Since tasker can be complicated ive tried to make this as simple as possible even though it might not seem like it. This is my first tutorial so constructive criticism and comments are appreciated!
NOTE: If you dont know what Tasker is research it and what it does otherwise you wont understand this tutorial.
1. Setting up the first profile
A. Okay first we need to start a new profile in tasker by clicking "new" on the bottom.
Name it whatever you want or leave it blank.
Your first profile should look like this once completed:
2. Setting when your context so tasker will know when its supposed to do something
A. You want your context to be "received text".
Choosing through menus go to "Event>Phone>Received Text"
3. Setting up what tasker is supposed to do when the "conditions/context" are met
A. Next we need a task, name it whatever you want or leave it blank. Add a task by clicking the plus on the bottom left. When choosing actions you want to navigate to "Variable>Variable Set"
When setting up this variable, you want it to look like this:
Make sure there are spaces between the + and 1 and "Do Maths" is checked otherwise it wont display right.
4. Setting up tasker so it will send the sms count to Minimalistic Text widget
A. Add a 2nd task by clicking the plus on the bottom left. When choosing an action navigate to "Plugin>Minimalistic Text variable settings. The settings will show up, set them up like this:
Okay so we've set up a profile to add a 1 to the count everytime you have a new text. Problem is, we have to set up another profile to reset the count to 0 after youve read your texts
5. Setting up the 2nd profile so your sms app to reset the count to 0 when closed
A. Start a new profile, name it or not, and add a context of "Application>whatever messaging app you use here". I use chompsms so for me its "Application>chompsms".
It will look like this when completed:
B. Set up the new variable like so:
This will reset the counter to zero everytime you close out of your messaging app
EDIT: its also possible to have not have the zero displayed so theres nothing there. Instead of using "variable set" use "variable clear" with the variable your using.
THANKS: ayhaadam for reminding me of this
C. Add one more variable to have Tasker display it through Minimalistic text. Its the same set up as step 4A
6. Setting up minimalistic text to display tasker variables
A. Create a new minimal text widget on your homescreen/lockscreen and choose "custom layout". Add "Locale Variable" from Misc and set up the variable name to be % MNMLMSGCOUNT
NOTE: Minimal text will not add "SMS" or "MESSAGES" in front of the count. You have to manually add it with "Static Text" under Misc
Exapmles of how i use it:
Please leave questions or comments if you have them and since i did this on my phone i will check how it looks on a computer soon
Thanks: thedesolatesoul for explaining to me how to set this up! He should post a screen of his so we'll see how his is set up
Missed Call Count: call count is achieved by following the tutorial and changing "MSGCOUNT" to "MISSEDCALL" and changing the 2nd profile app to phone
Unread Email Count: this works with only K-9 since its open source. Same set up for sms count just different context "K9 Email Received" and different variable "%UNREADEMAILCOUNT". The 2nd profile context to set it to zero is app "K9"