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Almost all of IFTTT’s Gmail functionality is disappearing this week

Almost all of IFTTT’s Gmail functionality is disappearing this week

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You’ll still be able to send emails, but that’s about it

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Almost all of IFTTT’s Gmail integrations are set to disappear this Sunday, following Google’s announcement that it would make sweeping changes to the way its email service handles APIs last October. Android Police notes that from next week IFTTT will still be able to send emails using the “Send an email” and “Send yourself an email” actions, but that it will no longer be able to trigger actions based on emails you receive.

IFTTT, which stands for “If This Then That,” is a popular service that’s used to tie together different apps and smart home products into a single ecosystem using “triggers” and “actions.” A typical Gmail integration could allow you to make your Philips Hue smart bulbs flash a certain color (an action) if you receive an email with a particular label (a trigger).

‘Major infrastructure changes’ would have been needed for it to continue to work

IFTTT’s Gmail functionality previously worked by relying on the email service’s APIs. However, these came under scrutiny last year, after it emerged that they were allowing third-party companies indiscriminate access to people’s emails. In October, Google announced that it was tightening up Gmail’s policies concerning third-party services, and that it would be reviewing all third-party apps to ensure they were in compliance with the new rules. Google said that existing services would otherwise have their access revoked after March 31st 2019.

In a blog post announcing the change, IFTTT said that it had tried to find a way to become compliant with the new policies, but that it would be unable to do so without “major infrastructure changes.” It said that it supported Google’s “efforts to improve privacy and security.”