Best IFTTT Recipes

Contents

If This Then That (or IFTTT—rhymes with "gift") has become the ultimate automation service for small tasks between Internet-connected services. Whether on the Web or with select apps on iOS and Android, IFTTT—one of our rare 5-star Editors' Choice picks—can handle anything its member service "channels" support.

When you have an IFTTT account, you activate any of the 211 available channels—that's almost exactly double the channels IFTTT had last year. Each has its own set of triggers (the "if this" part) or actions (the "then that" side) or both. For example, make a status update on one service (a trigger), IFTTT will ensure an action takes place on another channel, like reposting that update. Combine them just right and you can create a daisy chain of triggers and actions across a number of services, where just one post could hit almost every corner of your Web presence.

All the big names are supported on IFTTT. For social networking you'll find Facebook profiles, Facebook Pages, LinkedIn, Twitter, and, hysterically, Yo. There are Google services like YouTube, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Talk. You'll find sync services like Dropbox, Box, and OneDrive, plus blog services like WordPress, Tumblr, and Blogger. Don't forget popular media-sharing services such as SoundCloud, Instagram, and Flickr. Media outlets including BuzzFeed, ESPN, TMZ, Digg, and The New York Times have channels to push their content. Commerce services like Etsy, Fiverr, Craigslist, eBay, even Best Buy are there. Evernote, the uber-collector for any Web user, has a channel, along with read-it-later services Instapaper, Pocket, and Readability. Feedly and Inoreader channels are available for heavy RSS users (plus a generic "Feed" channel to work with any random RSS or Atom feed). There are generic channels for things like stocks, weather, date, time, and taking or making SMS messages and phone calls.

Also new of note in the last year: Microsoft Office 365 for work channels, the popular Weebly website builder, Entertainment Weekly, Wikipedia, and—finally—Pinterest!

Unique hardware with software triggers/actions is great for controlling your home: UP by Jawbone, Withings, SmartThings, the WeMo devices, and Harmony remotes from Belkin, Netatmo Weather Station, Philips Hue lightbulbs, and Google Glass have all been around a while. New hardware includes Amazon Echo, Automatic car connectors, Whistle Activity Monitors, Fitbit, GE Appliances, and the Nest Leaning Thermostat and Nest Protect  smoke detectors.

The smartphone-specific abilities require use of the rebranded IF for iPhone app or IF for Android. In addition, IFTTT branched out this year, creating new mobile apps called Do, Do Camera, and Do Note. They help you skip the "if this" part, using the smartphone or tablet or even smartwatch to instantly do things with a single tap, such as post pics, change thermostat temps, turn off lights, create calendar events or notes, and more.

ifttt: if vs do

Most of the above channels are household names—there are plenty of other channels, and any one of them could be your favorite. You can view the complete list here.

Imagine putting these services to work, automating all the annoying things you otherwise would do manually. No more cross posting, no more extra emailing, no more backing up with cut-and-paste jobs. IFTTT takes care of more than you can imagine.

On the next few pages (to view it as one page, click the + above and the printer icon), you'll see our updated 101 favorite pre-made recipes—that's IFTTT's term for a full "if this, then that" combo. Recipes can be shared, making it easy for you to customize them to your needs. Create a great IFTTT task yourself, share it, and post the resulting recipe in the comments below so we know what we're missing.

This story originally ran on May 24, 2014.