IFTTT

I'd like to review this app, but it'd really be a review of the service itself. If you've never heard of If This Then That, it's a social service that automates your online experience. And it's wonderful.



You love uploading photos to your Flickr account and are a socialite on Instagram, but man is it tedious to upload to numerous services. Linking both your accounts to your IFTTT account enables your photos to be exchanged between services, so as soon as you're done uploading those family photos, they're up on Facebook for Mammy to like and share (flooding my notifications no doubt, thanks Mum.) That's the type of experience to expect from IFTTT.

This isn't just limited to photos either, with connections to Dropbox, Evernote, Box, Pocket, Instapaper, Twitter, Foursquare, and more, automating your online presence is virtually seamless. IFTTT applies for both the personal and professional habitats and for creative lifehacker types can use it for home automation as well. Pretty nifty stuff.




So how does it work exactly? Basically you create an account with IFTTT and within that log in to your numerous services. From there, you can create equations or formulas much like basic computer coding. It can be as broad or specific depending on the users requirements. So if I wanted to back up all notes in an Evernote notebook to Dropbox, I'd create the equation If Then as a safety backup (which automates to my desktop but that's a whole other world of possibilities). Both the app and website are helpful in exploring what IFTTT can offer users and it's free so it's worth checking out.

Unfortunately there are still some services that aren't compatible yet which is unfortunate for myself whom enjoys using Scrivener avidly. Scrivener only uses SimpleNote for syncing word documents that I can take with me (which is regrettable) and SimpleNote isn't on IFTTTs list quite yet. Luckily there are workaround a with other apps like Launch Center Pro which are compatible.



Which brings me to the actual app in question. Can you create these equations on the go for ultimate convenience? Absolutely. Is the interface as gorgeous as the websites svelte flattened design? Indeed it is. Is it iPad ready? Not quite yet. Fingers crossed for a change to this but as it stands now you'll be using a blown up version of the small screen version. As for the small screen version, it's functional and manifests everything to selecting icons and the tasks we want into several taps of the screen. So when inspiration strikes for your next automated task and you're far from the desktop, the mobile app certainly helps get stuff done without all the run around or 'dumb work' as I like to put it.

It's amazing how some small space of time can allow so much work to be done automatically.

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