If This, Then... What?

If you were to ask me what I think the whole point of home automation is, I would say it's "To make things around your house do what you want, without asking." The way you typically do this is by creating rules in your home automation system, just like you do in an email client. For example, just like you might say anything from a particular email address is automatically filed in a certain folder, you could say that a particular light in your house goes on whenever a room gets too dark.

The issue is that a lot of home automation systems won't talk to each other. So if you have one brand of sensor, and another brand of smart power outlet, the two devices probably won't talk to each other, because the two brands aren't friendly with each other. So you're left with two choices: Stick with one brand of smart devices, which is fairly limiting, or find a middle man technology to bridge the gap between the two brands.

That's where a delightful service called IFTTT comes in. IFTTT stands for If This Then That, which is basically the rule system we just talked about: If This room is dark, Then That outlet turns on. IFTTT works by adding "Channels," which are different ways of triggering actions, or the actions themselves. The great thing about IFTTT is that it's completely independent from any hardware company, like Belkin or Philips. And many of these companies are including native support for IFTTT in their products. So you can have a WeMo switch control a Philibs Hue bulb.


There are endless possibilities with a system like this. You can have your lights blink every time you get an email, or have your coffee pot turn on when it gets cold. Even if you don't have any smart devices yet, IFTTT is a fantastic service, and you can browse the various recipes people have already made to get some inspiration.