IF, by ITTT, offers so many automation recipes that you could spend the better part of a morning slogging through the pre-built collections to make your mobile life infinitely easier. But IF isn’t just about posting to Instagram or controlling your Nest (or thousands of other interactions with services and the Internet of Things). IF can also now help save precious battery on your Android device.

With the help of a new battery channel, you can tell IF what to do should your battery dip below a certain level. There are other apps that can pull off this same feat, but none have the level of user-friendliness found in IF.

Let’s dive right into IF and see just how it manages to help to keep your device battery from prematurely draining.

Installation

If you haven’t already installed the app from the Google Play Store, here’s how:

  1. Open the Google Play Store on your Android device
  2. Search for IF
  3. Locate and tap the entry for IF by IFTTT
  4. Tap Install
  5. Read the permissions listing
  6. If the permissions listing is acceptable, tap Accept
  7. Allow the installation to complete

If you don’t already have an account with IF, either create one on their site or within the login screen of the app. Once you’ve opened the app and logged into your account, you’re ready to go.

Creating battery-friendly recipes

The channel you want to search for is Android Battery. You can create recipes either on the IF website or the app. I want to focus on creating battery-friendly recipes in the app. First, we’ll look at add a pre-built recipe.

Here’s what you do:

  1. Open up the app
  2. Swipe left on main window to reveal the My Recipes screen
  3. Tap the plus sign [+]
  4. Tap the search button on the channels page (Figure A)
    Figure A
  5. Type battery and hit Enter
  6. Scroll through the recipe listing for the recipe you want (Figure B)
    Figure B
  7. Tap the recipe
  8. Tap Add
  9. Tap Done

That’s it. You’ve added a battery-friendly recipe to IF. You can also set the recipe to notify you when the recipe runs (via Android notification). By default, this feature is set to ON.

Now that you have the hang of adding pre-built recipes, let’s create a batter-saving recipe from scratch. Here’s how:

  1. Open IF
  2. Swipe left from the main window
  3. Tap the plus sign [+] in the top right
  4. Tap the plus sign [+] in the bottom right
  5. Tap the plus sign [+] between if and then
  6. Tap the search button
  7. Search for battery
  8. Tap Android Battery (Figure C)
    Figure C
  9. Tap the plus sign [+] associated with Battery is low
  10. Tap the plus sign [+] after the word then (Figure D)
    Figure D
  11. Select the action you want (such as sending you a notification)
  12. Tap the plus sign [+] associated with the action
  13. Configure the action (if applicable), shown in Figure E
    Figure E
  14. Tap Continue
  15. Tap Finish

That’s it! You’ve created your first customized recipe. Of course, there are so many community-built recipes that you’re probably best served by searching through the various channels to find what you want. Some of the more useful battery-flavored recipes include:

  • Switch off Wi-Fi
  • Turn off Bluetooth
  • Record every time your battery is low on a Google spreadsheet
  • Log every time you charge your device on a Google spreadsheet
  • If you have a low battery, text your significant other that it’s low
  • Low battery > play music

You won’t be able to get nearly as granular with IF as you might with other apps, like Tasker, but for ease of use, you can’t beat IF.

IF is an incredibly handy tool for anyone who wants to automate nearly any aspect of their mobile life. If you’re looking for the means to squeeze out as much battery life as possible, without having to constantly be watching your device, give IF a try.

How do you manage your mobile battery–or have you found newer devices tend to last you throughout the day? Share your experience in the discussion thread below.