Google Now in the car with the phone in my pocket

If you want to use Google Now in the car when the phone is in your pocket, follow these steps.

1. https://soundabout.forumotion.com/t708-soundabout-voice-searches-bluetooth-hands-free

2. Turn off all Android screen lock functions (settings/security/screen lock/none)

3. Buy a Flic button.

4. Create a Tasker task that looks like this:

Code:

Profile: Voice Search (207)
Event: Flic Tasker plugin [ Configuration:Flic button: Voice search, type: click ]
Enter: Voice Search (208)
Abort Existing Task
A1: Profile Status [ Name:ProxOff Set:Off ]
A2: Show Scene [ Name:Block Display As:Activity, Full Window Horizontal Position:100 Vertical Position:100 Animation:None Show Exit Button:On Continue Task Immediately:On ]
A3: Go Home [ Page:0 ]
A4: Destroy Scene [ Name:Block ]
A5: Launch App [ App:SoundAbout Voice Search Data: Exclude From Recent Apps:Off Always Start New Copy:Off ]
A6: Wait [ MS:0 Seconds:15 Minutes:0 Hours:0 Days:0 ]
A7: Profile Status [ Name:ProxOff Set:On ]

The purpose of showing the scene named "Block" is to wake up the phone briefly while it's in my pocket. The scene itself is simply an empty overlay. You can just launch an app instead, if you'd prefer.

After getting all that together you can click the Flic button, wait for your hands free setup to prompt you, and then say anything you normally say to Google Now, like "who is buried in grant's tomb" or "call mary".

The reason for having to go through all this is that Google Now doesn't do voice responses when the screen is off, or even when the screen is on, but there's a lock screen being displayed.

Forgot to mention: the "ProxOff" profile mentioned in the tasker code is a profile that turns the screen off if the proximity sensor is on for 5 seconds, and if certain other things are not happening (like there's a phone call in progress, or you're taking a picture). That profile needs root to work, but it isn't strictly necessary to get this working.