Being productive all the time is the goal of man, but the path to it isn’t always direct or clear. And while numerous online tools are meant to make your life easier, often the learning curve ignites frustration, complicating things that should have been simple.
However, with something like IFTTT (If This Then That), simplifying your online routine is possible because such tools can integrate all your favorite online services with just a few clicks. It can even autopilot some of your stuff in the background!
What IFTTT Can Do
IFTTT’s role is to connect disparate applications and services together through what they call applets, formerly called recipes. Users will create applets that focus on one service (that’s the “This”) and state that if anything occurs (the trigger), a certain action will occur (that’s the “That”).
For example, suppose you’ve got a smart bulb in your house, now you want it to blink every time you get an email, or get tagged in a Facebook post—well, it’s easy to do with the IFTTT platform. In addition, even if you want to get a notification any time your readers comment on your blog or website, you can do so on this platform as well.
How to Make Most of the IFTTT Platform
You need to create an IFTTT account to make the most out of it. All you need to do is give your email, username, and password to sign up for your IFTTT account. As soon as you join, on-screen instructions will be given to let you set up your first applet.
Best Online Automation Applets
Automatically upload your Instagram photos to your Facebook page album
If you have both an Instagram account and a Facebook profile for your small business or hobby, this applet is for you. This will save you the extra steps of adding new photos to Instagram and Facebook by automatically uploading your Instagrams to every Facebook page you choose.
1. Add Songs That You Like on YouTube to a Spotify Playlist
Whenever you hear a song that you like in a YouTube video, just place your thumbs up on YouTube, and this applet will scan for a song on Spotify. If the song is available, it will be added to the playlist you select.
2. Add Songs to Your Spotify Playlist Using Google Assistant
Spotify users with Android devices can say, “Hey Google” or “OK Google, add to playlist, [Artist Name], [Song].”
For example: “OK Google, add to playlist, The White Stripes, Seven Nation Army.” This applet turns the multi-step process of adding a song to a Spotify playlist into a single step.
3. Save New Photos You’re Tagged in on Facebook to Dropbox
A part of preserving your online image is keeping an eye on what pictures of you are on the internet. This applet scans Facebook for any images you are tagged and automatically downloads and saves them to your Dropbox.
If you don’t like what you see, you can ask your buddy to either delete the photo or untag you. Plus, it’s cool to have prints of your pictures shot by your friends and family.
4. Automatically Change Your Twitter Dp When You Update Your Facebook Photo
Some people want to standardize their online profile images to make them more identifiable across social media sites. This applet will instantly update your Twitter profile picture to the same photo when you change your Facebook profile photo.
5. Tweet Your Instagram Photo as a Native Photo
You can also instantly make IFTTT tweet your Instagram images to your Twitter account. This one’s cool because it tweets the actual photo instead of the Instagram link.
6Update Your Android Wallpaper With NASA’s Image of the Day
We all need a break from this Earth sometimes. Every day this applet changes the wallpaper of your Android smartphone to NASA’s image of the day. Start the day right with a picture of the amazing, freezing vacuum of space!
Make a Note in Evernote by Asking Google Assistant
Users of Evernote have a clear idea of this applet. Just say “Hey Google” followed by a phrase that you can select from the applet settings, and then your note.
For example: “Hey Google, send to Evernote, check out the new cafe on Fifth Street.”
OK, Google, call my device
Can’t you find your phone? If you can’t find your device, you can’t have an online life! This applet is super useful to track lost smartphones.
IFFTTT’s Paid Tier
Recently, after a decade of being available for free, a premium tier has been introduced. More importantly, it reduces the free-tier use to three applets. The company said it was taking this measure to “better align our Pro Product Roadmap with the needs of our most active Applet creators.”
With the pro tier, IFTTT adds additional features such as multi-step applets, multiple action execution, and quicker execution. The last one is important because for certain activities, you might want to be informed as soon as the event takes place.
The company claimed in its statement that all proceeds generated by this new payment model would be used to invest in a better framework and even more functionality for the IFTTT app. The standard free plan will be available with the option of creating up to three applets.
The proposed price of IFTTT Pro is $9.99 a month, but the company would allow users to pick how much they want to pay for the service for a short amount of time, while they still get input from users to decide the final price.
You can sign up for the IFTTT Pro via the official IFTTT website. The IFTTT software is available on the App Store and includes an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad running iOS 11 or later.
Which IFTTT Applet Works for You?
Finding (or creating) the right applets for you would depend primarily on how you choose to use IFTTT. Others enjoy creating a completely integrated smart home or lightening their workload with automated social media, Slack, and Trello.
It’s a community of people who can’t get enough of technology, social media accounts, and new services but are desperate to simplify and streamline all. Minimalist trends have already entered our wardrobes and desks—the time has come to introduce them to our digital lives, too.