IFTTT for iPad brings service/device mashups to your favorite tablet
I have an amazing amount of love and respect for IFTTT.com, an online service that provides an easy way to connect apps, devices, and services in ways that make them much more useful. Want to get a phone call from your house telling you that your basement is flooded? Use IFTTT, a moisture sensor connected to a SmartThings Hub, and the IFTTT phone call channel. Maybe you want to keep track of how much time you spend at a local bar... Pull up IFTTT and use the iOS Location and Dropbox channels to create a log file of every time you go to or leave that bar.
Up until now, IFTTT fans either had to log into the desktop website or use the iPhone app to create new recipes or tweak old ones. Last week the free IFTTT for iPad app showed up, and it's a no-brainer download for anyone who uses IFTTT.
The app is designed perfectly for the iPad and iPad mini screen, featuring a browser mode that reminds me of nothing less than the App Store. Curated collections, featured recipes, all-time favorites, recipes that are trending, and new recently added recipes all have their place on the Browse screen. If you'd rather manage your existing recipes and see a log of when they were triggered, just tap a good-sized toggle in the upper right corner of the app display and you are in "Manage" mode.
The left side of the management screen provides a running timeline of when your recipes were triggered, while the right side has a list of your recipes. To turn one off or on, there's the familiar iOS 7 green switch on each recipe. With a tap of the recipe, you can turn notifications on or off, check the recipe, edit it, share it, or delete it. Large arrows on the personal recipe display let you scroll left or right through those recipes, making group edits (of a phone number change, for example) quite simple.
For new IFTTT users, the iPad app provides a very simple five-screen introduction to the service the first time the app is launched. You can sign in if you're already an IFTTT user, or create a new account from the app.
If you're not currently using IFTTT, it's time to give it a try -- especially if you're an iPad owner. The app is beautiful, sweet icing on the IFTTT cake and you're going to love it.
