IFTTT plugin

[spud]

I'm working on a plugin to interface HS with IFTTT

IFTTT ("If This Then That") is a service that let you connect different web applications together.
It enables users to create "Recipes" that fit the simple statement: "if this then that". The “this” part of a Recipe is called a Trigger. Some example Triggers are “I’m tagged in a photo on Facebook” or “I check in on Foursquare”. The “that” part of a Recipe is called an Action. Some example Actions are “send me a text message” or “create a status message on Facebook”

Currently there is 80 channels available: Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, GCalendar, Pushover, Dropbox, WeMo switches, Phillips hue... and many more. The full list is here: https://ifttt.com/channels
One limitation of IFTTT is that the triggers are only evaluated once every 15 minutes, so you can't use it for things that need an instant response.

As IFTTT can only use cloud based services as channels, the plugin will use your Dropbox account as an intemediary to make HS and IFTTT talk together.

I would like to know how many people would be interested in such a plugin, and what kind of things would you do with it?

[boundouny]

IFTTT plugin

hello spud. it's à good idea

[travisdh]

It is an interesting idea, I think that it could also be useful for a watchdog style service that is external to your homeseer computer, for example if no devices have been updated for x minutes / hours then that could be a trigger.

It would be good to be able to trigger events from ifttt as well, so something triggers and an action is to trigger event or change device string / value (this allows not having to open up the HS server to the world!).

If i were using it, I would want to be able to know if my homeseer system stops updating, which I could use to trigger pushover or other actions to let me know, it would be handy to be able to log data from devices to a google spreadsheet (e.g. CSV but web based), and also it would be handy to be able to trigger an event / script with data from ifttt when another trigger is received.

For example, with my withings scales when I stand on them it weighs and sends me an email that I then parse, it would be cool to get it to be able to trigger a script with parameters from ifttt skipping the email part.

[kenrad]

I would be very interested in this plug in. I currently use IFTTT with some of my phillips hue stuff to change the color of my lights when my sports teams score or when I receive emails I have had lamp blink, but this would allow for far greater options.

I think that jsut to be able to trigger HS events from IFTTT would be a huge addition


Cheers Ken

[spud]

the plugin will work in both directions:
- trigger HS events from IFTTT
- trigger IFTTT recipe from HS

[kenrad]

the plugin will work in both directions:
- trigger HS events from IFTTT
- trigger IFTTT recipe from HS

thats awesome Spud can wait to see it !!!!

[efrey]

Check out Atooma - IFTTT-like Android app that runs natively on your smartphone

I found a new Android (and iphone) app (http://www.atooma.com/) that I am beginning to like -- a lot . I have played with IFTTT for months now and Atooma appears to be much better for what I really want to do -- use my smartphone, its sensors and situational context to automatically control, or receive alerts from, my HS system.

Atooma is similar to IFTTT but does a much better job at using the sensors and states of your smartphone to trigger events (is bluetooth on/off, am I connected to my home wifi network, am I moving, am I near a GPS position, time of day, how fast am I moving, ...). Since Atooma runs as an app on your phone, it can do things faster than IFTTT cloud-based services. It has a dropbox connection (as well as many other "cloud services") so it can leverage Spud's IFTTT dropbox-based plugin that is the basis of this IFTTT Thread. (Some people have criticized the architecture of using dropbox, but it sure came in nice to interface to a new app like atooma that just happened to support Dropbox.)

If you have an Android, download the Atooma app, and begin playing with it. Here are some things I threw together in less than hour this morning:
- read SMS messages aloud while driving (one of their sample apps)
- geofencing triggers -- based on GPS location or based on connected to my home wifi network
- check for and remove a dropbox file; send alert to phone, send sms message to phone, send email
- add triggers for time of day, location, light sensor, wifi connection, and just about anything else your smartphone knows about

My next step is to create some IFTTT-plugin based scripts that do the following:
- when I drive through an intersection on my way home from work, and it is dark and it is a weekday, then adjust my thermostat and turn on my driveway lights
- when I leave home (either GPS or no longer connected to my home WiFi network) turn down my thermostat and my driveway lights off

The basic format of the event and trigger is:
If trigger1 [and trigger2 and trigger 3 and ....] then event1 [, event2, event 3, ...]
The user interface is extremely easy to use and has much faster response than IFTTT web-based recipe creation.

The performance of this app seems faster than IFTTT web service -- especially when a trigger is location-based (instantaneous versus a minute or more). One can publish and share new Atooma scripts (equivalent to IFTTT recipes) with others on the web.

It looks like Atooma supports creating custom Plugins, but I haven't dug into that. Perhaps a HS plugin is in order ...

Not sure of these Atooma's business model, but they have done a very nice job on their app.