IFTTT

IFTTT (/ɪft/, an acronym of if this, then that)[3][4] is a private commercial company founded in 2011, that runs online digital automation platforms which it offers as a service.[5] Their platforms provide a visual interface for making cross-platform if statements. As of 2020, they have 18 million users.[2][6][7]

IFTTT Inc.
TypePrivate
Founded2010 (2010)
Founders
  • Linden Tibbets
  • Alexander Tibbets
  • Jesse Tane
  • Scott Tong
[1]
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
,
United States
ProductsComputing platforms
Number of employees
30[2]
Websiteifttt.com

IFTTT has partnerships with different providers of everyday services as well as using public APIs to integrate them with each other through its platform. They supply event notifications to IFTTT and execute commands that implement the responses.[8]

History

On December 14, 2010, Linden Tibbets, the co-founder of IFTTT, posted a blog post titled "ifttt the beginning..." on the IFTTT website, announcing the new project. The first IFTTT applications were designed and developed by Linden with co-founders Jesse Tane and Alexander Tibbets. The product was officially launched on September 7, 2011.[9][10]

By April 2012, users had created one million tasks.[11] In June 2012, the service entered the internet of things space by integrating with Belkin Wemo devices,[12] allowing applets to interact with the physical world. In July 2013, IFTTT released an iPhone app and later released a version for iPad and iPod touch.[13] An Android version was launched in July 2014.[14] By the end of 2014, the IFTTT business was valued at approximately US$170 million.[15]

On February 19, 2015, IFTTT launched three new applications: Do Button (that triggers an action when it is pressed), Do Camera (which automatically uploads an image to services such as Facebook, Twitter, and Dropbox), and Do Notes (which uploads text to services).[16] In November 2016, the four apps were merged. By December 2016, the company announced a partnership with JotForm to integrate an applet to create actions in other applications.[17][18]

Part of IFTTT's revenue comes from IFTTT platform partners, who pay to have their products connected to the service.[19]

On September 10, 2020, the service switched to a limited freemium model with a subscription-based version known as "IFTTT Pro", which allows services to use conditional statements and query data for more complex tasks. At the same time, all existing users were limited to three custom applets, being required to subscribe to Pro in order to remove this limitation.[20][21] This decision generated criticism from IFTTT's community of users.[22]

Features

Overview
Screenshot of the IFTTT website

IFTTT employs the following concepts:

  • Services (formerly known as channels) are the basic building blocks of IFTTT.[23] They mainly describe a series of data from a certain web service such as YouTube or eBay. Services can also describe actions controlled with certain APIs, like SMS. Sometimes, they can represent information in terms of weather or stocks.[24] Each service has a particular set of triggers and actions.[25]
  • Triggers are the part of an applet represented as "This" in the "If This Then That" acronym. They are the items that trigger the action. For example, from an RSS feed, you can receive a notification based on a keyword or phrase.[8]
  • Actions are the "that" part of an applet. They are the output that results from the input of the trigger.
  • Applets (formerly known as recipes) are the predicates made from triggers and actions. For example, a user would activate a trigger by liking a picture on Instagram and the applet would do an action, like sending the photo to their Dropbox account.[23]
  • "Ingredients" are basic data available from a trigger—from the email trigger, for example; subject, body, attachment, received date, and sender’s address.[23]

Usage examples
  • IFTTT can automate web application tasks, such as posting the same content on several social networks.
  • Marketing professionals can use IFTTT to track mentions of companies in RSS feeds.[26]
  • IFTTT also is used in home automation, for instance switching on a light when detecting motion in a room (with associated compliant devices).[12]

Reception and impact

IFTTT was featured on Time magazine's "50 Best Websites 2012" list.[27] Microsoft developed a similar product called Microsoft Flow (later renamed Microsoft Power Automate).[28]

See also

References
  1. Tibbets, Linden. "ifttt the beginning..." IFTTT blog. Archived from the original on December 30, 2010. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  2. "IFTTT". Fast Company. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  3. "Brand guidelines". IFTTT. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  4. "About IFTTT". Archived from the original on 15 October 2014. Retrieved 16 Oct 2014.
  5. Elyas Ben Hadj Yahia (18 Jan 2018) "A Language-Based Approach for Web Service Composition", Université de Bordeaux. pp. 42-43
  6. "IFTTT". Craft. Retrieved 2021-08-17. IFTTT is a company building an internet automation service that enables users to create connections...
  7. Finnegan, James A. Martin and Matthew (2020-09-25). "What is IFTTT? How to use If This, Then That services". Computerworld. Retrieved 2022-09-25.
  8. Peers, Nick (October 2, 2014). "Your Online Life Made Simpler, Thanks to IFTTT". Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  9. Alexander, Jesse (September 7, 2011). "ifttt is alive!". Archived from the original on September 24, 2011. Retrieved November 8, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. "ifttt is alive!". September 7, 2011. Archived from the original on September 24, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  11. "One million tasks created". April 30, 2012. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  12. Panzarino, Matthew (June 20, 2012). "Task automation tool IFTTT gets new look, moves into physical world with Belkin WeMo compatibility". Archived from the original on August 6, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
  13. "The power of IFTTT, now in your pocket". June 10, 2013. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  14. "The power of IFTTT, now on Android". April 24, 2014. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  15. "10 most valued Internet of Things startups from around the world". February 2, 2015. Archived from the original on February 10, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  16. "IFTTT launches 3 new apps to create an easy button for the web". Yahoo Finance. 2015-02-19. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  17. "JotForm and IFTTT's New Integration Connects Form Responses to Hundreds of New Apps". PR Newswire. 6 December 2016. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  18. "6 Little-Known IFTTT Applets Your Company Should Try". Tech.co. 7 December 2016. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  19. "IFTTT Opens Partner Platform; Introduces Applets". uk.finance.yahoo.com. 2 November 2016. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  20. "IFTTT Pro will let users create more complex actions for $10 per month". Engadget. Archived from the original on 2020-09-14. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  21. Ricker, Thomas (2020-09-10). "IFTTT introduces Pro subscriptions, limits free version to three applets". The Verge. Archived from the original on 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  22. Charlton, Alistair. "IFTTT Pro causes user backlash as free access restricted". Gearbrain. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  23. "About IFTTT". IFTTT.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  24. Ackerman, Elise (September 23, 2012). "San Francisco Startup Lets Anyone Control The Internet of Things". forbes.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  25. "IFTTT Channels". IFTTT.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  26. Angeles, Sara (August 12, 2013). "10 Ways IFTTT Can Help Your Business". Archived from the original on October 22, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  27. Carbone, Nick (2012-09-16). "Check out If This Then That on TIME's 50 Best Websites list". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  28. Foley, Mary Jo (2016-05-04). "Where did Microsoft's new Flow event-automation service come from?". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2016-11-25. Retrieved 2016-11-25. Microsoft's new alternative to IFTTT can trace its origins back to a couple of other services developed by the company's Cloud and Enterprise group. [...] 'Microsoft Flow is a stand-alone SaaS Service that is designed for broad usage, including business users that want to automate day-to-day tasks. [...]'
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