UPDATED 15:25 EDT / MARCH 23 2015

NEWS

Netvibes vs. IFTTT: Who programs life better?

Our “automatic” society provides us with devices that make our lives easier and more convenient. From doors that automatically open as we approach, to lights that turn on when it starts to get dark, to sprinklers that go off at specific times during the day, these automatic things help us save precious time every day.

netvibes

 

This is one of the reasons why services such as If This Then That (IFTTT) have grown so popular. IFTTT allows users to create recipes to automate functions, such as receiving an email or text when the weather changes or being notified when you forget something at the house.

Netvibes has recently ventured into IFTTT’s territory with the announcement of its evolution as a Dashboard of Things (DoT). Instead of recipes, DoT allows users to create “potions” that follow this simple formula: “If A or B triggers happen, then do X and Y actions; otherwise do Z,” much like IFTTT but with a broader scope.

But how does Netvibes differ from what IFTTT offers, or do they both offer the same thing?

Formula

 

One of the main differences between these two offerings is the formula used. For IFTTT, the formula is pretty linear: “If this happens, then do this to produce that result.” Whereas Netvibes follows this formula: “If A or B happens, do X and Y actions; if not, do Z action.” The Netvibes formula gives users more freedom in selecting triggers and actions and producing two or more results, unlike IFTTT’s one result option.

Let’s look at an example. You can create a recipe when you take a new photo on your iOS or Android device. When a new photo is taken, using an IFTTT recipe, you can set it to automatically be emailed to you.

For Netvibes, you can create a potion and set two actions simultaneously. For instance, when a stock exceeds a set price, you can set it so you both receive an email and tweet the stock price. Essentially, you can set it to do different things depending on the result, such as when you weigh yourself on a connected scale. If you achieved your weight goal, you can make it so that it automatically tweets the results, while if you failed to achieve your goal, you can send an email to yourself that encourages you to keep pushing.

Creating formulas

 

IFTTT offers pre-made recipes either from the service itself or from other users of the service. You can also create your own recipe by choosing a trigger channel, then a trigger and finally an action channel. For example, you can choose Facebook as a trigger channel, and the trigger could be when someone tags you in a photo, and finally the action channel would be to upload the tagged photo be uploaded to cloud storage provider Box. The problem with this is you can’t really create your own unique recipe, as all the fields have options from which you must select.

With Netvibes, users can choose from pre-made recipes or create new potions using the Netvibes’ wizard. Or if you have some programming skills, you can switch to advanced mode, which allows you to write your own potion using Netvibes Programming Language.

Compatible devices

 

Both Netvibes and IFTTT can be used to trigger automatic actions on supported connected devices. IFTTT has been around for years and so has built quite an ecosystem of partners for compatible devices. Some of the devices you can automate using IFTTT include Belkin’s WeMo home automation line, smart car dashboard provider Automatic and Dash, Honeywell thermostats, Nest’s smart thermostat and smoke detector, Philips hue smart light bulbs, Revolv’s smart home hubs, and SmartThings’ range of connected devices, to name a few.

Netvibes has yet to release which connected devices it supports, but we’ll soon find out when the service sees its general release later this year.

Image source: netvibes.com


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