Since launching nearly four years ago, the IFTTT (If This Then That) web service platform has enabled its users to connect a variety of online tools and services through unique “recipes” that are based on an “if this happens, then do this” formula. To date, these recipes have included everything from automatically receiving an email if a forecast predicts rain to saving Facebook photos with a particular tag to a dedicated Dropbox folder and thousands of others – all created by the community and free to use.
Of course, while the ability to automatically automate web application tasks is certainly a very powerful thought, one can only imagine what this might mean as we enter an age of more connected hardware devices in addition to our existing phones, tablets and laptops.
Within the last year, the platform has started to integrate its service into a collection of connected home products including Wink devices, Nest Thermostat, SmartThings, WeMo switches and other off-the-shelf products.
Now, to help support an ever-increasing web of connected hardware devices that are made by hackers, tinkers, Makers developers and hobbyists, the platform has just announced that they are launching a new recipe channel called The Maker Channel.
“The Maker Channel extends the power of IFTTT to any DIY project, big or small,” said the company in a recent blog post. “You can now build and connect Recipes to any device or service that can make or receive a web request.”
Among other automations that are possible with the new channel include creating browser extensions that can connect to any number of Raspberry Pi devices or connecting an Arduino to Twitter to give real-time updates.
Of course, creating an IFTTT recipe will take a few minutes to get used to, but it’s a skill that will likely keep on giving as the platform continues to grow – currently, the platform’s users are “cooking” over 20 million “recipes” each day.
Find out more by heading over to IFTTT.
