Not one to be left behind in nearly any category of software services, Microsoft created an app called Flow that allows users to stay true to the age old saying of work smarter not harder. Flow is not necessarily a new application as it has been available on Android for a little while, but it has finally exited the beta status that it’s been carrying which means that it’s ready for all and any users that wish to take advantage of it. The best part is that even though Microsoft designed this with businesses and professionals in mind so they had an easier way to manage and monitor their workflows and tasks while on the go, it’s just as easy for the average user to test it out and integrate into their daily life.
The basic idea with this this app is to create Flows, which an be done both from the mobile application as well as its desktop counterpart, that essentially allow you to automate various actions on your device. It’s a lot like IFTTT although there are not as many different services for users to choose from. Not yet anyway. IFTTT calls these services “Channels” while they’re simply referred to as Flows here, and even though there are not as many as with IFTTT, there are still a decent number of them including Flows for GitHub, Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, Facebook, Instagram, and quite a few more, totaling at 58 altogether. Most of the Flows are accessible for free, but there are a few of them that you will need to be a premium member to use, such as Salesforce, Mandrill, and a couple of others.
A large part of the philosophy with Flow is the ease of use of being able to get things done without actually making work for yourself. It does this in part by letting users create Flows from anywhere. Users can also create buttons, which essentially is a one tap action for the Flows you’ve created and tapping on them will trigger the action. For example, you can set up a button to add your latest Facebook post to Yammer all with the simple press of a button, or you can go with something much more simple and just create a button that sets a 10 minute delay timer to have Flow send you a reminder for something. Flow will even notify you once the the action has been completed successfully. It’s important to note that buttons can’t be created for everything, it seems, but Microsoft does display which actions have button compatibility on their website, where you can tap on each Flow service and there you’ll see each action that can be utilized. The app will also display every possible button template within the app. Naturally, since everything you set up with Flow will be automated, there is a chance that they may not work from time to time and Flow can notify you when there has been a failure on a specific action so you can fix it. Flow is free to download and can be grabbed from the Play Store now, and if you’re a user of IFTTT then it might be beneficial to try it out and weigh the two against each other.
Microsoft Flow Services
