Send a notification to only ONE device without a SIM card

#1

How can we send a notification to a single device that does not have it’s own phone number?
(such as a wall mounted tablet or old phone that is now used as a remote etc)

I get asked this question a lot, so I decided to whip up a little step-by-step for all of you Android users…

A tiny bit of background: Currently, webCoRE and SmartThings can send a single SMS to any device that has a United States phone number. If you live elsewhere, or want the notification to go to a device without a SIM card, the current option is to Send PUSH notification (which unfortunately, goes to all devices). I don’t like this option, because it ends up cluttering the tray on my other devices.

This thread is my workaround to get the notification to a single device that does NOT have a phone number assigned to it.

I’ll go into detail in a moment, but the basic steps required are:

  • The device without a SIM card must be Android
  • Install Tasker on that device ($3)
  • Install AutoRemote on that device ($3.50)
  • Use a web browser to go to your private URL
  • Fill out at least one box in the form (template)
  • Click Send Notification now!
  • Copy the URL found in the right column
  • In webCoRE, add a single line to any piston to send that customized notification to that one device

I believe both of the apps above have a free trial, and a paid version. The free trial will not work for these steps, so you will have to make sure you unlock both apps, before continuing.

OK, once your apps have been installed, it is important to keep an eye open for popups asking for additional permissions. (This could happen on day 1, or day 101) Neither app will ask for certain permissions until the first time you use that feature. (I think Tasker has 3 prompts, and AutoRemote has 2) Please follow the steps and ALLOW whenever you see the prompts, or your app will be crippled, and will not do what you want.

AutoRemote Setup:

When you open AutoRemote on your Android, you will see a funky URL like:
https://goo.gl/ywS61p (This is CaSe SenSitiVE!)
Write your private URL down somewhere, and do not share with anyone that you do not trust.
(you will be visiting that link many times, so might be worth a bookmark)

When you go to that page in a web browser, you’ll want to click on “Send Notification” in the top left. This pulls up a form with over 40 blank boxes. Most of these can be left blank, but feel free to experiment. (Title and Text are the two main ones I always use, but many of the other options are pretty darn cool as well)

To test your experiment, type in something next to Title & Text (and any other box you want), and then click on “Send Notification now!” in the top right.

If all went well, you will immediately see that customized notification on your device.

Once you are happy with the notification, you can go back to your web browser, and copy the long URL found in the top right:
temp

Once that URL is on your clipboard, return to webCoRE. You can now program webCoRE to automatically send that exact notification by simply adding a single new line to any piston:

Make a GET request to (the URL on your clipboard)

And that’s it! Anytime webCoRE runs that line, that notification will pop up on that one device only.

Advanced features I often use with this method:

  • Tell Tasker to do something when it sees a particular notification
  • Let webCoRE pass variables into that URL
  • Push any picture into the notification tray
  • Tell AutoNotification to clear the notification once it has been received
  • and so much more…

For those who don’t know, Tasker is to Android, what webCoRE is to SmartHomes. They both bring a TON of control and options to their respective devices.

Even though they have a steep learning curve, they are both worth it for power users.

SMS / WhatsApp / email trigger of piston
Using webcore to trigger tasker
Notification of contact sensor to specific people
Harmony Hub Piston Design
Passing Parameters to a Piston
Sending email doesn't do anything at all
Push Notification through Webcore Presence App
#3

Using the method above, some of my favorite parameters that webCoRE sends to my Android are:

  • Title (The title of the notification)
  • Text (The text of the Notification)
  • Sound (One of the 10 notification sounds that the user chooses)
  • Vibration Pattern (totally customizable)
  • Url (This Url will be opened when you touch the Notification)
  • Icon Url (Notification icon)
  • Led Color (Only works while screen is off usually. Not supported on all devices)
  • Ticker Text (Text to appear on the status bar when the notification is first created)

Also, I often send variables/arguments this way, so Tasker can do different things depending on the data that webCoRE passes along.

#4

How can I get it to send a variable such as random push notifications that I want tasker to play over a speaker?

#5

Or can I make a web request as a variable? I don’t see the option to create a web request in the define section.

#6

You can go to your funky URL in a browser (and click on the Send Notification tab). At that point, you can add a couple of words next to Title and Text, and press “Send Notification now!”

You will notice in the LONG URL (blue box) it is actually putting your text into the URL.

You can then use webCoRE to send the full URL with only that one tiny section being a variable…

For example, here is the URL after my test:
https://autoremotejoaomgcd.appspot.com/sendnotification?key=YourKeyHere&title=Title%20here&text=Text%20here

Once I know that, I can make the title and/or text a variable like this:

temp
temp.jpg724×461 51.6 KB

This example puts the current weather as the title, and the current time as the text…

temp
temp.jpg1051×209 19.9 KB

Obviously, you can ‘complexify’ it, but this example shows how webCoRE can force any variable into the URL. You should see the resulting notification on the Android once the piston runs.

#7

If you want to incorporate Tasker reading back the notification, I recommend following along in this thread. Just replace the command "Send PUSH notification" with the "Make GET request" as seen here.

This is because "Send PUSH notifications" goes to all devices, and "Make GET request" only goes to one device, thanks to AutoRemote.

#8

Thank you just what I was looking for.

#9

I would also recommend keeping the "Title" the exact same for all notifications that you want to be read out loud. This gives a nice clean way for Tasker to only look for those specific notifications.

#10

Yep I’m doing that now. It’s much quicker to do it this way than to send it over the slow texting app