IFTTT Building an Applet on iPhone — Filters

What is a Filter step

A filter step is where you can add amongst the most advanced capabilities to your automations. You are not limited to just selecting specific options but this is actually script you can write to determine whether the automation goes forward with the action steps. You are not just dependent on the trigger itself but you can combine it with other logic to make much more sophisticated rules on whether an action should run or not.

Filter Setup

The same place you set up a Query step is where you set up a Filter step. You click on the plus symbol after the trigger step. You will be presented with Add Query and Add Filter. You don’t need a Query step but if you have one the Filter step will appear after it. One part of this that might seem out of order that although this step comes before Action steps as far as logic, when setting it up you need to have set up at least one action step first.

Filter code

What makes this step unusual compared to others and the general approach of IFTTT is that it requires coding, specifically it’s Javascript (ES5 standard of Javascript). If you don’t know how to do any coding don’t worry as there are plenty of examples and a tool you can use below. If you want to get into coding this is the perfect real world opportunity to try it out.

Code Generator

IFTTT provide a code generator page for some common examples of filter code. Running or skipping actions based on times of day, certain days or checking for certain keywords. Select dropdowns and enter specific words if needed to generate the code you can copy into your Filter step.

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