Working on Apilio templates and creating new applets for the Community

[Anna]

Hi everyone!

We are currently working on a new way to help you setup your home automation logic even faster with templates that will tell you exactly which applets to enable and will create Conditions, Logicblocks and Action names for you automatically.

Because of this, we are going to be creating many new applets in IFTTT, as we want to provide the direct link to the applet you need to enable.

Applets created by Apilio do not count towards your 3 free applets with IFTTT

Here is the list of already created IFTTT applet templates:
IFTTT + Apilio applet templates: expanding list with links

Let us know which applets you need

You can respond to this thread, or answer this quick survey if you prefer: https://forms.gle/ZaBe49ERR2BmEqj36

For each applet, we need to know:

• The trigger: for example: Weather underground + Forecast tomorrow
• The action: for example: Apilio + update string variable

We will only consider applets where either your trigger or your action is using Apilio.

Let us know about your automations and how you are using the applets, as we are looking for more templates to create!!

Thanks

[Anna]

Hi all, I wanted to respond here to some of you who have already answered the survey, thanks for that!

If you need Weather Underground + Sunrise or Sunset, you don’t need an applet for this combination anymore as time events and time frames are now native in Apilio. You don’t need to setup a variable either: these are created as conditions straight away: For example, if you wanted a condition to make sure your logic only runs during night time, this is what you would setup in Apilio to create this time frame that starts at sunset and finishes at sunrise:

If you are using a variable that is set to true at a specific time of the day (this is a time event, it only happens once a day), for example, a"late-night" variable that is set to true every day at 22:45, you can also set this up in Apilio and you don’t need a variable anymore. You’ll also be able to use this as your trigger, without any other applets:

Learn more about Apilio’s native time conditions and triggers:

Here’s the full article if you need more information:

How to setup and use time conditions

In Apilio, you can setup time conditions to control when your actions are allowed to run. Conditions are the rules in your Logicblocks (your routines). Time Conditions are particularly handy as they allow you to reliably schedule automated activities at home or at work. Let’s see how you can set these Conditions up: What’s a Time Condition? Time Conditions relate to times of the day, the week, the month or the year, so they restrict the times when a specific logic can be run. Time events an…

Let me know if you have any questions, thanks!

[clancyduncan]

In light of the recent IFTTT changes, with free accounts limited to 3 applets, this example uses the entire allotment. What can be changed to use fewer (none?) IFTTT applets to accomplish this simple automation?

Having native time conditions have already helped. It seems native location conditions are needed, as well. Native Apilio conditions that act as triggers will eliminate a significant amount of user-created IFTTT applets. Then we need Apilio-created IFTTT applets that are flexible enough to be triggered by ANY specified Apilio logicblock and then perform ANY specified service action.

Somehow, we need to get the service (hardware) providers on-board with this. I use WEMO products throughout, because they are compatible with Alexa + Siri + IFTTT. It takes me 4 IFTTT applets just to turn off everything I want when I leave home. WEMO needs to come out with device grouping capability and group actions, which Apilio-created applets can call, triggered by Apilio native conditions (turn a group of devices ON at sunset, turn them off 4 hours later, etc.)

You guys know this as well as me. I am sure you are just as frustrated as I am with the situation.

[clancyduncan]

Example referenced above is the “Come home and dark, turn on light” listed in Apilio Use Cases.

[Anna]

Hi @clancyduncan! Thanks for your message, we totally understand, we are working to have many applets ready so you can choose the service and the actions as needed.

I can help with the applet limit question: only applets that you create following the link https://ifttt.com/create count towards the 3-applet limit. But any applets that a brand like Apilio creates as a “template” can be connected and don’t count towards the limit. These you can use as many as you like for free.

Source: Linden clarified this here: https://twitter.com/ltibbets/status/1303853233064951809

For our use cases, we are preparing these new templates that will tell you exactly which applet to activate, providing a direct link to the applet that must be connected. For example, for this use case you mention:

It's dark, I'm arriving home, turn lights on....Please

This smart automation was suggested by one of our users and since sharing is caring, here you have all the details to replicate this at your own home. [Apilio use case - turn lights on for 30 mins when Im getting home] Imagine that you want to turn on your foyer lights on when it’s dark at night, but only as you get close to your home. You could use this to quietly let your partner know that you are almost there, or for creating anticipation for your waiting-for-their-night-walk pets . A…

This template needs:

• 1 native time condition in Apilio, to check if it’s dark outside (between sunset and sunrise)
• 1 external trigger: check that I’m close to home
• 2 Actions: one to turn on the light and one to turn it off.

For example, to setup the actions, you will enable the ready-made applets from Apilio, depending on your device.

If you have a Philips Hue light bulb for example, you’ll use:

Trigger brand	Trigger	Action brand	Action	URL
Apilio	Receives an event from Apilio	Philips Hue	Turn on lights	https://ifttt.com/applets/mBiHksZF
Apilio	Receives an event from Apilio	Philips Hue	Turn off lights	https://ifttt.com/applets/RQCKVxke

If you have a SmartThings light bulb for example, you’ll use:

Trigger brand	Trigger	Action brand	Action	URL
Apilio	Receives an event from Apilio	SmartThings	Switch on	https://ifttt.com/applets/nJXejSBD
Apilio	Receives an event from Apilio	SmartThings	Switch off	https://ifttt.com/applets/VtEwWbp2

We are preparing many new applets that will speed up setup and facilitate your connection between Apilio and IFTTT

[clancyduncan]

Anna,

Thanks for the update. I see the applets you have created using the IFTTT Location triggers. Those should help eliminate loads of user-created applets.

IFTTT Location works great for single person households. For users with multi-person households, Life360 works better. Consider creating applets that use the Life360 location triggers; “You Enter”, “You Exit”, “First Person Enters” and “Last Person Exits”. That will help the rest of us eliminate more user-created applets.

On the response side of things, consider applets of the form, “If IFTTT receives a (fill-in-blank) event from Apilio then (fill-in-blank).” I don’t know; maybe more complicated?

If we have fill-in-blank trigger applets and response applets, then almost all the user-created work can be done in Apilio, and not run up against the 3 applet IFTTT limit.

[Anna]

Hi @clancyduncan, Life360 applets are coming

It is also possible to link two IFTTT accounts to the same Apilio account, so you can use the location service:

Two ifttt acounts on one apilio acount

It is possible to have two IFTTT accounts connected to one Apilio Account. So in practice, you log into IFTTT account X and connect with Apilio Account 1 then login with IFTTT account Y and connect with Apilio Account 1. This scenario works with information flow in both ways, so you can trigger actions in two IFTTT accounts or set variables in Apilio from different IFTTT accounts! We have plans to have more features for multi-user scenarios (i.e. sharing variables between accounts).

Depending on your setup, I would also recommend using an applet that checks if your phone is connected or disconnected from a specific WiFi: your home WiFi. This is in some instances more reliable that the Location service to trigger logic that depends on you and/or someone else being home.

The applets we are creating are fill-in-the-blanks in the sense that you’ll have to specify which device you want to use, or the event you are listening to, or the variable you want to update.

When creating an applet, we (and any IFTTT brand/user) must specify the trigger and action. Also, same action cannot be repeated (which is something you do on Apilio all the time!).

Remember that any applets that Apilio creates do not count towards your 3 applet limit. So they don’t necessarily have to be packed with actions, we can keep them simple and yet flexible

[clancyduncan]

So, apparently, we can only use an Apilio-created IFTTT applet once? For example, if I use the “enter area, set Apilio variable” applet for one area/variable, then I am unable to use the applet again for a different area, different variable? Is there a way around this limitation?

[pebneter]

This is in fact a problem the we weren’t fully aware of at the beginning, but there is that limitation as you describe it.
The only way around it that we have found so far is to duplicate (or more) templates. Which would be kind of silly, but if that is what’s needed, we could even do that.

[clancyduncan]

Agree with AND(“silly”, )

IFTTT seems determined to get their pound of flesh from home consumers, rather than from service and hardware developers.

[nathan]

I’m still working through trying to migrate as much as I can over and see whether I can make sense of this all before I sign up far IFTTT Pro for a year (though I might do that just to buy myself the time to sort this all out…)

Templates that would be super useful for me would be doing math on numeric variables, and setting numeric variables. The new time triggers look pretty fantastic so far

It also doesn’t help that some of my services just decided to stop integrating with IFTTT. Really trying to put the pieces of my “smart” home back together. Thanks for all the work y’all are doing!

[pebneter]

@nathan

Templates that would be super useful for me would be doing math on numeric variables, and setting numeric variables.

Hi @Nathan,
we have some templates for numeric variables and we are happy to create more. Just tell us what combinations you are missing.