TechFriday: Trying out the IFTTT app on the iPhone
Posted By RichC on December 12, 2014
IFTTT = IF This Then That
Think of it as a simple programming app where there is an “action” when a “trigger” is observed. It is set up on a mobile device and works with “channels” … like Facebook, Evernote, Twitter, Email and even WordPress and it will do something when a “trigger” is observed. IFTTT calls putting these things together “Recipes” … and they can be shared with others. Pretty cool … although with the access required to function correctly there is a concern for privacy. Hmm … read and then ponder.
So I started my handful of “Recipes” this week and set up triggers on a spare Twitter account that would post to my blog if the hashtag #IFTTT was observed (it is checked approximately every 15 minutes … so call it semi-live). After tinkering with it, I found it a bit limiting for my WordPress install (maybe it could be tweaked?).
BUT … there are many other areas where this kind of minimalistic phone programming could be really nice. Here’s an example: tweeting out a stock price on market close or immediately posting a photo to a sharing site or even a cloud service. There are 1000s of useful possibilities and I’m looking forward to having this super simple app on my iPhone (available for Android too), although am reluctant to give access to my primary account logins?
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