IFTTT (IF This Then That) is an incredibly useful tool for all kinds of tasks, which is why we talk about it so regularly. The platform continues to expand its smartphone integrations for Android and iOS users, and one of the best ways you can take advantage is by automatically alerting your significant other when you’re heading home.
We’re going to assume you already know the IFTTT basics. Dive into creating a recipe from the front page: Pick Android Location or iOS Location as your trigger category, then select You exit an area as the action. On the map that appears, choose the location of your office or the main road home if that works better.
Click Create Trigger, choose Android SMS as your action channel and Send an SMS as the action. Unfortunately IFTTT can’t send texts from iOS devices, so if you’re on an iPhone you’re going to have to settle for emailing home or maybe just flashing your smart home lights a different colour maybe. You can pick a particular mobile number and customise the message to say anything you like.
You can adapt the same idea to turn on your smart heating system or even open the garage door as you’re on your way back to the house — as long as your hardware of choice plugs into IFTTT, then there are all kinds of ways to use the location triggers. Just remember to turn the recipe off if you head out for a sandwich at lunchtime.
[Header image courtesy of Olga Lebedeva / Shutterstock.com]