Microsoft Flow, the company's IFTTT competitor, comes to Android
Microsoft Flow, the company's workflow management tool, has now arrived on Android. The app, a competitor of sorts of IFTTT and Zapier, offers an interface where you can mash up two or more services in order to create workflows …
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft's workflow tool has moved fast since April, when reports first surfaced that it was building an IFTTT-like automation tool called Flow, followed days later by the product's actual launch. The June iOS release promised an Android version was in the works, and that promise is now fulfilled with this arrival on Google's platform.
The completion of the two-platform rollout matters because Flow positions Microsoft directly against IFTTT and Zapier in service-mashing automation, letting users chain two or more services into workflows from a phone rather than a desktop.
First-order effects
- Android users gain native access to Flow's cross-service workflow builder, closing the gap left by the June iOS launch and putting Microsoft's automation tool on both major mobile platforms.
Second-order effects
- IFTTT and Zapier now face a competitor backed by Microsoft's own service portfolio, pressuring both to differentiate on connector breadth or pricing as enterprise-oriented automation goes consumer-mobile.
Third-order effects
- If Microsoft keeps bundling Flow with its broader productivity stack, workflow automation shifts from standalone hobbyist tools toward features embedded in platform ecosystems, squeezing independent players like IFTTT toward niche or acquisition outcomes.
The trend: Workflow automation is consolidating around big-platform ecosystems, as Microsoft extends its IFTTT-and-Zapier rival across mobile to make service-to-service automation a default feature of its suite.