IFTTT (Part 1): Using a pre-existing IFTTT recipe

Besides AWS, another useful service for various IoT projects is IFTTT (If this, then that). This allows users to make one internet-enabled action trigger another internet-enabled action. For example, every time I take a picture on my iPhone, upload it to Dropbox.

I'm not planning to spend much time on this service, just enough to get my feet wet. In this post I'll document my experience using an existing IFTTT recipe, then I'll create my own IFTTT and document that process in a subsequent post.

After doing some research about IFTTT, I discovered that my city (Louisville, KY) has it's own set of custom-built applets. After scrolling through the numerous applets, one stood out: "Retrieve Air Quality and notify by SMS on change". It sends the user a text message every time the air quality level in the area changes. That sounds useful to me since I know the city has low air quality from time to time, and I don't want to be doing any cardio activities outside during those  times if possible.

After flipping the switch to the "On" position, I was prompted to enter  my phone number and the verification cod that was sent with it. 

After doing this, I wasn't sure if the function had been activated. Going to my applet dashboard, it appears that it has been activated.

However, I haven't yet received a text from the service. I'll update this post as soon I receive something. In the meantime, I'll begin building a custom IFTTT function! Check back soon for my post about the process. 

Update: Around 30 minutes after I activated the IFTTT applet, I received a second text with the following information: 

Pretty cool! I think I'll keep this activated for my personal information. However, I wish there was a way to get this emailed to me instead, as multiple texts per day from this service may get annoying. Regardless, this could prove to be a very useful function. 

UPDATE: After a day of having this feature on, I've decided to only turn it on for certain occasions. The reason for this is that the air quality changes so frequently (~once per hour, as seen in the screenshot below) that the constant notifications were bombarding my phone. I still think the feature is neat, but maybe it would be better if I program my AWS IoT Button (see previous posts) to send me a text with the current air quality whenever I press it, allowing me to only see the information when I want to see it.