Say goodbye to the times when only tech wizards could create websites and apps. Now, a new wave of website and app building tools has arrived. They make it a breeze for everyone from any background to craft their very own functional apps.
This begs the question, when do you want a website and when do you want an app? As a rule of thumb, if you want an online presence, you want a website. On the other hand, when you want to give your audience a more specialised interaction or provide them with specific functionality or services.
With Glide, you create apps with any programming experience. With it, you can transform data from spreadsheets (Google Sheet, Excel) into apps. Even better, you can create the apps collaboratively. Just like you would work in Google Docs.
Glide boasts that 85’000 companies have already built apps with it, among them renowned brands such as AstraZeneca and Whirlpool.
Pros and cons of Glide
Glide uses your spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheet) as the basis of your app and with the help of its drag and drop editor, you build your app. So, you don’t need prior knowledge in programming. It comes with a bunch of templates so that you can get to a functional app more quickly.
Pros
- Forever free plan
- Easy to use
- Collaborate with your team members
Cons
- Less flexibility and fewer customisation options
- No in-app notifications
- You can’t publish in the mobile app stores – Glide apps are progressive web apps only
Who is Glide for?
Regardless of your background, Glide allows you to create your custom app and that at a much greater speed than conventional software development. This means you get what you want and don’t need to wait around.
In Glide, you can add team members to help you create and edit your app. This feature means Glide is great not only for a solopreneur but for team work in business and for agencies.
All spelled out, Glide is for you if you want to
- Quickly test ideas
- Create prototypes but without a significant upfront investment
- You don’t have access or can’t wait for your IT department
How easy is it to use Glide?
After your first login, Glide asks you what type of app you want to create. Its approach is mobile first but you can preview mobile or large screen at any time.
Next, you select a data source. You can use Glide Tables for best performance or if you already have an existing spreadsheet you want to turn into an app, choose Google Sheets, Excel or Airtable. You can even import from any file of the format xlsx, csv or ods. For this review, I’ll just go with Glide Tables.
Now you’re ready to start building your app. I recommend you don’t skip the onboarding tutorial. Since you can build apps with specific features and not just any ol’ website, Glide has more controls and options.
No need to fret though, even if you do end up skipping the tutorial. Glide has designed its editor to be as intuitive as can be and you’ll get the hang out of it within minutes.
Glide design and templates
In contrast to conventional website builders, you start with a standard app in Glide. You can also hop over to Glide’s App Store and use one of the templates
Glide’s App Store not only lists templates prebuilt by Glide but also those shared by its customer base. Note that there are free and paid templates.
Glide AI
Glide believes that most businesses can use and benefit from AI. Therefore, it has added AI so that you can automate tasks such as
- Audio to text (transcription)
- Image to text
- Text generation
- Art generator
Glide integrations
Glide offers built-in integrations with popular services like Zapier and Make to automate tasks. Its integrations can be categorised by
- Data
- AI
- Messaging
- Productivity
- Media
- Payments
Just like the templates, the plug-ins can be free of charge or they can be paid for.
Glide customer support
You can get help by clicking on the help icon in the lower right hand corner. This will open quick links to the documentation and Glide’s community and chat help. You can also hire a paid Glide expert.
Glide pricing
Glide prices are fair and there are no hidden fees. If you want to launch more apps, you need to upgrade.
Is Glide right for you?
Glide can help you save the budget for a developer and design team to launch your app. It’s great if you want to get a bespoke, but not too complex, app to market quickly. Once you’re done, you can simply share your app using the link provided.
It’s a simple and effective tool if you want to present the data in your spreadsheet in an attractive way. These are apps like
- Directories
- Dashboards
- Business reports
If you need an app with more advanced features such as in-app purchases, in-app notifications and complex logic, you may be happier with Ycode.
Original post here: Glide review
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