IFTTT + Rachio 

Rachio integrates with IFTTT, meaning you can create "Applets" to have even more control over your watering! An Applet consists of a trigger (the "this" part of an Applet) and an action (the "that" part of an Applet). An example of an Applet would be "if the temperature drops below freezing then stop any watering schedules". The combinations of Applets that can be built are endless, only limited by your imagination and ever-growing list of useful channels (IFTTT building blocks which include triggers and actions).

Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Below are steps on how to create an account within IFTTT and what Channels you will want to Activate within your account.

1) Go to  ifttt.com and click on Join IFTTT.

2) Once you have created an account with a username and password, you will be brought to a Welcome screen.

3) Click on Explore in the upper right-hand corner of the Welcome page. From there you will see a Search functionality of all available Channels. Channels are the building blocks for Applets. Each channel has its own trigger (this) and actions (that). You can reference this article for more in-depth explanations. You will want to activate some channels in your account.

4) Search for Rachio and click on the icon. Please note that there are separate channels for the Rachio Sprinkler Controller and Rachio Smart Hose Timer.

5) You will be brought to the Rachio channel page. You will need to Activate this channel, so click on the CONNECT button. Once you are activated you will be brought to your Rachio channel. From this page, you can edit or deactivate it. By clicking on Edit, you will be brought to the web login screen for Rachio's web app.

6) We advise Activating the following channels as well.

 - Date & Time:  With this channel, you can set specific dates and/or times to trigger events with your Rachio.

 - Google Calendar:  You can use your Google calendar to set additional watering events with your Rachio device, outside of what is featured in our current app. This is particularly helpful if you have unique water restrictions that only allow you to water on certain days. As an example, we had one user who was only allowed to water on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month so he created a meeting to repeat on the necessary days and the schedule ran accordingly.

7) Once you have activated these channels you can begin creating recipes. 

Creating A Recipe

Creating a recipe will have the same flow every time. It will be unique based on the triggers and events you set, so the example below is just to help outline the flow. You may also explore some public options at ifttt.com/rachio_iro

1) From the main welcome page, click on Create.

2) Next click on Add to include your trigger.

3) Search for the channel that you want to trigger an event through. In this example, we used Date & Time, but Rachio events can also be used as triggers.

4) Choose the appropriate trigger for what you want the recipe to do. In this example, we chose Every day at. 

5) Create your trigger. We chose every day at 11 AM. When you're done, click on Create Trigger.

6) Next, click on Add to include your action.

7) Search for Rachio Sprinkler Controller or Rachio Smart Hose Timer.

8) Choose the appropriate action. In this example, we chose to start a zone.

 9) Select your options and click Create Action.

10) You will then be brought to a summarized view of your recipe. If you are content, click Continue. If you want to edit, click on the trigger or the action to change it.

11) On this screen you may change your Applet's Title and select if you wish to be notified or not.

12) Once you click Finish, this recipe will be on your My Applets page. You can always archive the recipe and/or change it if need be.