Permission denied if the destination wasn't a Tasker-owned folder. 2. The Cross-App Data Mover You used Tasker to move a downloaded PDF from Download/ into a specific app's folder (e.g., /sdcard/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Documents/ ).
Embrace the Document Tree. Learn to love the Tasker folder. Use intents like a poet. And when all else fails, remember the ADB hack exists.
Hard crash. You cannot write to WhatsApp's private directory. 3. The Bulk File Lister You used List Files on /sdcard/Android/data/ to see what game savedata you had.
When Tasker (or any app) targets API 29, it must obey all the new privacy and security rules of Android 10. If an app still targets an older API (like 28), it can use the old, permissive file system. tasker api 29
Partial success at best, constant permission popups at worst. Part 4: The Good News – Tasker’s Workarounds João is a wizard. Within weeks of the API 29 requirement, he implemented several powerful workarounds. You don't have to abandon Tasker; you just have to adapt your methods . Workaround #1: The "Use Document Tree" Mode (SAF) The most important feature you need to know: Storage Access Framework (SAF) .
So why did this become a Tasker nightmare? Because . João Dias (Tasker’s developer) had no choice. He had to update Tasker to target Android 10, and with that came Scoped Storage . Part 2: The Villain – Scoped Storage Before Android 10, Tasker had free rein over your storage. It could read, write, delete, and modify any file in /sdcard/ (your internal storage). Want to delete a stray MP3 in your Music folder? Easy. Want to modify a JSON file in a game's data directory? No problem.
Instead of saving a text file yourself, use an intent to open a "Save as" dialog via a file manager. Part 5: Specific Task Fixes (Copy-Paste Ready) Let's fix the broken examples from Part 3. Old (Broken) Backup Script: A1: Read File [/sdcard/Documents/notes.txt] A2: Write File [/sdcard/Backups/notes_backup.txt] Text:%text Fix: Permission denied if the destination wasn't a Tasker-owned
But here's the perspective: Google is trying to protect normal users from malicious apps that steal their photos, read their bank PDFs, and encrypt their files for ransom. Tasker is collateral damage in a war against malware.
Instead of using raw file paths ( /sdcard/Folder/file.txt ), you can use . You grant Tasker permission to a specific folder (like a tree), and Tasker can then read/write anywhere inside that tree.
Google heavily discourages this for store-distributed apps. It works, but you must do it manually every time you reinstall Tasker. Embrace the Document Tree
The red errors in the Tasker log feel personal. They feel like Google telling you that you don't own your phone.
A Tasker user since 2012, owner of over 200 profiles, and survivor of the great API 29 migration of 2020.