What’s All the Fuss About?
Microsoft Flow
What is it?
A new web service (and app) from Microsoft that lets you set up automated tasks between programs and tools, thereby taking the effort out of repetitive actions. For example, you can tell Outlook.com to always save email attachments in Onedrive, Microsoft’s online storage service. Or you can tell your Outlook calendar to share events with your Google Calendar.
So it works with non-microsoft programs?
Yes. Indeed, you can tell Outlook.com to save attachments to Google Drive and Dropbox, as well as to Onedrive. The idea is to let all your different tools work seamlessly. Set up a task – which Microsoft calls ‘templates’ – then sit back and let them operate in the background.
Is it free?
Yes, although with restrictions. Microsoft is aiming Flow at business users, who can pay up to $15 (£12) a month for 15,000 ‘runs’, which is how often a template performs an action. This would let you save 15,000 Outlook attachments to Onedrive. But you don’t need to run a business to use it. The free version gives you 750 runs a month, which is more than enough for most people.
Isn’t there another service that does the same thing?
You’re probably thinking of IFTTT ( https://ifttt.com), which stands for ‘If this, then that’. Launched in 2011, it lets you create ‘recipes’ that connect two services, such as: if I receive an email, notify me on Skype: www.snipca.com/22537.
So is Flow better?
No, but then it has only just come out of beta, so it’s early days. IFTTT’S great advantage is that it’s had a five-year head start over Flow, giving it time to build thousands of tasks, including hundreds for Microsoft’s services (such as Onedrive: https://ifttt.com/onedrive). Currently IFTTT works with 375 programs and tools, many more than Flow’s 58.
Is it worth trying Flow then?
Definitely. If you already use IFTTT, you’ll find it interesting to see how Flow compares. The problem is that Microsoft doesn’t make it easy to set up tasks. Let’s take the aforementioned Outlook-to-one Drive template as an example. First, you’ll need to sign in (at the top right) on the website: https://flow.microsoft.com. Next, click Templates at the top left, scroll down and look for the ‘Saving attachments from Outlook.com’ task, then click it (alternatively go to www.snipca.com/22538). On this page click the blue ‘Use this template button’ (see screenshot above), and sign into your Outlook and Onedrive accounts. You will then be asked to give these tools various permissions.
What kind of permissions?
To view and manage your emails, which sounds scarier than it is. It just means that Microsoft will be allowed to move your attachments into Onedrive, not actually see what’s written in the emails (IFTTT requires similar access). Up to this point, Flow appears to be straightforward. But you’re then shown a page that seems to have been especially designed to flummox you (see screenshot left). Microsoft uses jargon that no sane person would use (“using the default values for the parameters”), and bamboozles you with confusing options.
Ah. So what’s the solution?
A Workshop, which we’ll publish in our next issue. We’ll bust the jargon and provide clear instructions, giving you the confidence to go with the Flow.