Glide is a no-code platform that lives this accessibility for all principle. On my blog, I’ll explain why Glide might be the simplest and most intuitive no code tool you’ll find for both individuals and small businesses who need it for an idea, even not knowing how to code!
Table of Contents
What Makes Glide So Accessible?
1. Spreadsheet to App Magic
Its core idea is to make Google Sheets apps beautiful and functional. Glide’s goal is to make it very easy to build high quality apps, if you can make a spreadsheet, you can create an app with Glide. This democratizes app development by using something that most people have already come to know.
2. Drag-and-Drop Simplicity
The drag and drop feature is simple to use. Even adding features like forms, buttons or data views is as easy as placing them where you want on your app’s layout.
3. Immediate Results
Glide changes you make reflect instantly on your app. You don’t have to wait for code to be compiled or deployed, as you see your app change in real time as you make adjustments to it.
4. Wide Range of Templates
There are many templates available for Glide that cover a wide span of use cases from basic task manager to more complex inventory system. That means you can use a pre designed structure and tweak it to make it work for you.
5. Cross-Platform Compatibility
Guaranteed to run on both mobile and web platforms, apps built with Glide allow you to reach everyone, no matter their location.
Use Cases
Let’s take a look at some practical and innovative use cases for Glide.
1. Personal Projects
- Task Manager: Take a Google Sheets to-do list and make it into an app where you can tick off tasks, set reminders or collaborate with family or roommates.
- Recipe Book: Turn your cookbook into a digital one, you can categorize your recipes, add photos and share it with friends. For instance if a recipe is a favorite or given notes can put some filters there without any complication.
- Reading List: Make a list of books you want to read and turn it into an app that you can use to track your in book progress, rate books, and make notes or reviews.
2. Small Business Applications
- Inventory Management: Glide can be built with an app to streamline stock levels for small retailers or cafes, tracking product sales and also give low stock alerts directly to an app.
- Client Management: A basic CRM that businesses can use to peruse client information, track appointments, and notes from meetings that doesn’t require a complex system.
- Event Check-In: In the world of businesses hosting events, a Glide app can be used to handle check ins, keep track of attendee lists, and deliver event schedules or maps.
3. Educational Tools
- Quiz Apps: With educational quizzes, teachers can generate quizzes from their spreadsheets where students can interactively test their knowledge and get instant feedback.
- Class Schedule: Create an app that takes a timetable and makes it ones’s view of who and where class is, in one place.
- Field Trip Organizer: Put everything together on a school trip with permissions, itinerary and emergency contacts, the data is on hand for both staff and parents.
4. Non-profit making organizations and community based organizations
- Volunteer Sign-Up: It’s a wonderful way for organizations to plan out community events or campaigns instantly based on volunteer skills and availability.
- Donation Tracker: Access track donations, track donors, and even info about fundraising goals that can be shared with supporters to keep them engaged and informed in app.
- Community Events Calendar: Community events, meetings, or workshops can be listed in a centralized app for the sake of keeping community members in the loop on what’s going on in town.
5. Health and Fitness
- Workout Planner: Converts workout routines into an app to log progress, watch weeklies next, or edit up plans.
- Nutrition Journal: Create an app for dietitians/personal trainers so clients can track what they eat, drink and their nutritional goals directly in a Google Sheet.
6. Travel and Experiences
- Travel Itinerary: Build an app around a travel plan by making the locals activities, accommodations and tips easy to find, even while offline.
- Memory Album: Compile photos, notes, and experiences after a trip into an interactive album that friends or family can browse.
7. Project Management
- Simple Project Tracker: If you have small teams, or are working on a personal project, manage your tasks, deadlines, progress more easily than with a bog standard spreadsheet in an app format that is easier to work on the go.
8. Feedback and Surveys
- Customer Feedback: Thanks to the power of Google Sheets, businesses can quickly set up an app to take customer feedback on products or services which drop your processing power and feed directly to a Google Sheet for analyzing.
These use cases rely on Glide’s simplicity to take data from a spreadsheet and turn it into an interactive, easy to use application that makes your work more productive, engaging or just easier. What makes Glide so beautiful is that it can deliver almost any app, without any coding required whatsoever.
My Experience
I’ve put Glide together to build an easy to use app for an nearby community group that does have regular meetups. I set up an app that had no coding knowledge requirement, where members were able to RSVP, see the event schedule and share photos. To get started, it was as simple as importing my Google Sheet, making some tweaks in the app’s look and feel.
Pros
- Ease of Use: And is truly accessible to anyone with basic computer skills.
- Cost-Effective: It offers a free tier, with substantial capabilities, good for personal or small scale project.
- Quick Setup: Using the best Autonomous ML technology making it From Concept to Live App in Minutes, not weeks.
- Integration: It works directly with Google Sheets, which most people are already using.
Cons
- Limited for Complex Apps: Perfect for merely simple to moderately complicated apps, it isn’t perhaps well suited for specially nuanced applications.
- Customization Limits: You can really do a lot, but if you have some advanced feature in mind you might have to look elsewhere or be a little creative.
- Scaling: Performance problems occur on the free plan for very large datasets or user bases.
Conclusion
Glide is a great no code platform that lives up to what it promises — application development for anyone. Glide gives you the power to launch your vision, whether you’re a student, small business owner, or have the idea: no coding skills required. That’s the simplicity and the power that makes Glide leadership position for people who want to try their hands in building an app.
Again this is based on my experience and what I’ve seen, and it’s intended to point you to the no code platform that is absolutely the simplest for what you need. Glide is the place to start if you’re ready to stop working with spreadsheets and start making your worksheets great again.