Home automation is one of the fastest-growing segments in the consumer electronics industry. Popular brands like Arlo and WeMO have made it easy to connect our homes and it seems like there’s no stopping this technology from eventually invading everyone’s household. But there’s a problem with having so many different products working to keep our homes automated: there’s no unified method of controlling all of them together.

Until now.

A New Class of Apps to Simplify Automation

IFTTT (If This Then That, now rebranded as IF) is a smartphone application that gives you creative control over other apps. Powered by a creative community that develops and contributes “recipes,” IFTTT empowers you with helpful connections between all of your favorite web functions. These recipes also make it easy to control your entire online presence from one place – something that is very difficult to do with home automation.

Popular IFTTT Recipes:

• If I post a picture on Instagram, then save the photo to Dropbox
• If tomorrow’s forecast calls for rain, then send me an email
• If someone follows me on Twitter, then tweet them a thank you

IFTTT is the best way to automate web services and their recently released suite of apps takes this idea even further. These new apps are a giant step forward in how we interact with internet-connected devices and are designed to do a lot more than automate your social media profiles – they’re designed to automate your life.

A Remote Control for Everything

The new suite of IFTTT apps are called “Do Buttons” and are an extension of what IFTTT already accomplishes. But instead of sending you reminder emails or automatically backing up your pictures, these apps control the world around you. They also make it extremely easy to control your entire home automation setup from one place and with one tap.

Do Button Home Automation Recipes

• Adjust the temperature of your Nest Thermostat
• Turn on or off your Phillips Hue lights
• Turn on your coffee maker
• Open your garage door
• Record security footage

The Do Button doesn’t just power your home; it also powers everything you use on a daily basis. The Do Button can match hue lights to your photos, log meals to your Jawbone Up, and even write down your favorite wines so you know what to order the next time you go out.

The Do Buttons take automation to the next level.

A Logical Next Step

There’s a common misconception that home automation is hard. In actuality, all it takes is a little effort to get started. And once you figure out how to have home appliances work for you instead of the other way around, you’ll be amazed at how you lived without it.

It makes sense for IFTTT to expand into the home automation industry because so is everyone else. The Internet of Things has made it possible for everything to become a “smart object” and having them all connected is a necessity. Being able to do this with the touch of a Do Button is an added bonus.

The time is right for anyone who’s been procrastinating with the home automation process because it’s “too complicated.” It’s also the perfect opportunity to simplify your life once and for all. Sure, it may take a while to setup your smartphone with recipes, but once you get started there’s no looking back.

It Will Become Even Easier

Automation technology is just getting started and we can only expect the process to become simpler. So while some people continue to see this as a novelty, I’ll be over here programming my phone to become an even bigger part of my life.

If this doesn’t convince you to try home automation, then nothing will.