A fascinating approach to create simple PWAs
It is a fascinating approach to create simple PWAs, like: digital brochures, social bio link, business apps, event apps, small product guides.
It has unique and interesting features, like:
1. The building blocks of an app are what they call "Actions". The neat part is that once you create an action, it is added to the Actions Library and you can use it in multiple apps (or on multiple SubPages). When you update an action, it will be updated everywhere, instantly.
2. Another interesting feature is that all actions have metrics (there is no need to connect 3rd party analytics tools).
3. Even if it is not mentioned, the App Builder itself is mobile friendly (at least 95% of it - the metrics screens and some modals still need a bit of work). So, in other words, you can create or edit your App/Actions on a mobile device.
4. The Audience feature is again something unique. You can target to show/hide specific Actions to different audiences. Basically, you can filter/target users by: application type (browser/app), mobile os, device, push optin. I hope they will extend this feature in the future.
5. There are a few advanced Actions that you don't usually see in tools like these, like: Simple webhooks and forms
Thinks that I would also like to see are:
- Dynamic content: to be able to connect to a Google Sheet/API/Airtable to have a dynamically generated list/grid (something like what SpreadSimple is doing).
Richard_Tapps
May 9, 2024Hi Luciandesign,
Thank you for the thoughtful review! Our approach to building PWAs is different and it is nice to have you recognize some of the advantages.
Many of the features go back to our design goal of simplifying the deployment of PWAs at scale. You mention that Actions (including entire subpages) may be shared between apps. It is also important to note that a shared action inherits the style of itās host app, discretely captures metrics for every instance, and can identify its source app. For example, build a form and add it to multiple apps, and each form fill will automatically identify the app where the fill originated, even though the form exists only one time in the account. The āIQā feature can also identify the app where other shared Actions originate.
Our metrics are robust without relying on Google or Facebook because of our focus on privacy. When a user interacts with a digital business card, QR code, or link based experience, the use of cookies would require an opt-in notice in many instances, which we think may turn away users. Thus, we always avoid using cookies.
I wish we could say we have a mobile dashboard! We do our best to make sure users can make quick updates from their phone, but some functionalities are just hard to do on mobile. We will keep working at it!.
And Iām glad you like the audience control features. Apps need to easily present different experiences to different audiences. For example, if you want a user to load a PWA on their mobile device, present it as a link on mobile but as a QR code on desktop.
What other audience filters would you like to see?
I am also glad you brought up the concept of managing apps through google sheets. We are working on the ability to manage digital cards through a Google sheet to make it easier for an enterprise to manage cards for their employees. This pairs very well with building apps that share content, and the effort is helping us think through the nuances of building an app through a spreadsheet.
Thanks again for the great review and for the suggestions!
āRichard