IFTTT — If This Then That — is an automator that links different internet connected services (think: Gmail) and devices (think: your smartphone). After turning on each service, or channel, you can use it as a trigger for another service, or vice versa. It may sound complicated, but it’s actually a nice, intuitive way to simplify your life. Here’s where to get started.
Below are some IFTTT “recipes” that bring order to your life in ways you may not have even thought possible. Rejigger the parameters to make them your own, and create an arsenal of automatic secret weapons that take care of your dirty work for you.
How it works
To use a very simple example, you could connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts to IFTTT, and set it up so that when you change your profile picture on Facebook, it automatically changes on Twitter as well.
Let’s walk through it real quick to illustrate just how simple it is. You start with IFTTT’s core conditional statement…
And then fill in the fields. Select Facebook from the list of channels, and tell IFTTT to watch your Facebook profile picture.
Then you need to specific what happens when your profile picture changes. Same deal: Select the Twitter channel, and tell IFTTT to change your profile picture in that case.
Just a few clicks, and you’ve saved yourself from redundant profile updating for years to come. Give it a try with the recipes below, and you’ll see. IFTTT is a magical tool that only reveals itself to you after you use it for a while.
Recipes
Send a text to get out of a lame conversation
Send a Yo to get out of a lame meeting×
Backup Facebook photos you’re tagged in to Dropbox…
…or your iOS screenshots to Dropbox
…or Instagram photos to Dropbox
Backing up to OneDrive is also possible
Get a notification about the weather each morning
Get a notification if it’s going to rain tomorrow
Automatically send a text when you miss a call
Set your Android phone’s ring volume to max remotely when you can’t find it
Back up your phone contacts to a Google Drive spreadsheet
Get a text when your boss emails you so you don’t need to constantly check your phone
Get an email when there’s a new post on a rarely updated but awesome blog
Don’t forget to pay rent
Log your Foursquare check-ins to your calendar so you always know where you were.
And that’s just a small sample. If you have any recipes you love, please share them in the discussion below!