Computer Shopper 2019-11-01

ADVANCEDPROJECTS

ISSUE 381|COMPUTERSHOPPER|NOVEMBER 2019 129

and description before clicking the Applets
tab.Click the New Applet lozenge,near the
topright, and you can get started. Unlike the
standard method of constructing an Applet,
the Platform drops the ‘If This Then That’
statement foravertical timeline.Stage one
is to add your Trigger by selecting aservice,
forexample Flic (a smart button). Youthen
choose any ancillary conditions; in our case,
either when aFlic is clicked, or when aFlic
with atag is clicked.
Next, some user choices appear.Inour
case,this allows the eventual user to select
which Flic button to use,and how it will be
used (you can single-press, double-press or

long-press the button).

In the latter case,we

could select whether we

or the user sets the action.

If you select Customizable

by the user,your Applet

will be more flexible but

could have toomany

confusing options.

FILTER CODE

There is the option to add

filter code to your Applet,

which can add abit of

finesse or extra abilities not

typically available via the

standard options. Youcan

skip this step and click the

Addaction lozenge on the

timeline.Once you’ve

added one Action, the

ability to add asecond

will appear.Keep adding

Actions until you’ve got

your advanced, multi-step

Applet. Each Action can link

to the same service or entirely different

ones, and each service will have different

variables and parameters to set.

In our example,asingle press of the Flic

smart button changes the lighting of our

Philips Hue lights (the user will define the

Scene: either dimly lit, or vibrant and

colourful), starts aplaylist on our Sonos

speakers (again, the user will define that

playlist, so it can be slow and smooth or

ahomebrew rave), and also control the

room’s blinds via the Motion smart blind

device (again, the user can set whether

that’s rolling the blinds all the waydown

NEXT MONTH

UPGRADEYOUR COOLING

We show you how to measure,assess

and upgrade your PC’s cooling to prevent

overheating and slowdown

or to afavouritelevel). Addatitle and

description to your Applet, and you’re ready

to save your creation. Once you’ve pressed

Save,you’re taken to your Applets

dashboard, where you can test your Applet

by clicking on it and then clicking Connect.

IfNot,ThenWhat?

IFTTT isn’t entirely comprehensive; there are missing services

and abilities that some people might find useful. However,

there are alternatives. Forexample,Zapier (seezapier.com)

focuses on linking web apps and workflows forbusiness

users. While Zapier and IFTTT both support alot of the

common online business services –from MailChimp and

Trello,toAirtable and Facebook Pages –Zapier includes

more,such as ClickFunnels, MySQL and HelloSign.

Zapier also includes multiple actions forsingle triggers as

standard (in the paid-for service), so you can flow work or

data intomultiple services or synchronise across multiple

data sets. However,the free version of Zapier limits you to

five two-step ‘Zaps’ aday;the $20-a-month subscription

unlocks 20 multi-step Zaps, as well as access to premium

apps. Zapier itself has no app,relying solely on its website.

Microsofthas also recently launched an automation

service called Flow (seeflow.microsoft.com). Flow mainly

works with Microsoftapps and offers two-step ‘templates’

to link its services and applications (called connectors).

The free service limits you to 750 ‘runs’ amonth, but you

can createasmany ‘flows’ as you want, which will be

activated at 15-minuteintervals. For$5per user per month,

you get 4,500 runs amonth, with three-minuteupdates and

access to the premium connectors. ⬆Zapierisabusiness-focusedalternativeto IFTTT,butyou’llhaveto payforsomeservices

⬆Anumber of appliance manufacturers are supported by IFTTT,so

there’ll be no excuses fornot emptying the dishwasher