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IFTTT’s Do Button has beaten Apple’s HomeKit to the punch

With the launch of Do Button app, IFTTT has stolen a march on Apple’s still-absent HomeKit ecosystem. 

The Do Button, as it’s name implies, lets you toggle smart home systems with a single touch. From making a Nest or Evohome crank the heating up to a set temperature to making your Hue lights change to a specific shade of purple, the Do Button is a one-touch-does-all service. 

Like Apple promised you’ll be able to do with HomeKit, Do Button ties together multiple smart home services – the idea is if there’s an IFTTT (If This Then That) channel for it, you can Do (Button) it. 

Check out our feature on the best IFTTT life hacksWhat’s more, it’s available for both Android and iOS devices – HomeKit, being Apple, is iOS only – and it’s not requiring companies to install a mystery chip in their hardware

You can have up to three IFTTT recipes linked to your Do Button at any one time. This has an obvious time-saving benefit of saving you from having to dive into individual apps to punch in the same commands you do every day. If you’ve got an Android device you can also make use of a handy widget to trigger commands instead of having to open the Do Button itself. 

Alongside the Do Button, IFTTT has also launched a couple more corner cutting apps, Do Camera and Do Notes. 

Do Camera lets you pap shots and have them automatically stored to Dropbox, posted on Facebook or Gmailed to your relatives. It’ll certainly make taking quick snaps for news stories easier for this writer. Similarly, Do Notes let you take short notes on the fly and ping them to Google Calendar or share Tweets with a single gap instead of opening various specific apps. 

You can get both Do Camera and Do Notes for selected iOS and Android devices now. 

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