HOW TO. . . WORK LESS

Automate dull tasks with IFTTT, Zapier and Microsoft Flow

We’re all plugged into dozens of different web services and devices – but all of them work in their own little silos. You might have an Android smartphone, Philips Hue lights, an Apple iPad, accounts with Dropbox, Gmail and Wunderlist, but making this diverse set of digital accoutrements work with one another is tough.

Services such as If This Then That (IFTTT) are the glue that bind these services together. Using a simple web interface or app, you’ll find it’s possible to get your iPhone talking to your smart plug, your Spotify playlists backed up in a Google spreadsheet, your eBay listings automatically tweeted to potential buyers.

Better still, it can make smart home devices even smarter. Alexa can be told to dim your lights, turn down the heating or lock the garage door, even though Amazon itself doesn’t support the smart devices. Someone ringing your smart door can trigger a hallway light to switch on, perhaps sufficient to convince a would-be burglar that someone really is home after all. Your neighbours could even be alerted to potential fires in your home while you’re sunning yourself on a Mediterranean beach.

In this feature, we’ve delivered more than 80 ways of making services IFTTT, Zapier and Microsoft Flow do the heavy lifting, to do the hard work while you get on with your life. We’ll show you how to automate a huge number of tasks, and how to create your own applets and make your devices do your bidding for you. It’s time to automate everything.