According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average person takes around 20,000 breaths per day. That’s 20,000 chances to bring fresh, clean air into your lungs — or 20,000 chances to take in harmful, invisible pollutants. Getting to know the air around you is the first step towards taking action, and that’s why we’re excited to work with companies like Awair.

Awair is a smart device that helps you track and improve your air quality. Their sensors monitor temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and dust. You can connect your Awair to other services via IFTTT to get customized air quality alerts, track pollutants, and more.







Awair is also one of our first partners to integrate IFTTT directly into their app, making it even easier for their users to understand their air quality and then take action.

To celebrate they’re giving away five Awair devices! Make the most of your 20,000 breaths and enter today — it’s time to get to know your air.

Visit their website to submit your name and email address for the chance to win. The contest will run from August 18th to August 26th. You can see all the terms and conditions here. Please direct any questions about the giveaway to Awair via their support page. You can also find them on Facebook. Good luck!

At IFTTT, we’re on a mission to give people more creative control over the services they use. Seamless connections between those services are a big part of that vision. Today we’re announcing an update that brings us one step closer.

We’ve worked closely with a select group of partners to add IFTTT directly into their apps. Users will be able to discover and activate IFTTT Recipes without having to leave a partner’s app. These native experiences make IFTTT more accessible than ever.

Our partners all have one thing in common: the desire to add value and enable a more seamless experience for their users. Here’s what a few of them had to say about the news:

The Ring Video Doorbell offers a unique security solution that enables homeowners to keep an eye on and protect their homes from anywhere.

“Home automation users are looking for simple interfaces. We’re excited to give our customers that experience, where they can use products they love and find new value in Ring, right from our app. We’re ready to onboard a new audience that uses Ring, but doesn’t yet realize how easy it is to do so much more with it via IFTTT. “ —Jamie Siminoff, Chief Inventor and CEO, Ring

Qapital is the everyday banking app that helps people save for the things they want.

“There’s a broader audience that isn’t getting everything they could out of Qapital yet, because they haven’t discovered our IFTTT integration. Having the option to create savings rules with IFTTT from directly in the app turns it into a seamless experience — our customers can immediately unlock more value from their relationship with us.” —Charlotte Grahn, CMO

Foobot is the first connected device that helps you monitor and control your indoor air quality.

“The new functionality, having IFTTT in our app, fits perfectly with our goal of democratizing the connected home. People need to get more from their devices, and being able to do that in the app — we see such potential.” —Jacques Touillon, Founder and CEO

The Automatic car adapter plugs into just about any car’s standard diagnostics port and connects your car’s data to your phone, and their app.

“Bringing IFTTT into the app was something we had actually talked about doing ourselves. We saw how our users responded to the Channel and we wanted to reduce the friction for everyone. So we were excited to learn that IFTTT was also thinking about creating those seamless experiences, and that we can plug right in.” —Buckley Slender-White, Head of Marketing

The Garageio Blackbox is the simplest way to control up to three separate garage doors from anywhere via their app.

“We think bringing IFTTT into our app is going to be key for user adoption, and we’re excited to see how these new users react to suddenly getting so much more out of Garageio.” —Zachary Dziczkowski, Co-founder and CEO

Here’s a peek at the Garageio in-app flow, to illustrate how the integration can look.

In June of 2015, we launched the Maker Channel. We had a feeling there was a creative community of developers that could take IFTTT and run with it, in directions we couldn’t even imagine.

It’s been just over a year, and we’re excited to say that our makers have exceeded our expectations. The growth of the Channel has been impressive: we now have over 87,000 developers, hackers and creators bringing their visions to life with IFTTT.

We’re also honored that the feeling is mutual: we were chosen as the number one cloud platform for makers in Hackster.io’s 2016 Survey.

Hundreds of millions of people all over the world rely on Skype to stay in touch. It’s been around for over a decade, and in that time some amazing things have happened. Centennial birthdays have been celebrated over video chat. A soldier 6000 miles away saw his son enter the world. Best friends found each other, a world apart. Classrooms have been connected, and businesses have been built.

That’s why we’re excited to announce that Skype is now on IFTTT, in a unique way. Here’s how to have a new kind of conversation, with the Skype Channel:

1. Connect your Skype account to IFTTT.

2. Add the IFTTT Bot to your Skype contacts.

3. Add a few Recipes! When your Recipe runs, the IFTTT Bot will automatically join your conversations to share the relevant information. Don’t worry — it won’t pipe up unless you’ve instructed it to, by adding a Recipe.

There are already lots of Skype Recipes availble to try. We’ve selected a couple of our favorites below – you can share news, weather, or let a loved one know you’re on your way:


Skype keeps the world talking, and we worked with them to create a Channel that will help keep those conversations interesting, inspiring, and useful. Connect today, and maybe you’ll be a part of the next incredible Skype story.

Research suggests that most of us don’t take enough time off. So if you’re lucky enough to be planning a vacation, we want to help you make the most of it. Try adding these Recipes to stay organized, learn everything about your destination, and record memories you can look back on fondly.

1. Pack smarter
This Recipe lets you create a packing list on-the-go, with one touch. As you remember things you’ll need to bring, you can add them to a Google sheet. Traveling with others? Add them to the sheet so they know what to bring, too.


2. Learn about your destination from the locals
Reddit has hundreds of subreddits, which are forums focused on discussing particular topics. From Thailand to Tennessee, you can find passionate communities of locals and travelers talking about the areas they know best. This Recipe will send new posts from the subreddit you choose directly to your email. Set it up before you leave home to learn about your destination and plan, and check in while you’re on the road to learn about new events or activities.


3. Stay on top of the weather
Don’t step outside without knowing exactly what to expect. This Recipe will send you a morning push notification with the weather so you know whether to carry extra sunscreen, or an umbrella.


4. Create a visual vacation diary
Day One is an app that lets you create a simple and elegant journal. This Recipe automatically adds Instagrams you take in a specific location to your Day One, where you can expand on them privately with all the details that made the photo special. When you want to remember your vacation, you’ll have a visual journal to transport you back to the moment.


5. Keep track of the locations you loved
While it might all feel memorable in the moment, a few months after you’re home you may not be able to recall that tiny restaurant you stumbled into while bumbling around a new city. This Recipe archives exactly where you were, and when. Not only is it helpful if you plan a repeat trip, but makes it easy to quickly give friends traveling to the same destination your top recommendations.


And of course, to help you truly relax, there are plenty of Recipes to help you check in with your smart home monitoring system while you’re away.

Now you’re ready to plan and enjoy an amazing vacation. Sending us a postcard is optional, but feel free to Tweet us with your best IFTTT vacation hacks and tips.

Bon voyage!

We recently spoke with Insider Trends about how IFTTT is changing the way people shop:

“…[it’s] changed the way we research and plan our shopping. We recently added Tesco as a Channel, so if you’re cooking and running out of things you can easily and automatically add them to a list or order them.

IoT is also adding a new data layer to everything. So it opens up the possibility of a new understanding of our personal habits, which can change the way we shop. For example, if I get an alert from IFTTT that I’ve hit fifty miles according to my Fitbit, that might be a data point that tells me it’s time to get new sneakers.”

- Anne Mercogliano, our VP of Marketing

Do you still shop the same way you did, ten years ago? It’s fascinating to take a step back and see how technology has altered our behavior. However, when most of us are shopping, we’re not thinking about industry trends — we want to know how to get the best deal, find exactly what we’re looking for, and other practical concerns.

To help you shop smarter, we put together this collection of IFTTT Recipes for online shopping. Here are a few to get you started:











Explore the entire collection to find more ways to bring some automation and organization to your shopping habit.

There are thousands of Recipes on IFTTT. With all of that content, that means that sometimes people find out about us via a Recipe that exists to track cat GIFs, or scan social media for alien intelligence. Those quirky edge cases are part of the fun, but if you’re new to IFTTT we want to make sure you know exactly how powerful it can be. We’re a team on a mission to improve and automate your life, and cat GIFs are only a tiny part of that (for most people…).

To help you get started, we polled the office for their most “can’t-live-without-it” Recipes in a few key categories. Try a few from this tailored list of six, and then dive into thousands more.

Social media


Visuals on Twitter are great, and Instagram makes great visuals. It should be a win-win, but unfortunately cross-posting to Twitter from Instagram leaves you with an ugly link. This Recipe makes sure your photos show up beautifully in your timeline.

See more social media Recipes in our collection.

Shopping


Enter a specific search and you’ll be first in line to bid as soon as that item pops up for sale. If you’re more of a bargain hunter (or focused on finding a new apartment!), try a similar Craigslist Recipe.

See more shopping Recipes in our collection.

The connected home


You may not have a robot butler yet, but the home of the future is already here in a million subtle ways. This Recipe uses Philips Hue smart light bulbs, but you can also set up something similar with WeMo Switch, LIFX, D-Link, Emberlight, and other smart devices.

See more Recipes for the home in our collection.

The Internet of Things


Amazon Alexa, the voice behind Amazon’s echo, dot, and tap, has quickly become a popular Channel. By syncing her with a smart thermostat you’ll be able to adjust your environment with a simple voice command. Don’t own a Nest? Try a similar Recipe featuring Ecobee, Honeywell, or another smart thermostat.

See more Recipes for the Internet of Things in our collection.

Organization


Make sure your important files and documents are organized and secure in one central place. Not a Dropbox user? You can backup to Google Drive, Evernote, or other storage services.

See more Recipes for staying organized and efficient at work in our IFTTT for marketers collection.

Staying informed


You can add the Recipe as-is to follow the New York Times technology section, or you can tailor it by choosing something else. Bring the topics that matter to you, directly into your inbox, from world-class publications.

Start with these six, and then explore all our themed collections to find more Recipes that fit your life. And here’s a bonus: get a recommended Recipe from the IFTTT team sent to your email, every day.

What kind of music lover are you? This short quiz will tell you, and match you with the perfect Recipe. Tune in (sorry) to the entire collection for even more musical hacks featuring Spotify, MusixMatch, Deezer, Soundcloud, and more.

1. What’s your favorite place to listen to music?

a) At a party, where I’m the DJ!

b) On my couch, eyes closed and no distractions.

c) At a sold-out concert.

2. What kind of music do you listen to the most?

a) I’m not that picky — whatever everyone’s in the mood for.

b) I’ll have to check my spreadsheet: I have hundreds of playlists organized by genre, decade, & artist.

c) I’m really into this one new band…you probably haven’t heard of them.

3. What’s your favorite musical accessory?

a) A wireless speaker. The tunes travel with me!

b) My high-end headphones. I can hear every little detail.

c) A vintage, one-of-a-kind band tee.

4. What’s your go-to source when you’re looking for something new to listen to?

a) My friends and family are always sharing playlists.

b) I keep up with a couple dozen music blogs.

c) I cruise YouTube for undiscovered gems.

If you chose mostly As: You’re a social listener. You love the way music can bring people together. Try this Spotify to Twitter Recipe to connect with other people who like your new favorite song.



Tweet

If you chose mostly Bs: You’re a collector. You treat your music like art and think critically about every beat. Share your favorites to a Facebook album to create a virtual record collection you and your friends can browse.



Tweet

If you chose mostly Cs: You’re a trend hunter. Your favorite thing is finding the new and the next. Try this Reddit to Spotify Recipe to keep tabs on what songs end up on the “front page of the internet.”



Tweet

If you didn’t fit into one category, that’s okay! You’re allowed to span a few genres. Check out the collection today and Tweet us to let us know how you automate, organize and enhance your music with IFTTT.

One of the benefits of being headquartered in the Bay Area is the ability to brainstorm and collaborate with other technology companies. In that spirit, we recently sat down with Buffer, one of our Channel partners, to talk about marketing and automation. We shared the conversation on Snapchat and Facebook Live (as we said, this is the Bay Area!). In case you missed it, here’s a recap of what Brian Peters, Social Media Manager from Buffer and Anne Mercogliano, our VP of Marketing, discussed.

What’s the biggest priority for IFTTT, in terms of marketing, right now?

“We’re focused on bringing IFTTT to everyone.”

To do that, we’re showcasing the really practical ways it can improve people’s lives. There’s a broader story there that we haven’t fully explored yet, and we’re excited to tell it. Our new collections, such as IFTTT for marketers, are a part of that story.



Why is automation important for marketers?

“Anything that helps us do more with less is a major key!”

Marketers wear so many hats, we need tools that give us more hours in the day. Automation is especially helpful with social media — with so many platforms to manage, easier cross-posting and content creation can save hours.

Do you have any advice for marketers just starting out?

“It’s all about experimenting.”

You may not have years of experience, but you can be the person who has fresh ideas and isn’t afraid to take risks. Keep your eyes open and learn as much as you can. If you bring the next great tool or tactic to your team, you’ll demonstrate your value.

What are some marketing trends you’re seeing for 2016 and 2017?

“Data-driven marketing is only going to get deeper.”

People are taking measurement seriously. We’ve seen a lot of Recipes created that help people organize, archive, report, and drill down into their marketing metrics.

If you’re familiar with the party parrot and see plaid when you close your eyes, you’re probably part of the rapidly growing Slack community. Here at IFTTT, our use of Slack has definitely influenced the way we communicate and collaborate.

Judging by all the Slack Recipes IFTTT users have added, it’s clear we’re not alone. For those of you new to Slack (or IFTTT!), we put together a day in the life of a busy office that’s set up some of our most popular Slack Recipes. Take a look and see how much more your team could do once you connect:

9:30 am
Almost time for the weekly marketing sync. This Recipe sends the team channel a reminder to get their priorities ready for the meeting.


10:00 am
A candidate is stopping by for an interview. This Recipe sends a note to the HR channel so they can welcome her and give her a tour.


11:00 am
The content team posts a new blog with an exciting announcement. The marketing team channel gets an automatic heads up via this Recipe, so they can start promoting it and adding the content to their email newsletters.


11:30 am
Something’s not right! The engineering channel gets notified right away so they can fix the issue.


2:00 pm
The announcement in the blog post is starting to get picked up on Reddit and Twitter! The #marketing channel has a few Recipes set up to keep on top of their social media mentions, so they’re able to track and prioritize responses in real-time.




3:00 pm
Jim in accounting is heading out for a coffee run. He uses this Recipe to quickly ask his team channel if they want some, too.


3:30 pm
The results from last month’s email newsletter are ready. The performance summary is automatically shared to the marketing channel so the team can discuss optimizations for next time.


4:00 pm
The leadership team had their weekly catch-up today. The company’s all about transparency, so the CEO has a Recipe that always shares the meeting notes to a company-wide channel.


4:30 pm
Some new priorities came out of that leadership meeting. The team leads head to their Trello boards to update tasks accordingly. They’ve each set up this Recipe, so their teams are notified automatically in their respective channels.


5:30 pm
Closing time! The operations team set up this Recipe to keep the office safe and sound. It sends a daily note to a company-wide channel, reminding everyone to close the windows and lock the door if they’re the last one out of the office.


7:00 pm
To help people stay cozy or cool during the workday, this Recipe posts in a company-wide channel each night. No more excuses for forgetting your umbrella!

Were there any Recipes that resonated with your daily office routine? Check out the Slack Channel to find ones that work best with your office and teams, or create your own.