In fact, we have talked about the service and how useful it is in some past entries on this site (like this one or this other one for example), which kind of made it even more confusing that it wasn’t available as an iPhone app. Well, that time has come to an end, since the native iPhone app of IFTTT is available now and it does sport some really great features that will certainly make it essential for many iPhone users out there. Let’s take a better look at what the IFTTT app can do.
Using the IFTTT App on iPhone
Once you open the IFTTT iPhone app, you are welcomed by a tutorial that, while didactic, in my opinion fails to convey properly the idea behind IFTTT, especially for new users unfamiliar with the service. Thankfully though, being a mobile app means that a vast majority of users will use the IFTTT app as a way to consume many of the existing recipes instead of trying to create new ones. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, especially since there already seem to be quite a large amount of existing recipes to choose from, from the app’s menu. To summarize what the IFTTT iPhone app is about: Just as on its web, the IFTTT iPhone app is based on the premise of “recipes”. While on the web these involve different “channels” (or other web services), on the iPhone these commonly involve other apps. In short, the IFTTT iPhone app allows you to use an action on one app to trigger and action on another. Note: Android users can try a similar app called Atooma to create IFTTT-like recipes. In this case, I choose to use a very simple recipe that sends any new picture from my Camera Roll to my email. And this is perhaps the strongest point of the IFTTT iPhone app: All you need to do in order to start using a simple, yet powerful recipe such as this is to read a short description and tap the screen a couple of times. Of course, besides using ready-made recipes, you can also create new ones from scratch from the app’s menu by using the existing channels. And that’s about it for the IFTTT iPhone app. It really is a very well-developed application, especially considering how simple and easy to use they have made a service whose background operation must be quite complex. Because of this simplicity and of how powerful some of its recipes can be, the IFTTT app for iPhone will definitely appeal to a broad range of users. And since it is free, you have no excuse not to try it out. You will most likely find at least one or two recipes that you like.
