IFTTT for the IOT

[ChristopherP]

Does anyone else use IFTTT (If This Then That) here?

I've had it on my phone for a while but i've only just started using it to any great length, it's really good.

If you haven't heard about it it, it takes one internet connected device or service, and makes it talk to another internet connected device or service (where the two wouldn't normally speak to each other out of the box)

Each thing you set up is called a 'recipe' and is literally if THIS then do THAT

Examples of recipes that I have running:

- When I arrive at Tesco (phone GPS), show a message on my phone reminding me to take carrier bags out of the car
- When I arrive and leave work (Geo-zone phone GPS) then log my working hours in a Google Spreadsheet
- When wife leaves the house, then set Honeywell Evohome central heating to Away Mode
- When wife approaches village, then turn heating back on
- When Nest smoke alarms detect carbon monoxide, shut down Honeywell Evohome central heating system
- When motion is detected on Netgear Arlo CCTV system, log the event in a Google Spreadsheet
- When I press IFTTT do button, trigger gates through GOGOGATE2

It works really well. There are other services online that connect in that allow you to add additional IF's in (i.e. IF this thing, and it's a Tuesday or Wednesday, then DO)

A really cool service. And it's completely free.

I'm thinking about putting an LED floodlight on the back of my house to light up the garden, power it through a Belkin WeMo switch and then connect it to the CCTV cameras so that the lights come on when the cameras pick up motion.

You can do allsorts of cool things with the service.

 

[Ian]

I've briefly used it, but suspect I'll be making use of it a lot more soon enough. It's such a useful tool. I've got things like "Tasker" running on my phone to do similar things, but I'd really like to start to integrate hardware and software a little more closely. We've got a Tado heating controller arriving soon (I almost got the Evohome as it happens, but it wasn't as easy to retrofit in our case) - so when I've added that, it may be worth using IFTTT.

We currently use a Logitech Harmony, and I'd really like to add a few things to that. With a little configuration be used to turn the lounge lights on/off, etc... which would be a nice feature if we're watching a film.

I'm thinking about putting an LED floodlight on the back of my house to light up the garden, power it through a Belkin WeMo switch and then connect it to the CCTV cameras so that the lights come on when the cameras pick up motion.

That's a good example of the sort of clever things it can do!

 

[ChristopherP]

That's cool. I keep looking at the Philips Hue kits but I'm not sure...