For years, Tasker has been one of the best power-user apps available for Android, with the ability to automate (or create shortcuts for) a vast number of actions. Dozens of third-party plugins are also available for Tasker, further expanding its functionality. But after eight years of development, Crafty Apps EU has now transferred ownership of the application to joaomgcd, a major Android developer known for Join and AutoApps.

Pent, the developer of Tasker, announced the change on the Tasker Google Group:

After hanging on a bit too long, I finally decided I was not in good enough shape to maintain Tasker anymore. The last couple of years, updates have been too seldom, nagging bugs not fixed, new OS features integrated too slowly or not at all. As a conscientious person, I find it very stressful to let people down like that. I'm therefore very (very) happy to announce that over the coming months João Dias will be taking over Tasker. João will introduce himself below. Transfer of the app to its new Play Store account is already achieved, Website, development and support will follow over the coming days. Please bear with us if there are glitches due to the transfer. I will still be maintaining App Factory for a period, but the plan is that eventually João takes over that too. Most of the work to create a child app is in any case performed by Tasker. I hope that João can put the same energy into Tasker as I was able to in the early days. I'm sure he has a lot of plans he will reveal to you in time. You may still see me around a bit during the transfer period as I try to help João absorb this complicated app. If not: a big, big thank you to everyone who has been involved over the last 8 years, especially the stalwarts in the forum. Rich D deserves a special mention here. Please stick with it a little longer: things can only get better! Pent

Details about the agreement are unknown, but it's safe to say Tasker is in good hands. As mentioned above, João Dias has been developing various Tasker plugins for years (including AutoInput, AutoNotification, AutoVoice, and others). This is his reply on the Google Group:

This is João Dias and I'm the developer of the AutoApps and Join. Maybe you've heard of them if you've been using Tasker for a while.

It is with GREAT pleasure that I can announce that I'm going to be taking over Tasker! This means that I'm going to be developing it from now on! First of all this is a huge honor for me. Tasker was the app that made me want to buy an Android phone in the first place. It was the first app I bought on Google Play. When I first heard about it, it made my head spin with the possibilities it allowed. I still remember reading the Usage Examples on the Tasker website and literally spending days imagining what I would do with it once I got my hands on an Android device. It was so far beyond what was possible on my then "Smart" Nokia device that my little programming brain couldn't stop thinking about it. And now I'm humbled to be in charge of it! I hope I can continue evolving it and keep it always fresh and exciting for you! I have a few plans for it already but please don't expect anything major soon. Give me a few weeks/months (with Pent's help) to get accustomed to Tasker's code. I know I'm going to be terrified to break anything in the app in the first few releases :P I've been a part of Tasker for some time now, with all my AutoApps, so I know it pretty well from the outside. Of course it's going to be a different story when I get to look at it from the inside, but I'm confident all will fall in place and I'll be able to put out some great new features in the future :) I hope you can join me on this new adventure and never forget to Automate Your Life! Let us know what you think! :) Any comments are welcome! João

Considering many popular apps like Tasker are often sold off to less-than-reputable companies, this is definitely the best-case scenario, and I'm interested to see what changes come to Tasker in the near future. You can download the app from the Play Store below.