The Touch Bar on your MacBook Pro is – as Apple would like to put it – Revolutionary. But tell you what, after installing some third party software, the touch bar can truly be made awesome and ‘revolutionary’.
What is IFTTT?
An IFTTT is basically a free web based service which people can use to make chains of simple conditional statements called applets. When a particular action is triggered, the applet will automatically call the designated service.
How to Use IFTTT with MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar?
Well, it answers that question – say hello to BetterTouchTool. This is a third party program which allows you to configure any app on your Mac to use the Touch Bar. Through the use of this app, you can set specific buttons in the touch bar to trigger a specific action.
You should probably have guessed it by now. Through the use of IFTTT and BetterTouchTool, there is the possibility to create an IFTTT recipe which can be accessed through the Touch Bar on your MacBook Pro.
Now for the purpose of this article, we will show a step by step guide on how to create a recipe for running a smart bulb action using Hue Lights. After understanding the procedure, you can replicate the actions to create recipe for a huge variety of home connected devices like GE appliances, Whirlpool appliances, and much more. In fact, you can Google to find out a list of IFTTT’s available services.
Note: A recipe is a conditional statement. There is a condition (If this) which will trigger an action (then that).
Prerequisites to Use FTTT with the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro:
The following are the things you will require:
Step#1. Install the IFTTT program and sign up to their services.
Step #2. Secondly, you will have to connect to the Webhooks services. You can do so by heading over to the Maker Page and clicking the Connect button.
Step #3. Finally you will have to download BetterTouchTools onto your MacBook Pro. Now the program isn’t available through the app store. Instead, you can head over to download the software. You will need to provide the app with some permission to control system hardware. Feel free to do so as it is from a trusted developer.
Now it’s Time to Create the Recipes
To create a Recipe, just follow the steps mentioned as follows:
Step#1. Log into your IFTTT account.
Step#2. Now click on your profile. It is at the upper right corner of the website.
Step#3. Now select the New Applet option.
Step#4. In the create recipe section, click on “This”. The option is highlighted in blue with a plus sign, so it should be easy to point out.
Step#5. Now search for Webhooks.
Step#6. Click on the Webhooks logo that appears on your screen.
Step#7. Select the option: Receive a Web request.
Step#8. Enter an Event Name. You should remember the event name as it will be the name for the recipe you are currently building.
Step#9. Now click on the Create Trigger option.
Step#10. Inside the recipe creator, there should be a “That” button. Click on it. It will also be highlighted in blue coupled with a plus sign.
Step#11. Now search for the service that you have been meaning to use. As discussed earlier, for the scope of this article, we will be going along with Philips Hue.
Step#12. Now click on the service Logo.
Step#13. A list of actions should pop up; select one from the list.
Step#14. Now choose what action will take place.
Step#15. After doing all this, click on the Create action button.
Step#16. And finally, once that is done, click finish.
Now where to Find the Webhook Keys you Just Created:
You didn’t think the entire process was completed now, did you? In Order to create a touch bar button with BetterTouchTools, you will have to use the Webhook key(s) you have just created. The following steps show you how to find them:
Step#1. Open IFTTT and click on My Applets.
Step#2. Now find the applet which you just created and click on it.
Step#3. Click on the corresponding Webhooks icon.
Step#4. Now you will have to access settings in the upper right corner of the screen. It is just below your profile name.
Step#5. You should be able to see a URL. For executing the process, you will need the key that is at the end of the URL. So either copy it into a Stickie, or have the webpage open till the remaining steps are completed.
Finally, let’s Create that Touch Bar Button:
After you have completed all the steps discussed earlier, it is time to get on with the real stuff.
Step#1. Launch the BetterTouchTool app on your MacBook Pro.
Step#2. Click on the TouchBar Tab.
Step#3. Click on the +TouchBar Button.
Step#4. Now under Predefined Actions, click on the Controlling Other Applications option.
Step#5. Select Run Applescript in Background.
Step#6. Next you will have to enter this code in the next Window: return do shell script “curl -X POST https://maker.ifttt.com/trigger/{event}/with/key/{yourKey}”
Step#7. Remember the Event Name that you picked way earlier. Told you to remember it.
Step#8. Now replace the {event} section in the above code with your Event Name.
Step#9. Once you have done that, copy the Event Key and replace it with {yourKey} on the code. The Event Key is the URL extension that you stored in your Stickie. Remember now?
Step#10. Finally click on Save.
Step#11. After this, you will be prompted to enter a name for this button. This can be anything, so go nuts.
Step#12. You can further customize the button with an icon and coloring.
Successful completion of all the steps will lead to your button popping up on the Touch Bar of your MacBook Pro. However, if it is not showing up, then just go through the steps discussed above to make sure there are no skipped steps.
If you do plan to implement this on your MacBook Pro, then do share in the comments section below and tell us how you plan to use this functionality. Share your feedback with us on Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.