Time is a luxury many people can’t afford in today’s mobile society. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are just a few of the many applications people use on a daily basis, but, if you are a public relations professional, that list drastically grows. This can seem overwhelming due to the fast paced world, but IFTTT offers a solution to streamlining your mobile and home needs.
Features
IFTTT, standing for “if this then that,” is an app for mobile devices that allows you to create conditional statements between your applications and your needs.
Perhaps you want the temperature in you house to adjust to 75 degrees when you go to work but lower to 72 degrees when you leave work. IFTTT can make that happen using your GPS positioning if you have a compatible thermostat and location services enabled.
Maybe you want to automatically add Twitter users to custom lists based on hashtags they use in their posts. IFTTT can do this for you.
Perhaps you want to create a spreadsheet to track Twitter mentions of your business to your Dropbox. You can do that without complex coding through IFTTT.
Installation and Ease of Use
Installing IFTTT is easy. Both Android and iOS app stores have downloads available. The setup is as simple as signing in with Facebook or Twitter. You then create applets (formerly recipes) based on your desired uses.
The first time you create an applet for an app, IFTTT will require you to login to the app and authorize IFTTT to use the app. You don’t have to reauthorize the app again.
IFTTT even provides recommended applets and includes a search feature so you can install applets without creating them yourself unless you want to create one.
IFTTT also integrates with Buffer, allowing users to schedule posts from Instagram to Twitter, Facebook, and others. Unfortunately, IFTTT does not currently support Hootsuite.
Pricing and Plans
IFTTT is currently free, and there are no paid options. You have full functionality from your first installation.
Limitations
IFTTT is limited by its participating applications.
- Not every app is supported. Sadly, as previously mentioned, Hootsuite is one of those apps. Adding Hootsuite would be extremely useful.
- Each applet can only include two apps, but you can create unlimited applets. An advanced mode that allow additional apps for each applet would be nice.
- Editing applets you previously created can be challenging. This could be simplified. It’s often easier to create a new applet, taking less than a minute.
Conclusion and Recommendations
IFTTT provides a relatively smooth inter-app integration, streamlining your workflow for free. This app is a must have for communications professionals, and most users will enjoy the functionality of IFTTT. There are too many possibilities available to describe. The app is extremely easy to use on iOS based devices. The designers made its usage seamless.
IFTTT can help you automatically do almost anything you would normally do using a mobile device based on conditions you set. Download IFTTT. Try it, and share your favorite applets in the comments section below.
Wish App
Public Relations is a growing field, and there are many apps that provide functionality; however, my dream app would include the inter-app functionality of IFTTT and the creative abilities of Adobe Spark Page.