AppSheet Review: No Code App Builder with Google Sheets

In our swift-moving modern world, professionals and busy business owners often find it challenging to spend time on their personal and professional projects. 

The busy schedules often force most professionals to keep even the smallest tasks aside for others to do.

This is where time-saving apps for business come into play. Numerous app builders are creating applications that help people to get their work done quickly. 

AppSheet is one such time-saving application that has many benefits to its users. 

AppSheet

AppSheet is a no-code app builder free platform. It helps create applications for all kinds of devices without applying any coding skills.

AppSheet saves a significant amount of time for business owners. It helps them create applications for their requirements in no time.

Let’s look into AppSheet in detail.

What is AppSheet in Google Sheets?

AppSheet is a no-code platform for application development. It lets users create web, tablet, or mobile applications. It uses various databases and cloud-based data sources.

It can also source data from cloud-based spreadsheets like Google Sheets. Some of the most popular data sources used by AppSheet are as follows.

  1. Google Sheets
  1. Google Forms
  1. Smartsheet
  1. Salesforce
  1. DreamFactory
  1. Microsoft Excel
  1. Microsoft SQL Server
  1. MySQL
  1. Amazon DynamoDB, etc.

AppSheet is used by industry leaders and Fortune 500 companies. They use it to develop personalized applications for their businesses.

Some of the most popular companies using AppSheet are as follows.

  • Clearlink
  • ESPN
  • Pepsi
  • Enterprise Holdings
  • State of Colorado
  • The University of Michigan

AppSheet Features

AppSheet was established in 2014. It was later taken up by Google Workspace in 2020. Since then, it has been called Google AppSheet. 

It features a vast number of unique features. Some of the most popular ones are given below.

  • Visual modeling feature.
  • Platform Security features.
  • Platform user management feature.
  • Platform scalability options.
  • Reusability options.
  • Multi-platform support features.
  • Interactive dashboards.
  • Customizable user settings.
  • Localization options.
  • SMS and push notification options.
  • Geocoding options.
  • Usage analytics.
  • Smart Assistant feature.
  • Advanced data sources like Salesforce, SQL, etc. 
  • Offline mode option.
  • Background data syncing feature, etc.

What is AppSheet Used For?

AppSheet is used for developing applications for various devices. It is a no-code platform. That is, AppSheet build apps without code that enables even regular computer users to create applications. 

AppSheet apps help transform workplaces and improve the productivity of the workforce significantly. 

Some of the most common fields that use AppSheet apps are as follows.

  • Transportation
  • Fieldwork
  • Customer surveying
  • Incident reporting
  • Compliance report making
  • Property Surveying
  • Delivery tracking
  • Field data capturing, etc.

AppSheet is particularly useful for the following kinds of people.

  • People who need a personalized application to brand and establish their businesses.
  • People who have no expertise in coding.
  • People who work on subpar mobile applications for collecting data.
  • People who need customizable rich functionality to their work application.
  • People who want to deploy applications in just minutes, etc.

AppSheet for Beginners: User Guide

Beginners can use the following guide to use AppSheet.

1. Prepare the Data

You can use any existing data in your system to create an application. You must choose the data source first and prepare the data accordingly. 

You can use any data source like Google Sheets, Excel, etc. You have to arrange the data in columns and rows. You should also arrange the data under proper headers.

2. Connect AppSheet and the Data Source

You can connect the data source with AppSheet in two ways. They are as follows.

  1. Through the My Apps Page: My Apps > Make A New App
  1. Through Google Sheets: Google Sheets > Extensions > Appsheet > Create an App

3. Use the AppSheet Editor

AppSheet Editor welcomes you with a message first. Next to the message, you can see a preview of the application you are trying to build. 

The left portion of the window contains all the menu options that you will need to edit the application accordingly.

The most helpful menu options are the following.

  • Home: It provides guidelines and educational resources.
  • Info: It provides the application’s technical details.
  • Data: It provides the data options and details.
  • UX: It helps make edits to the look and feel of the application.
  • Automation: It helps with the creation and management of automated bots for tasks.
  • Security: It provides security options and details.
  • Users: It helps manage whom you share the application with.
  • Manage: It helps monitor app usage, deployment, etc.

4. Test and Deploy

After using the necessary menu options to make basic and advanced changes to the application, you can share the application with the people you choose to test it out. 

To share the application, you can go to the ‘Users’ option and enter the email address of the people.

It is possible to make necessary changes to the application based on the inputs of the testers. Once the edits are over, it is time to deploy the application. 

For one final check, you can use the following command.

Manage > Deploy > Deployment Check > Run Deployment Check.

The above command will perform a final deployment check by the AppSheet platform. 

The app creators will receive a complete performance analysis report after the trial deployment. You can check the report for any issues or disparities.

Once everything is fine and final, you can click the ‘Move App to Deployed State’ option to deploy the app. The app has become live and is now up for public access.

Does Google Own AppSheet?

Google has owned AppSheet since 2020. AppSheet is a US company. AppSheet was established initially as a company back in 2014 by Praveen Seshadri. It started amassing funding from outside enterprises in 2015. 

By 2018, AppSheet rose to popularity for its programming tool that assists users in building applications by simply asking them their requirements. 

AppSheet earned an excellent reputation in 2019 as one of the best low-code application developing platforms globally. 

By January 2020, Google announced its acquisition of AppSheet, and the application has since been a part of the Google Cloud team.

Want to explore how Appsheet can help your organization? Contact the team at Cloudasta today.