From Firmware 2.1.7, push notification support has been added, by using IFTTT (If-This-Then-That). To do so, you need to obtain an IFTTT Maker (Update: this is now named Webhook) channel key, set up an applet (previously called recipe), and select IFTTT events that you want to receive notifications for.


Step 1. Obtain an IFTTT Key

Go to IFTTT website, sign up for an account. At the top click on ‘Search’ and find ‘Maker’ (Update: this is now named 'Webhook'), and then click the ‘Connect’ button to create a Maker (Webhook) channel. Click on the gears icon (Settings) on the top-right of the Maker (Webhook) channel to view your key. Copy this key to OpenSprinkler’s IFTTT key setting.



Warning: clicking on ‘Edit connection’ will cause the key to be replaced. Once replaced, the previous key will be invalid and cannot be recovered!
Step 2. Create an IFTTT Applet
The idea of IFTTT is that you can connect a trigger (this) with an action (that). For example, if the Maker (Webhook) channel receives a message from OpenSprinkler, then send a text message to my phone. These are formally called recipes, and are now called Applets.

At the time of this writing, IFTTT did not allow creating applets using the web interface, and instead required using the mobile app. Since then they have allowed using the web interface to create applets. So the examples below are captured in the IFTTT mobile app, but you can do so the same way in a web browser by logging in to their website.

Install the IFTTT mobile app on your smartphone, log in, and go to the My Applets tab, click on the + icon at the top-right to create a new Applet.
  • For trigger service (this), search and select ‘Maker’ (Update: this is now named Webhook). Set sprinkler as the ‘Event Name’ of the web request.
  • For action (that), search and select a desired notification method, such as ‘SMS’, or ‘email’. You can shorten the message body suitably, but keep Value1 in the content as the firmware uses this variable to pass notification content. You can modify the message body later to suit your need.

      

 Step 3. Select Events:
Go back to the OpenSprinkler app / UI, Edit Options -> Integration -> ‘Configure Events’. The following events are supported:
  • Program Start: triggered when a program is scheduled.
  • Rain Sensor Update: triggered when rain sensor is enabled and the status changes (or rain delay status changes).
  • Flow Sensor Update: triggered when flow sensor is enabled and upon the completion of a program.
  • Weather Update: triggered when there is weather update (i.e. water level has changed) or external IP changes.
  • Controller Reboot: triggered when the controller is rebooted.
  • Station Run: triggered when a station finishes running. (NOTE: this is likely to generate a large number of notifications, so enable this at your own discretion).
Note: notifications that are sent too close in time may be dropped. For example, if multiple notifications were sent within a couple of seconds, it’s likely that only the last one will appear while the other messages will be dropped.