Microsoft Unveils IFTTT-Like Tool Called Flow

Microsoft has made an IFTTT-like tool named Flow that would connect several services together and allow users to create workflows. The service for now is not ready for launch, and is only available in its preview version. For those unaware, IFTTT or If This Then That is a tool that connects several Web services and apps, and allows users to create simple 'recipes' or workflows that perform a function if a certain condition is met. For instance, one can create a formula where if one tweets an image on Twitter, it would automatically be saved to one's connected cloud storage account.

Found by Microsoft watcher and Twitter user h0x0d last month, Microsoft Flow can connect together more than 35 services such as Twitter, Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Github and Office 365. Microsoft calls recipes 'flows', and is planning on adding more services each week.

More details can be found on the company's dedicated blog post, which was live for some time before being taken down. The post by Stephen Siciliano, Group Program Manager for Microsoft Flow however, can still be accessed via cached view. The Microsoft Flow website remains live, though it had been briefly pulled.

"Microsoft Flow makes it easy to mash-up two or more different services. Today, Microsoft Flow is publicly available as a preview, at no cost. We have connections to 35+ different services, including both Microsoft services like OneDrive and SharePoint, and public software services like Slack, Twitter and Salesforce.com, with more being added every week," says the blog post.

Flow can be used to automate certain actions such as getting a SMS when you receive an email from a particular user, get a slack notification when someone uploads a file on Dropbox, or copy certain OneDrive filed to SharePoint. One can access the Microsoft Flow preview with a Work or School Office 365 account, or a non-Outlook.com email address.

Microsoft Flow concept was introduced in November last year with a different moniker - Logic flows for PowerApps. The feature was then launched in a 'private preview' version. The feature is also similar to Microsoft's Azure Logic Apps.