Remotely Run Commands On Android Via Text Messages Using SMS Tasks
One of the best things about owning an Android smartphone is the plethora of things power users can do with it, especially after rooting their smartphone or tablet. These include tweaking its complete user interface beyond what’s possible with launchers and lock screen replacement apps, and running certain apps that require root access to perform a wide variety of functions. Developed by XDA member jkok, SMS Tasks is a tiny app that lets you remotely execute commands on your Android phone by sending it an SMS. The commands can range from rebooting your phone and toggling its different features (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, data etc.) to executing any terminal commands on it and more.
Upon first launch, the app will request for root access if your phone is rooted, and providing it will allow you to use all the root-only commands. Otherwise, you’ll only be able to use the commands that don’t require root access. On the app’s home screen, you can set a pass phrase to be specified with your commands if you want to enhance security and avoid abuse by someone else. The default pass phrase is blank. In the More Setting section, you can enable the app’s service to make it start listening to your commands, set it to read all the incoming SMS messages, and also set it to disable wildcard support for potentially dangerous commands.
The commands supported by the app include:
- Shutting down, restarting or rebooting the device into recovery (root)
- Using terminal commands (root)
- Uninstalling apps (root)
- Sending toast messages to the phone
- Bypassing security lock screen (root)
- Wiping SD Card
- Performing factory reset
- Toggle phone settings such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, mobile data, NFC and more
- Making the phone speak the text you send to it
- Make the phone sound an alarm, and stop it when you want
- Reading all your text messages
- GPS tracking
and more. All you need to do is to send the phone an SMS from a whitelisted number with the desired command, along with the pass phrase (if set), and the desired operation will be performed on the phone. For instance, in order to reboot your phone into recovery, you’ll need to send the following command:
recovery@pass
or
cmd@pass reboot recovery
You can find the complete list of supported commands as well as examples of their usage at the XDA-Developers forum thread of the app. SMS Tasks is currently under active development, and the developer is also adding more features based on user feedback. The app isn’t yet available on Google Play, and you will need to install it by sideloading its APK after downloading it from the link provided below.
You should post source code so we can compile the apk ourselves.