gave is invalid. My remote keyboard does have left and right mouse buttons. I tried long press on both without anything happening.

User avatar
Desmanto
Posts: 2709
Joined: 21 Jul 2017 17:50

Re: can't find the installed shortcut

Post by Desmanto » 07 Jan 2019 15:51

Just find "More Shortcut" in playstore. At mine, it is opening properly. Don't know if that dev has region limitation.

You should probably install another launcher that support shortcut. Sometimes we have to give up what is bundled. I also use nova launcher at my minix X7
Index of Automagic useful thread List of my other useful posts (and others')
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 (whyred), AOSP Extended v6.7 build 20200310 Official, Android Pie 9.0, Rooted.

nbi
Posts: 25
Joined: 30 Apr 2016 21:49

Re: can't find the installed shortcut

Post by nbi » 07 Jan 2019 20:15

There is no "more shortcut(s)" in the playstore. Nova Launcher will not install properly - it keeps dying.

User avatar
Desmanto
Posts: 2709
Joined: 21 Jul 2017 17:50

Re: can't find the installed shortcut

Post by Desmanto » 09 Jan 2019 17:41

Try other launcher, maybe niagara or rootless launcher. If it still can't install other launcher properly, probably it has been limited by the ROM. You have to find a way to enable the installation of 3rd party launcher then.

I search for "More shortcuts" and can't find it neither. Strange, I can click the link I provide above and get to the app in the playstore properly. Can you try to search QuickShortcutMaker? But it won't work for Oreo above, probably still working in Nougat.

Other alternative method you can use is to split the shortcut from one BroadcastSenderapp. After the Trigger General Broadcast, put input dialog and create as many list as you need. Then split the choice using multiple parallel expression, as shown in here : viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6882
Each branch will execute certain action or set of elements you need.
Index of Automagic useful thread List of my other useful posts (and others')
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 (whyred), AOSP Extended v6.7 build 20200310 Official, Android Pie 9.0, Rooted.

Post Reply