Tasker for Android

Unfortunately, Android requires that an app specify it's permissions even if they are never used, which means that permissions for all of the things which the user could potentially ask Tasker to do need to be specified.

If you are still concerned, consider that Tasker has over 25,000 downloads at the time of writing and any abuse taking place would quickly be discovered.

Why does Tasker need the INTERNET permission ?

The INTERNET permission is used solely for:

google maps downloading map data, only for setting up a Location context
to carry out HTTP Post/Get actions and other actions that require an Internet connection by their nature
to verify the order number, and only until it has been successfully verified
to check whether a new Tasker version is available, if configured in Preferences

Tasker never directly uses Internet access for anything else.

Why isn't Tasker shown in the Application Context list ?

Because it's easy to get into trouble firing tasks in Tasker. For example, if a profile is setup with a Tasker Application Context and a task with Load App Calculator, it will not be possible to enter Tasker anymore.

Why does Tasker have it's own music player and controls for the system music player ?

the system music player is not guaranteed to be present or the same on all systems.
finer control can be exercised over the Tasker player e.g. starting the track from a preset seek point
Tasker's player is more discrete, there is no notification bar icon.
by having two players available you can do things like alternating audio from different music sources or even playing simiultaneously.

Why does a Cell Near context not become inactive when I turn on Airplane Mode ?

Cell Near is sticky. That means that once active it stays active until a non-matching Cell ID is seen. In Airplane Mode no Cell IDs are seen and so the context stays active.

Many people use Airplane Mode at night e.g. to save battery. If you also have a Cell Near profile that detects when you are home, it would become inactive at night if Cell Near wasn't sticky.

A couple of points:

the Cell radio isn't being turned on by Tasker in Airplane Mode.
if you want a profile to become inactive for Airplane Mode, just add an Inverted state Airplane Mode to it.

Why can't I use a downloaded icon for my shortcut task / `Notify` action ?

Some things just weren't meant to be (i.e. Android doesn't allow it).

To solve the shortcut problem, you can always use a widget though.

For notifications:

if you would like this to be possible one day, please star this Android feature request
it would be technically possible to create 'icon pack' APKs and that might happen one day

Why does my profile have 2 enter tasks ? Why can't I add an exit task ?

That's because it's an instant profile.

As a convenience, the Exit task with such profiles is replaced by an extra Enter task in case you have a lot to do with that profile.

Note that the tasks you specify execute in the order they are specified, their actions do not alternate.

FAQ: Why... ?

Why am I an idiot if I use a pirated copy of Tasker ?

Why is GPS often scanning when I unlock my device ?