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When If This Then That emerged in 2012, it was something of a curiosity, albeit a wonky one.
The service allowed users to tie together disparate applications into "recipes." Through IFTTT, for example, you could set up a system to get a text notification when a particular person posts to Instagram.
It was useful (disclosure: I have an IFTTT recipe that texts me the weather every morning) but not the most user friendly service. It required a unreasonable amount of effort to set up, and it was also limited in what you could connect. Cool idea, but maybe a little early.
On Wednesday, IFTTT announced its second act. The core is still the same — IFTTT is the connective tissue between all the disparate things in your life — but the user experience is dramatically different. If it works, you won't need to do much with IFTTT anymore — the services you use will do it for you.
The biggest change is moving beyond "recipes" to "Applets." Where recipes were relatively limited in what they could do (not much beyond simple if-then commands), Applets are far more capable. They're also meant to be far simpler for users. Instead of building recipes, IFTTT is pushing Applets as new features that developers can build within their own apps.
"IFTTT Applets enable a future where all of our services work together. Every business is a technology company, and every tech company is rapidly becoming a service," said Linden Tibbets, IFTTT co-founder and CEO. "Applets help those services integrate quickly and easily, in a way that we can all trust. We're building an internet that works for you."
To this end, IFTTT is launching a partner platform that it hopes will attract the companies behind every app on your phone. The company launched the platform in "Phase 1" in November, attracting more than 100 new companies to program IFTTT Applets. More than 440 services are now connected through IFTTT.
The offer to companies is clear — IFTTT can make your services reach far beyond current limitations.
Credit: IFTTTIFTTT isn't just gunning for companies. It's also making a push for individual programmers to begin making Applets through a "Maker" program.
This program is also IFTTT's way forward as a business. Corporate partners pay a fee to use IFTTT's service, either $199 per month or $499 per month. The "Maker" tier is free.
The goal is to make something of a virtuous cycle (that also resembles something of a network effect for companies). The more services use IFTTT and build more Applets, the more each company will benefit from being on the platform.
It's an intriguing notion, particularly given the recent explosion in the world of connected devices — as well as consumer expectations that those devices be able to connect. Projections vary on the number of connected devices currently in use, but they all number in the billions. One oft-referenced projection predicts 50 billion connected devices in use by 2020.
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