Android Muzikant

Friday, March 25, 2011

AutomateIt - Useful rules

Visit our new website at http://www.automateitapp.com

Since AutomateIt was published, I'm getting a lot of ideas and requests for some new features, triggers and actions, but along with those, I'm also getting some really interesting ideas of things that can already be performed with the application and I thought it would be a good idea to share it so you can get the most out of this application.

I'll start with a list of the rules I have defined for my personal use:

Bluetooth State Trigger (ON) - Play Sound Action
Bluetooth State Trigger (OFF) - Play Sound Action
Power Connected Trigger - Set Bluetooth State Action (ON) - used to activate Bluetooth when connecting to charger in my car
Power Connected Trigger - Set Screen Timeout (Never)
Power Disconnected Trigger - Set Bluetooth State Action (OFF), with delayed execution of 10 seconds to allow the Bluetooth adapter to properly disconnect from paired device
Power Disconnected Trigger - Set Screen Timeout (15 seconds)
SMS With Text Trigger (Unmute) - Set Sound Mode Action (Normal)
Battery Level Trigger (Below 40%) - Notification Action (Low Battery)
Bluetooth Device Connected (Car) - Set Volume For Single Stream Action (Voice Call Stream to 100%)
Bluetooth Device Connected (Car) - Set Screen Brightness Action (100%)
Bluetooth Device Disconnected (Car) - Set Screen Brightness Action (Automatic)
Call State Trigger (Incoming from specific contact) - Play Sound Action
Time Trigger (Every day at 1:00) - Set Wifi State Action (Disabled)
Time Trigger (Every day at 6:30) - Set Wifi State Action (Enabled)
USB Connected State Trigger (Connected) - Set Wifi State Action (Enabled)
Location Trigger (Exiting region of 200m from home) - Set Wifi State Action (Disabled) - "Disable Wifi When not Home"
Time Trigger (every weekday at 7:00) - Enable/Disable Rule Action (Enable "Disable Wifi When not Home" rule)
Wifi State Trigger (Disabled) - Enable/Disable Rule Action (Disable "Disable Wifi When not Home" rule)
Location Trigger (Entering region of 1500m from home) - Set Wifi State Action (Enabled) - "Enable Wifi When Home"
Time Trigger (every weekday at 18:00) - Enable/Disable Rule Action (Enable "Enable Wifi When Home" rule)
Wifi State Trigger (Enabled) - Enable/Disable Rule Action (Disable "Enable Wifi When Home" rule)
Time Trigger (Every day at 23:00) - Set Sound Mode (Silent). See an Enhanced version of this rule at the "pro rules section" below (Silent at night when device is not used).
Time Trigger (Every day at 6:30) - Set Sound Mode (Normal)
Outgoing Call Trigger (All contacts) - Vibrate (0.3 seconds)

Some other useful rules that could be defined are:

Headset Plugged State Trigger (Plugged) - Start Application Action (some music app)
Headset Plugged State Trigger (Plugged) - Set Volume For Single Stream Action (Music Stream to 50%)
Headset Plugged State Trigger (Unplugged) - Kill Application Action (some music app)
Wifi Network Connection State (Connected) - Play Sound Action
Turn on/off GPS when Maps application activated/deactivated

AutomateIt Pro Rules
Since there are several features that are only available on the Pro version, the following rules can only be defined using these advanced features:

Car or power connected rule

Composite OR Trigger

Bluetooth Device Connected Trigger (Car)
Bluetooth Device Connected Trigger (Other car)
Power Connected Trigger

Composite Action

Disable screen lock
Set Screen Brightness Action (60%)
Set Screen Timeout Action (Never)
Play Sound Action

Car or power disconnected rule

Composite OR Trigger

Bluetooth Device Disconnected Trigger (Car)
Bluetooth Device Disconnected Trigger (Other car)
Power Disconnected Trigger

Composite Action

Enable screen lock
Set Screen Brightness Action (Automatic)
Set Screen Timeout (30 seconds)
Set Bluetooth State Action (Off)
Play Sound Action

Using delayed execution of 10 seconds

Power on (not USB) connected rule

Composite AND Trigger

Power Connected Trigger
USB Connection State Trigger (Disconnected)

Set Bluetooth State Action (On)

Turn on wifi when home rule

Location Trigger (Entering region of 1500m from home)
Set Wifi State Action (Enabled)
Using Active Rule Period set to weekdays between 17:00 and 21:00

Turn on wifi when home rule

Location Trigger (Exiting region of 1500m from home)
Set Wifi State Action (Disabled)
Using Active Rule Period set to weekdays between 7:00 and 10:00

Low Battery rule

Composite AND Trigger

Battery Level Trigger (Below 30%)
Power Disconnected Trigger

Composite Action

Notification Action (Low Battery)
Enable/Disable GPS Action (Disable)
Enable/Disable Sync Action (Disable)
Set Wifi State State Action (Disabled)
Set Bluetooth State Action (Off)

Activate speaker during active call when device is away

Composite AND Trigger

Composite OR Trigger

Call State Trigger (Incoming from All Contacts)
Outgoing Call Trigger (All Contacts)

Bluetooth Device Disconnected Trigger (Any Device)
Sensor Trigger (Proximity Sensor in FAR state for 1.0 second)

Set Speakerphone State Action (Turn on)
Note: Several users have reported that when using the Proximity Sensor, it might have a significant impact on your battery consumption (If you experience similar results, try setting it up as described on this post on XDA-Developers.com)

Deactivate speaker during active call when device is near

Composite AND Trigger

Composite OR Trigger

Call State Trigger (Incoming from All Contacts)
Outgoing Call Trigger (All Contacts)

Sensor Trigger (Proximity Sensor in NEAR state for 0.5 second)

Set Speakerphone State Action (Turn off)
Note: Several users have reported that when using the Proximity Sensor, it might have a significant impact on your battery consumption ((If you experience similar results, try setting it up as described on this post on XDA-Developers.com))

Silent at night when device is not used

Composite OR Trigger

Composite AND Trigger

Time Trigger (Every day at 23:01)
Screen is off

Screen is off

Set Sound Mode (Silent)
Using Active Rule Period set to every day between 23:00 and 6:00 (Next Day)
Using delayed execution of 15 minutes

Cancel delayed execution by Screen On Trigger

Silent during meetings

Calendar Trigger (Start, All Busy events)
Set Sound Mode Action (Silent)
Using Active Rule Period set to weekdays between 7:00 and 18:00

Normal sound when not in meeting

Calendar Trigger (End, All Busy events)
Set Sound Mode Action (Normal)
Using Active Rule Period set to weekdays between 7:00 and 18:00

If you have some other rule that you think could be very useful to others, please share it by adding a comment to this post.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

AutomateIt Location Trigger - Tips and Tricks

For Location Trigger tips & tricks visit our new website at this link.

One of the most popular triggers provided by AutomateIt is the Location Trigger.

Although defining such triggers is very intuitive, still there might be some tips and tricks that can make it even better.

This post will walk you through the basic settings of a common location trigger, emphasizing some features that could help you get the best out of this trigger.

Let's start with a quick overview of the different controls on the location trigger configuration screen:

Most of the controls are pretty self-explanatory so I'll focus on the ones that could use some additional explanation:

Arrive at location - Notice that the location trigger defines “Inside or Entering” or “Outside or Exiting” a proximity region around a location. if you are inside the proximity region and defining a rule of "Inside or Entering" a proximity region, it will trigger immediately (dependent on other parameters as explained below). Same goes for defining a rule of "Outside or Exiting" a proximity region when you are already outside of that region.
Allow Coarse Accuracy/Use GPS - Select the appropriate location providers for your needs. if just a general location is required, it's safe to allow coarse accuracy. If a more accurate fix is required, uncheck this setting and only use the GPS. The level of accuracy for different providers varies significantly depending on available cells in your area, moving speed etc.

Tip: I use the following guidelines for location provider accuracy (values are based on my personal experience while developing this application):
- Network location provider (using cell location) accuracy varies from 200 meters to 2000 meters
- When connected to Wifi network location estimated accuracy is ~100 meters
- GPS accuracy can be estimated as 3 meters to ~50 meters (especially when you are moving fast)
- For more details on location providers and fix accuracy, click here.
Location Sampling Rate - Sampling rate is the time interval the application wakes up to check the device location.

Tip: Use short interval to be more responsive at the expense of activating the location provider(s) more frequently, thus, exhausting your battery (especially when there is no GPS reception) or longer intervals to balance your battery usage.
Proximity Radius - By default, this is taken from the application settings (see below). make sure you select an appropriate radius as recommended for the selected location providers (as defined for "Allow Coarse Accuracy").

When defining different parameters for this trigger keep in mind that it will be activated once it can be determined with 100% certainty that you are inside/outside the defined region, considering the accuracy level of the fix.

For instance, let's say the proximity radius is defined as 10 meters and the fix accuracy is 40 meters - in such case even if the fix location is exactly the center of the defined region, the trigger will not be activated since it can't be guaranteed that you are indeed inside/outside the defined region.

Tip: Define a proximity radius that is the maximum reasonable for your needs (I use 1500m for "Entering" rules and 200m for "Exiting" rules).

Some of the default values for settings described above can be set from the settings screen:

One setting I'd like to highlight is the "Location Provider Timeout" which defines an upper bound for trying to get a fix. In case the location provider does not get a fix after this time has passed, it will stop trying to get a fix until the next time defined by "Location Sampling Rate".

On the other hand, once a location provider gets a fix, it will not keep waiting until the defined timeout but it will stop immediately.

This is mainly used to conserve battery so feel free to adjust this setting to your needs.

Tip: Don't push this setting too high (could drain your battery) or too low (could be too short to get a fix).

Last Tip: Avoid setting a "Location Sampling Rate" that is shorter than the "Location Provider Timeout". This will cause the location trigger to constantly request location updates.

New Feature on version 1.16.0 - Since version 1.16.0 each rule stores its history so you can keep track of events related to your rules (for more details on this feature click here). Rules with location triggers have a more detailed history log:

This log shows the recent events for the rule "Turn on wifi at home". You can see that all GPS related events are shown in cyan and all network location events are shown in white.
By looking at this log we see that the location trigger requested location update on 20:45:49 from both GPS and network (two bottom events), received location from network provider 2 seconds later and triggered the rule. At 20:46:19, which is exactly 30 seconds after the first event, the GPS timed-out since we didn't receive any location update (I was indoors when creating this demo).
To better understand the "Is Inside Target Region" response which might be Yes, No or Unknown, take a look at the following diagram (click on the image to enlarge):

One Interesting feature is that once a location is received, you can click on the hyperlink (the coordinates on the screenshot are smudged) and show it on Maps application or using the Browser:

This log can be very useful to better understand and fine-tune your location triggers since it shows you each location received, level of accuracy and the distance to your defined location. Here is a list of all events related to location triggers that you might see on your rule history log:

Start waiting for location (provider=GPS/Network, timeout=XX)
Location received (provider: GPS/Network) - Includes location details
Location provider timeout. no location received (provider=GPS/Network)
Location provider enabled/disabled (provider=GPS/Network)

Feel free to add more tips and best practices to the comments of this post.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Send Email from Android Application

One of the most common tasks a developer would like to add to his/her application in order to keep in touch with its users is to allow the user send emails from within the application.

Following the Android Developers Reference for the Intent.ACTION_SEND lacks the documentation you would expect in order to properly send an email (not SMS, Twit, file, image etc...).

In order for you to enforce email submission you need to specify the correct type for the created intent. Normally, you would write something like:

emailIntent.setType("text/plain");

but that would let you choose all kinds of applications for performing tasks that are completely unrelated to sending emails.

This is the snippet I use to send email from my applications. notice the type used to force email application.

private void sendEmail()
  {
    try
    {
      Intent emailIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);

      String aEmailList[] = { "some_email@domain.com"};

      emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_EMAIL, aEmailList);
      emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, "Sample Subject");
      emailIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, "");

      emailIntent.setType("message/rfc822");
      
      startActivity(Intent.createChooser(emailIntent, "Select Email Application"));
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
      Log.e("SendEmail", "Can't send email", ex);
    }
  }

Sunday, February 20, 2011

How to get root access and execute commands in your Android application ?

Well, I've tried executing several commands that required root access in my Android application (AutomateIt) and found several partial solutions online (especially this one), which helped me a lot but were still missing something to make them more robust and reusable.

Since I try making things very generic and easy to use, I constructed a class that handles most of the things required to execute commands from your Android application after getting root privileges. All you need to do is extend this class and implement one simple method that returns a list of all the commands you wish to execute (getCommandsToExecute).

The class also provides a static service that can be used to determine whether the application has root access or not. Note that when calling the static service, it actually requests for root access and returns the result to that request.

public abstract class ExecuteAsRootBase
{
   public static boolean canRunRootCommands()
   {
      boolean retval = false;
      Process suProcess;

      try
      {
         suProcess = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("su");

         DataOutputStream os = new DataOutputStream(suProcess.getOutputStream());
         DataInputStream osRes = new DataInputStream(suProcess.getInputStream());

         if (null != os && null != osRes)
         {
            // Getting the id of the current user to check if this is root
            os.writeBytes("id\n");
            os.flush();

            String currUid = osRes.readLine();
            boolean exitSu = false;
            if (null == currUid)
            {
               retval = false;
               exitSu = false;
               Log.d("ROOT", "Can't get root access or denied by user");
            }
            else if (true == currUid.contains("uid=0"))
            {
               retval = true;
               exitSu = true;
               Log.d("ROOT", "Root access granted");
            }
            else
            {
               retval = false;
               exitSu = true;
               Log.d("ROOT", "Root access rejected: " + currUid);
            }

            if (exitSu)
            {
               os.writeBytes("exit\n");
               os.flush();
            }
         }
      }
      catch (Exception e)
      {
         // Can't get root !
         // Probably broken pipe exception on trying to write to output stream (os) after su failed, meaning that the device is not rooted

         retval = false;
         Log.d("ROOT", "Root access rejected [" + e.getClass().getName() + "] : " + e.getMessage());
      }

      return retval;
   }
   
   public final boolean execute()
   {
      boolean retval = false;
      
      try
      {
         ArrayList<String> commands = getCommandsToExecute();
         if (null != commands && commands.size() > 0)
         {
            Process suProcess = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("su");

            DataOutputStream os = new DataOutputStream(suProcess.getOutputStream());

            // Execute commands that require root access
            for (String currCommand : commands)
            {
               os.writeBytes(currCommand + "\n");
               os.flush();
            }

            os.writeBytes("exit\n");
            os.flush();

            try
            {
               int suProcessRetval = suProcess.waitFor();
               if (255 != suProcessRetval)
               {
                  // Root access granted
                  retval = true;
               }
               else
               {
                  // Root access denied
                  retval = false;
               }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
               Log.e("ROOT", "Error executing root action", ex);
            }
         }
      }
      catch (IOException ex)
      {
         Log.w("ROOT", "Can't get root access", ex);
      }
      catch (SecurityException ex)
      {
         Log.w("ROOT", "Can't get root access", ex);
      }
      catch (Exception ex)
      {
         Log.w("ROOT", "Error executing internal operation", ex);
      }
      
      return retval;
   }
   protected abstract ArrayList<String> getCommandsToExecute();
}

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

AutomateIt - Automate Your Android !

Visit our new website at http://www.automateitapp.com

AutomateIt is a simple, easy-to-use yet powerful automation tool for android.
The application lets you define a set of your desired behaviors in response to events on your Android device.
Each behavior/rule is defined as a pair of Trigger-Action listed below.

(See reviews in different languages on the bottom of this page)

Click here for a short demo video, or check out the advanced features of AutomateIt Pro !

Download from Android Market

Download from AppBrain

Currently supports the following triggers:

* Any SMS Trigger - Triggers on SMS received

* SMS With Text Trigger - Triggers on receipt of SMS Message with a specific text

* Battery Level Trigger - Triggers on a defined battery level

* Bluetooth State Enabled/Disabled

* Bluetooth Device Connected - Any device or specific device

* Incoming/Hang Call - Any call or from a specific contact

* Headset Plugged/Unplugged Trigger

* Location Trigger - Entering/Exiting a defined region (See Location Trigger Tips & Tricks post)

* External Power Connected/Disconnected

* Screen On/Off

* Wi-Fi Enabled/Disabled

* Connected to Wi-Fi network - Any network or a specific network

* Time Trigger - recurring time events

* Background data settings changed - enabling or disabling the background data setting

* GPS Enabled Changed - GPS Activated/Deactivated and started/stopped looking for current location

* SMS from contact
* Airplane Mode Activated/Deactivated
* Dock State Trigger - Docked to Car/Desk
* Application Status Trigger - Triggers when selected application activated or deactivated
* Outgoing call - all calls or calling specific contact
* Sound Mode Changed
* Boot Trigger - triggers on device startup (assuming service starts on boot)
* Manual Trigger - Requires user explicit execution of this trigger
* Cell ID Trigger - Trigger when connecting or disconnecting from defined cellular cells (Limited functionality - only allows saving a single set of cells as pre-defined location)
* NFC Trigger - Use NFC Tags to launch rules

Currently supports the following actions:

* Notification - Shows notification on notification bar

* Play Sound - Plays selected sound

* Set Bluetooth State - Enabled/Disabled

* Set Sound Mode - Silent / Vibrate / Normal(With/Without Vibrate)
* Set Speakerphone State - Turn on/off

* Set Volume - Sets volume of all streams or a specific stream

* Set Wi-Fi Adapter State - Enabled/Disabled

* Start Application

* Enable/Disable other rules

* Vibrate action

* Enable/Disable Data Connectivity action - notice that this does not change your APN or background data state but actually cancels the data connectivity [Not supported for Android version 2.3 and up. see here why]
* Kill application [Requires Root - See here why]
* Launch Home Screen
* Activate/Deactivate Airplane mode
* Enable/Disable GPS [Supported for Android version prior to 2.3 and MOST rooted devices. Not supported for ICS]
* Enable/Disable Sync Data [Supported for Android version prior to 2.3 and MOST rooted devices. Not supported for ICS]
* Set Mobile Data - Enable/Disable Mobile Data
* Set Screen Brightness - Automatic or specific value
* Enable/Disable screen automatic rotation
* Dial Phone Number
* Send SMS to phone number (Message text can include keywords - Location or Battery level)
* Set screen timeout (Including "Never" turn off)
* Shutdown Device [Requires Root]
* Text-to-Speech - Say defined text
* Reboot [Requires Root]

Unlike similar applications you can find, there is no limitation on the number of rules you can define !
See list of some very useful rules at this post.

This application is still being expanded to support new triggers and actions and suggestions or request for such are appreciated (although, obviously I can't guarantee that they all will be implemented...)

Here are some screenshots and a short manual for this very easy to use application:

On the first time you launch the application you'll get this empty screen saying that there are no rules defined:

The first thing you'd want to do, is define some rules (just a reminder, a rule is a pair of trigger-action). You can do it by pressing the button on the top-left side of the screen or from the options menu as seen on the right image above.

The new rule screen lets you pick a trigger and an action for your new rule, by clicking the selection box of each:

The list of available triggers and actions is dependent on your device and you will not see triggers and actions that your device does not support (For instance, if your device has no Bluetooth capability, no Bluetooth related triggers or actions will be available for selection). This is a partial list of the available triggers and action:

Once a trigger or action is selected, the image on the right side of the selection box will change (in most cases), allowing you to further configure the selected trigger or action.

Not all triggers or actions can be configured (one example is the "Power Connected Trigger").
One of the most simple (and usable) rules you can define is turning on your Bluetooth adapter when external power is connected to your device as can be seen on the next screenshot:

All that's left to do is save the rule by pressing the "Save" button on the top-left side of the screen or from the options menu.

That's it ! you've defined your first rule !

Rule Delayed Execution

The "Delayed Execution" check box that you've seen on the screenshot above lets you define a rule such that once the trigger is activated, a countdown starts until the action is executed.

One good use of that functionality is to turn off your data connectivity a few minutes after the screen is turned off.

The default delay is set to 5 minutes (can be changed from the settings screen described below) but it is defined for each rule:

Since during the delay you might want to see when the action is going to be executed or cancel the delayed execution, as soon as the trigger is activated, a notification message will appear in the status bar showing the progress of the currently waiting action. Clicking on the notification will cancel the delayed execution and remove the notification:

Rule Operations (Edit, Delete...)
After defining a new rule, it can be edited by pressing the "Edit" button or anywhere on the rule row (excluding the "Delete" button...).

Long press on the rule row will bring up a context menu allowing you to edit/delete or enable/disable the rule (New Feature on version 1.16.0 - Show Rule History. New Feature on version 1.17.0 - Share Rule. see details below):

Once the rule is disabled the application's service will not monitor the defined trigger, thus will not execute the defined action. This can be very useful for defining a set of rules that you only want enabled in specific times.

Editing Triggers and Actions
Since the list of available triggers and actions is very long, I will not review all of them here but only a small portion of them.

Basically, The only difference between one trigger/action to another is the detailed configuration of each.

Some examples:

Using the "SMS From Contact Trigger", you can select the specific contact from which you receive the SMS Message
Using the "Location Trigger" requires you to select the target location, proximity radius around the target location, sampling rate and whether you are entering or exiting the defined region (you can also toggle the map size to full screen, go to address or location, go to your last location, show satellite layer etc). See more details here.
Using the "Time Trigger" requires you to select the time of day and the days of the week in which the trigger will fire.
Using the "Play Sound Action" requires you to select the sound to play
Using the "Start Application Action" requires you to select the application to start
Using the Wifi/Bluetooth triggers/actions requires you to select the Wifi/Bluetooth state
Using the "Notification Action" lets you enter the notification title, text and various notification parameters

One special action is the "Enable/Disable Rule Action" which based on any trigger, lets you enable or disable specific rule.

Triggered Rules History
The application saves the history of triggered rules so you can keep track of which rule was triggered, and when. The default history size is set to the last 30 events and you can change that setting from the settings screen. From the screen's menu you can export the triggered rules history to a CSV file or clear the history. by clicking on the "History" icon of each rule you can see its history records (more details below):

Backup and Restore
From the main screen context menu you can backup and restore your rules (press the "More" button).

All backups are stored on your external storage (/sdcard/AutomateIt/Backups) and will be kept even if you uninstall the application.

Application Settings
You can also customize some of the application settings from the settings screen (opened from the options menu on the main screen):

The settings you can customize include:

Display settings for main screen (show/hide trigger and action information)
Service settings - Show/Hide task bar notification icon, start/stop service and toggle service start on boot
Default settings for location triggers (for more details on those settings click here)
Whether time triggers wake the device or not
Triggered rules history size
Default delayed execution time
New feature 1.19.0 - Language Settings (See details below)
Debug & Help settings

The language settings section is quite easy to use and allows you to customize AutomateIt to your desired language. The following settings are available:

Use default language - When this checkbox is checked (default), AutomateIt will use your default language if it is supported (otherwise, it will use English).
If the "Use default language" checkbox is not checked, you can choose one of the supported language. the selected language will be used once you exit the settings screen.
Flip Right-To-Left - This option is only relevant for languages that requires right-to-left reading order and the installed ROM does not support it (keeps text aligned to the left). Other languages are not affected by this setting.

Want to have another language supported ? See a spelling mistake that should be fixed ? What languages are already supported ? Click here for more details.

Rule History

New Feature on version 1.16.0 - Each rule now has its own history log that can help you keep track of events related to your rules. The following events will be logged to the rule history:

Rule created
Rule edited
Rule enabled/disabled (from context menu or by other rule)
Rule triggered
Rule started countdown for delayed execution
Rule delayed execution was canceled
Rule manually executed by user
Rules with Location Trigger specific events - click here
[Pro version only]: Rule active period started
[Pro version only]: Rule active period ended

Rule history can be accessed by context menu on the main screen or the history screen as shown in the images above. It can also be accessed from the "Edit rule" screen using the icon on the top-right or from the screen menu:

Rule Sharing and Import
New Feature on version 1.17.0 - Rule sharing and improved restore from backup.

Sharing rules with other users can be performed from each rule context menu (long-press the rule record on the main screen and select "Share Rule") or by selecting the "Share Rules" option from the main screen menu, which will display the following selection dialog:

By default, all rules are checked. Once you click the "OK" button, a "shared rules file" will be created at /sdcard/AutomateIt/shared and you'll be required to select how the rules will be shared (probably an email application).
Assuming the rules were shared by email, The recipient of the email will be required to save the attached shared rules file and open it using any file browser (Astro file manager, ES File Explorer etc). As the shared rules file is opened, the following selection box will be displayed allowing you to choose which rules should be imported:

Notice that by clicking the "Replace Existing" button all existing rules will be deleted and replaced by the selected rules, while clicking the "Add to Existing" will add the selected rules to your already existing rules (Duplicate rules will not be created).
The same selection dialog will be displayed when using the "Restore Rules" option on the main screen menu, allowing you to selectively restore from your backups.
Note: Rules with features only available on the Pro version can't be shared with the free version.

New Feature on version 1.18.0 - Widgets !

This new feature lets you access your defined rules from your home screen and perform different things with those rules. AutomateIt widgets are added to the home screen just as you would add any other widget. Once you select to add an AutomateIt widget, the following configuration screen is displayed:

This display has several selection lists that are required to configure your widget:

Rule - Which rule this widget targets ?
Widget Action - What will happen when I click on the widget ? there are 3 options - Perform Rule Action (default), Toggle Enable/Disable Rule and Show Rule History. Notice that changing the widget action will change the small gray icon on the widget display.
Widget Icon - How will the widget look like ? You can select one of 3 icons - Action Icon (default), Trigger Icon and Application Icon
Show Rule Name - Will the widget display include the rule name or it is just an icon ?

Once you finished configuring your widget, click on the "Create Widget" button. Here are a few sample widgets: