Octopus Energy Android app: setting up price notifications
The Octopus Energy app for Android is available free from the Google Play Store. It is the official starting point for any Agile customer's notification setup, because it is directly connected to your account and your regional price data.
To enable price notifications on Android:
- Open the Play Store and search "Octopus Energy" - install or update to the latest version
- Log in with your account email and password
- Tap the Profile or Account icon
- Navigate to Settings, then Notifications or Alerts
- Enable "Daily price notifications" and "Price alerts"
- Set your preferred notification time to 8-9pm, after the next day's prices have been published
Android notification permissions are managed system-wide. If prompted, allow the Octopus app to send notifications in your Android notification settings. You can also set the notification priority to "High" so price alerts appear as banners rather than silent notifications, useful for plunge pricing events that require immediate action.
AgileAlert as your Android home screen price dashboard
The AgileAlert dashboard provides a full half-hourly price chart for your region, updated every 30 minutes. Adding it to your Android Home Screen creates a one-tap shortcut to live prices without any app download.
Steps to add AgileAlert to your Android Home Screen:
- Open Chrome on your Android phone
- Navigate to agilealert.co.uk/energy-dashboard.html
- Tap the three-dot menu in the top right corner
- Select "Add to Home screen"
- Give it a name such as "Agile Prices" and tap Add
- The shortcut appears on your Home Screen as an icon. Tap it each evening to check tonight's prices
Chrome on Android will sometimes offer to install AgileAlert as a Progressive Web App (PWA), giving it its own standalone window without browser chrome. Accept this if offered. It makes the experience feel exactly like a native app. The price data loads in under two seconds on any modern Android device.
IFTTT and Agile API: building a price notification workflow
IFTTT (If This Then That) is a free no-code automation platform that connects web services and apps. On Android, it can send push notifications to your phone based on triggers, including time-based triggers that act as daily reminders to check Agile prices.
The simplest IFTTT workflow for Agile customers:
- Create a free account at ifttt.com
- Create a new Applet: click "Create", then "If This"
- Select "Date and Time" as the service
- Choose "Every day at" and set it to 8:00pm
- Click "Then That" and select "Notifications" (the IFTTT native notification service)
- Set the notification message to "Check Agile prices for tonight" and optionally include a link to AgileAlert
- Save and activate the applet
- Install the IFTTT app on your Android phone and enable notifications
This gives you a reliable 8pm daily reminder on your Android phone at zero cost. It is not an automated Agile response, it is a prompt for you to take manual action. Combined with the Octopus app's own price alert, it ensures you never miss a cheap overnight window because you forgot to check.
For a more advanced IFTTT workflow that responds to actual price thresholds, you need a webhook-based trigger connected to a price monitoring service. This is possible but requires a free service that monitors the Octopus API and fires IFTTT webhooks when prices drop below a threshold. Search "Octopus Agile IFTTT webhook" in the Octopus Energy Community forum for current recommendations.
Tasker automations for advanced Android users
Tasker is a powerful Android automation app, available for £3.49 as a one-time purchase from the Play Store. Unlike IFTTT, Tasker runs entirely on your device and can make HTTP requests directly to the Octopus API, process the price data, and push formatted notifications to your Android notification shade.
A Tasker profile for a nightly Agile price summary:
- Open Tasker and tap the Profiles tab
- Add a new Profile with a "Time" trigger set to 9:00pm daily
- Create a new Task named "Agile Price Check"
- Add action: HTTP Request to the Octopus Agile price API endpoint for your region (available at api.octopus.energy)
- Add action: Variable Set to extract the minimum price slot from the JSON response
- Add action: Notify with title "Agile tonight" and text containing the cheapest slot time and price
The Octopus Agile API is free and does not require authentication to access price data. Your regional price endpoint URL is available from the Octopus developer documentation. Once the Tasker profile is set up, your phone delivers a formatted notification each evening showing tonight's cheapest Agile window, without opening any app or visiting any website.
Tasker has a learning curve, but the Tasker community on Reddit (r/tasker) has pre-built profiles for Agile price notifications that can be imported directly. The investment of an evening learning Tasker pays back in years of automated price awareness.
The simplest Android setup that covers 90% of use cases
For Agile customers who want reliable price awareness without technical setup, this three-step combination costs nothing and requires under 10 minutes:
- Enable Octopus Energy app notifications (steps above) - you get official price alerts from Octopus each afternoon when prices are published
- Add AgileAlert to your Android Home Screen (steps above) - one tap to the full price chart each evening
- Set a recurring daily alarm in Google Clock at 9pm labelled "Check Agile prices" - the alarm appears in your notification shade as a reminder every evening, even if you do not have IFTTT installed
This combination costs £0, requires no third-party accounts, and ensures you have the price information you need to set timers before bed every night. It captures roughly 90% of available Agile saving opportunities, every large overnight price differential and every predictable cheap window.
For the remaining 10%, the HomeEnergyBot Telegram notification (free, available on Android via the Telegram app) fills the gap. Set a price threshold of 5p or 0p and receive alerts whenever upcoming prices cross your line.