Glide: A Tool to Create Apps from a Spreadsheet

The concept of "code zero" is becoming increasingly popular among those interested in developing a mobile app. We have previously explored platforms like Andromo and MIT App Inventor to achieve that goal, but the folks at Glide offer another path: Take a Google Sheets template with your data loaded, and transform it into an application that is easy to use and share with others. The best part? It has a free edition, and you can get started right away.

The damn pandemic has forced us to change many things, starting with the way we work and sell. Telecommuting and e-commerce are increasingly valuable resources, and anyone wishing to have a firmer web presence should consider the creation of a mobile app. On the other hand, a mobile app can be extremely useful in situations such as inventory control, expense tracking, meal planning, and much more. The question is: Where do we start?

Turning a Spreadsheet into an App

The classic answer would be "learn to code", but the folks at Glide offer an alternative: Load a template in Google Sheets. Their official site features several models or templates that you can get inspired by, though nothing prevents you from making minimal modifications and adopting them directly. The advantage of using a Google Sheets template as a "backend" is that its entry point is very low (every Google account has access to Sheets for free), and any update in its content is registered by the app immediately, so you won't be stuck between multiple revisions.

Another positive aspect of templates in Glide is that they are not limited to a simple visualization, but the site enables a simulation to study their general behavior, descriptions in each menu, avatars, logos, and transitions. If there's something you're not fully convinced about in a template, you'll most likely be able to spot it right away.

Pricing and Limits

Glide has a free mode that will allow you to share an app as long as the template does not exceed 500 rows of data. In addition, there is 100 megabytes of storage space, ten geolocations, and the Glide brand on the app. On the other hand, the professional profile ($19 per app per month) allows us to customize brand and domain, increase data to 25,000 columns, and access 10 GB of cloud space.

Official site: Click here