Ordering / Validation FAQ
General
Play Store Version
Direct-Purchase Version
Note: as of 23rd March, 2013, the direct-purchase version is no longer available.
General
Is there a trial period ?
The direct download version offers a 7
day trial period before any payment is necessary, and you can purchase the Play Store version (delete the trial first for the Play Store version)
when it expires.
Do I need to pay for updates ?
No, all updates are free.
Where can I ask questions ?
There is a contact email in the application under Menu / Info / Support (for ordering/validation questions only please!)
Can I get an invoice from the developer ?
Sorry, no, the developer of Tasker has not sold you anything.
You need to contact the seller of the app for an invoice (Play Store), just as you
would get an invoice from the shop, not the manufacturer, if you bought a pair of
shoes.
Play Store Version
Why does the Play Store version not support encryption ?
It is distributed by servers situated in the US and so is subject to their encryption export laws.
Can I switch to the Direct-Purchase version?
You cannot.
My card isn't accepted for payment, what can I do ?
This could be because Tasker is listed in GBP (Google won't allow a listing in $ for a non-US developer). Sometimes
you just need to contact your credit-card company and ask them to authorize international purchases.
What can I do about other downloading/authorizing/installing issues ?
Problems with download e.g. 'authorizing purchase', and payment are always the result of a problem within Play Store
and/or Google Checkout (the market payment processor). A developer has no control over these issues.
You could try first:
- go to Android's App Management screen (Menu / Settings / Applications / Manage Applications), select Running, click
on Play Store, click Clear Data
- repeat for the Download Manager application
- reboot the phone
Some problems can be fixed by simply cancelling the order and trying again with a new purchase, though
that might mean you can't cancel the 2nd purchase if you don't like the product.
Finally, please refer to Google's Play Store Support service.
There's a specific page on resolving download problems
and many relevant posts on
Downloading,
Authorizing and
Installing.
What if I have to reinstall Tasker from scratch ?
If you have a completely new device, you should be able to download Tasker again without
paying if you use the same Google account with the new device.
Tasker should should revalidate itself automatically (with an Internet connection) after
around 20 minutes. If it doesn't manage after a few days, it will start asking you to do it manually.
Can I move Tasker to a different Google account ?
Short Version:
The developer is not able to move a Play Store version of Tasker to a new
Google account, only Google can do that (but they won't).
Long Version:
For more than 5 years the developer handled repurchases manually while patiently
waiting for the Google Megacorp with its endless resources to put in place a system
for handling this themselves (it's their account and purchase system).
Unfortunately the developer is no longer willing to take the relatively
large amount of time to process the increasing numbers of these repurchase requests.
Hopefully users can understand that this is not a job for the developer, that
Google are dumping costs unfairly onto developers and that Google
deserve any complaints about this, not the developer.
What is internal error in Play Store ?
Order processing for Play Store is extremely error-prone.
In many cases, an order will be cancelled with the status internal error in Play Store and no
further explanation is available.
Google have not responded to developer queries about this.
When it happens, the payment is sometimes taken from the customer's bank account even though
they still cannot download the application onto their device. In such cases:
- the developer cannot refund the money because Checkout (Google's order processing
system) thinks that no money has been paid
- the customer needs to contact Google's Play Store support
- Play Store support might say 'contact the developer and ask for a refund'. It needs to be made
clear to Play Store support that this is not possible and that the error lies with their order system.
If the order is cancelled without payment, it may still be possible to order Tasker by first
clearing Play Store and Download caches and trying again.
How do I fix the error duplicate provider authority ?
This is almost certainly because you've still got the trial version installed.
You need to delete the trial version via Android settings, restart the device then install from
Play Store.
If you have configuration data to save, do Menu / Data / Backup first, then Menu / Data /
Restore afterwards.
I have a Pre-Android-4.0 device, why isn't Play Store showing Tasker ?
That's also a mystery to the developer.
However, according to some users Tasker can be selected for downloading to the device
via the website version of Play Store
and then subsequently download onto the device via the on-device Play Store app.
What is the refund policy for Tasker ?
When you purchase from Play Store, you are subject
to the Play Store refund policies.
Please use Play Store's refund mechanism to request a refund.
The developer does not in general give refunds after the period stipulated by Google, but
that varies from case to case.
If you are unsure whether to purchase Tasker, try the free trial
first. The trial is also clearly linked from the app description in Play Store.
Direct-Purchase Version
Can I still purchase the direct purchase version?
You can in these situations:
- Bulk Orders: 25 or more licenses.
- Patreon Supporters: check here.
Otherwise you cannot, because there is a large overhead for me as a single developer to handle individual orders.
Why is Tasker only sold via Play Store now ?
App prices have been driven so low that the only way to make any profit is to make
an extremely large amount of sales.
Any sales channel that has even a little bit of administrative overhead is therefore out of the question
because of the formula
large-number-of-sales x little-overhead = large-overhead
A small developer can't handle a large overhead.
I purchased the direct-purchase version a long time ago, but my license doesn't work on new Tasker versions. What can I do?
I acquired Tasker recently, but unfortunately I couldn't keep Tasker's old direct purchase licensing mechanism (the server belongs to the old owner), so I had to come up with a new one.
You have 3 options:
- You can backup your data, uninstall Tasker and then re-install it from Google Play
- You can purchase a new direct purchase license from me and use a special direct purchase version of Tasker that I'll send you. A new license is $4.
- If you really want to, and you still have the old license, I can issue a license with the new direct purchase system so you can continue to use it. Please note though, that you first purchased Tasker many years ago, and I didn't get the revenue from that, so it would be great if you could support Tasker's development a bit more by purchasing this upgrade :)
Will I be notified of updates?
You will not. You will get a special download link when you contact me via email with the request to purchase the licenses.
What if I have to reinstall Tasker from scratch on the same phone ?
After download and install, Tasker should should revalidate itself automatically (with an Internet connection).
It should be able to retrieve the order code from the SD card.
Is Tasker transferrable to other devices ?
Each order code is valid for one device at one time. If you know you are moving to a new device, you
can 'release' your order code via Menu / More / Order Validation / Release Code. The code will then be free to be entered in Tasker on your new device.
What if I have a new phone ?
If you still have the old phone:
- release your code with
Menu / More / Order Validation / Release Key
- backup your profiles to SD with
Menu / Data / Backup
On the new phone:
- download and install Tasker
- retrieve the code if you don't know it
- put the code in the box at
Menu / More / Order Validation.
- if you have revalidated Tasker on any device within the last 5 days and didn't/couldn't release
the code on the old device, you will need to contact the developer to get the code released
(include the code in your request!)
- restore your old profile (if saved): Menu / Data / Restore
And what if I upgrade my ROM ?
It's unlikely that a change of ROM will change the Device ID. Just in case, you may wish to temporarily release your
code via Menu / More / Order Validation / Release Code, and then revalidate after the upgrade.
If you had an SD card in the device when you validated, Tasker should have remembered and restored your key the first
time you start the UI after the ROM change.
What information does Tasker send during validation ?
Order code, Device ID, Tasker Version, Android version.
How do I install the Direct-Purchase version ?
Please contact the developer.
I don't know my code anymore, how can I find it ?
If you no longer have your purchase email, you should still be able to find your order code from your Paypal or
Checkout/Wallet account, it's part of the item description.
If you have access to an old device where Tasker was previously validated, you may find
a file called licence.txt in the Tasker directory on its secondary storage (e.g. SD).
The file contains an encrypted copy of the licence code.
Placing that file in the Tasker directory should cause Tasker to retrieve the
code from it.
I get 'The server reports an internal error' when validating, what can I do ?
The most likely cause of this error is a 'proxy' server in-between Tasker and the valiadation/market server.
It's probably not actually the validation server returning the error.
Nearly all users have gotten around this by using a wifi connection to validate instead of a Mobile Data connection.
Why is Tasker suddenly complaining this it's not validated / Why is my update check failing ?
If you had previously successfully validated, the most likely reason is that you've used
a backup program recently which has not correctly restored all of the data.
Have a look in Menu / More / Order Validation. If no code is shown in the box, you
should update to the latest Tasker version.
Now you need to enter your validation code and click the Validate button (which will appear
once you start entering the code).
If you can't remember the code, have a look here.
Can I switch my Direct-Purchase licence to a Play Store version ?
Sorry, no. The only way to get a Play Store licence is to purchase via Play Store.
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