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I have recently come across and purchased the Tasker app.

The app does is very different from any app I have ever seen in many aspects. One of the unique options that I have noticed in this app is that we can customize the notification bar icon of the app:

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This screenshot shows a few of the many options available.

In the screenshot, one can notice that we even have the option to use the "Missed Call", "Bluetooth", "File Downloaded/Received", "File sent via Bluetooth" icons.

I am sure must be to enable users to disguise the Tasker app, so that onlookers do not know that the app is installed just by having a chance to glance at the notification bar for a moment.

My Question is: Why? What is the need? Can anyone give me a kind of situation in which a real person would need to keep his use of an app like Tasker to be a secret?

Edit: Here are the screenshots which show that it is actually used to disguise:

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2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

Tasker allows you to customize the app icon because some users like to have a consistent theme across their Home Screen. Google has also suggested that apps default to a black and white default icon, while some users prefer the older color icons. Many apps allow this icon customization.

Tasker also allows icons to be chosen for various other purposes, like notifications. Tasker has implemented an "icon chooser" to make this work. It simply reuses the icon chooser for the Tasker app itself. There is no ulterior motive.

This is similar to any desktop OS. When you can set the icon for a shortcut, for example, you can use any icon on the system, not just the ones that shipped with the app.

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I'm pretty sure that it's not to disguise the app, but are icons intended for adding to tasks as a quick way to identify what they are for. Example:

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I have tried it, you do not choose an icon for every task, but a single icon for the whole app. – user221287 Nov 1 '12 at 20:55
In which menu did you find this option? I know you can assign icons to notifications, but that is per notification (as ZnewmaN assumed, to identify the task which triggered the notification). – Izzy Nov 1 '12 at 21:02
I edited it to show how I have seen the icons used. The Built-in icons are general purpose and could be used for both, but are usually know for assigning to tasks. – ZnewmaN Nov 1 '12 at 21:08
There is no need to disguise it because you can remove the icon that Tasker uses altogether. – ZnewmaN Nov 1 '12 at 21:37
@Izzy and ZnewmaN : I have edited my Question, added screenshots to show that it is possible to disguise it. – user221287 Nov 2 '12 at 6:54

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