Why does a trigger by Cell ID need location sensors?

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lm089
Posts: 12
Joined: 22 Mar 2019 10:07

Why does a trigger by Cell ID need location sensors?

Post by lm089 » 25 Mar 2019 17:55

Am new to Automagic; until recently I used Llama with my old phone and been very happy with how it works. Got a new phone now (OnePlus 6 rooted with Stock Android Pie) and had to learn that Llama is no longer able to read and store CIS info.
Tried Tracker and Automagic to replace Llama, and highly prefer Automagic.
So I built 2 flows similar to what I had with Llama, i.e. activate WiFi when I come home / to work, and inactivate WiFi when I leave those places; the "work" flow performs a few more actions.
As triggers I use "phone cell GSM"; attached is one of the 2 flows (with some data altered).
Basically both flows are working, but only as long as I keep the phone's location sensors enabled. If I disable location the flows stop working.

Over the years using Android phones I made it a habit to only enable those sensors that I really use actively, and disable them as long as they aren't needed.
Question is: why does a GSM cell trigger need to be supported by location info?
Attachments
flow_WLAN_Work_on_off_20190325_184318.xml
(9.91 KiB) Downloaded 761 times
OnePlus 6 (root, Stock Android Pie / OOS 9.x)

ariloc
Posts: 109
Joined: 05 Jun 2016 21:36

Re: Why does a trigger by Cell ID need location sensors?

Post by ariloc » 26 Mar 2019 01:42

It wasn't like that before. It seems that Google changed what the location permission does in Android 9 and if it's not enabled, it doesn't allow many things that didn't need this to be activated in Oreo, like GSM cells detection, WiFi SSID info to other apps, between other. It's not impossible to deal with but pretty annoying, specially if you're unrooted and can't change location settings.

lm089
Posts: 12
Joined: 22 Mar 2019 10:07

Re: Why does a trigger by Cell ID need location sensors?

Post by lm089 » 26 Mar 2019 09:06

Thanks for answering this. As my phone is rooted: is there a chance to alter this behaviour? Or do I just have to live with that?

BTW: with that knowledge I just found out that I still can get Llama to work if location is ON... still guess I'll stick with automagic as it is actively maintained while Llama had its last update more than 4 years ago...
OnePlus 6 (root, Stock Android Pie / OOS 9.x)

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

Re: Why does a trigger by Cell ID need location sensors?

Post by Desmanto » 26 Mar 2019 10:27

AFAIR, starting from oreo, the restriction is already there. Can't get location without turning on wifi scan location or the vice versa too. I usually just leave the location feature on with battery saving mode (network mode without GPS). And most of my flow works fine in oreo and pie. No noticeable battery drain.

Root doesn't help in this case, as it is the basic permission/restriction imposed from the OS itself. AFAIK, no workaround yet even for root user.
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.

lm089
Posts: 12
Joined: 22 Mar 2019 10:07

Re: Why does a trigger by Cell ID need location sensors?

Post by lm089 » 26 Mar 2019 11:43

Desmanto wrote:AFAIR, starting from oreo, the restriction is already there.
Llama is still working on my old phone (running LineageOS Oreo). So it must have been an "improvement" with Pie.
Desmanto wrote:Root doesn't help in this case, as it is the basic permission/restriction imposed from the OS itself. AFAIK, no workaround yet even for root user.
OK, can't be helped then. And I agree: even with location ON all the time battery drain is way below what I had previously.
Many thanks for the info.
OnePlus 6 (root, Stock Android Pie / OOS 9.x)

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