IFTTT (If This Then That)

IFTTT (If This Then That) is an online service ifttt.com for creating automatic actions or “recipes”. Each “recipe” consists of two parts: the event at which the recipe is triggered, and the action that occurs in the case of this event. To implement the automation users do not need to have technical or programming knowledge. There are pre settings for almost everything, which can be realised via user interface.

Examples:

• IF @user on Instagram posted a photo, THEN save the image to Dropbox;
• IF tomorrow is expected 0 ° C in London, THEN notify me;
• IF a child is out of school, THEN send me a letter.

Over the years of its existence, more than a hundred services and applications have been integrated with IFTTT in which events can be monitored and actions created: Instagram, Feed, Dropbox, Slack, Ebay, Pocket, Blogger, Box, Evernote, Gumroad, Fitbit, Soundcloud and others.

When using IFTTT, it is important not to waste energy on “reinventing the wheel”, because there are thousands of ready-made “recipes” in the site collection:

Mail

• IF Gmail receives a new email with an attachment, THEN save this attachment to Dropbox.
• IF Gmail receives a new email, THEN save it as a note in Evernote.
• If Gmail received a letter with order confirmation from Amazon, THEN save the letter as a note in Evernote.
• IF there is a new letter in the Gmail inbox marked as important, then add this letter to the to-do list in Todoist.
• IF a new photo appeared in my Instagram account, THEN send it to a certain email address.

Social Networks

• IF I like the photo on Instagram, THEN save this photo on Google Drive.
• IF a new photo is published on my Instagram, THEN post this photo on Twitter.
• IF profile photo has changed on Facebook, THEN set the same profile photo to Twitter.
• IF a new photo appeared on my Instagram, THEN add it to my Pinterest board.
• IF I posted a new link on Facebook, THEN post the same link on Twitter.

Other Services

• IF it’s a certain time, THEN send messages to a certain Slack channel.
• IF a certain article in Wikipedia is updated, THEN send me a notification about it.
• IF the parcel has changed its location, THEN mark this event in Google Calendar.
• IF frost is expected, THEN send me an email stating that I need to cover the plants.

All the above mentioned actions can be changed and customised to fit your needs. To do this, add a “recipe” to your profile and click on the pencil icon to open the edit page. For example, in the finished “rule” you can replace Dropbox with Box, Google Calendar with Outlook Calendar, or Evernote with Onenote.