Airtable
Productivity
spreadsheet database
SHOW HN2014
361points
125comments
#32of 2,272 in 2014
Top 2%of 2014 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
26 positive, 28 neutral or asking, 5 mixed, 11 critical, out of 70 comments about the project. Thread score +0.23.
Idea: 11 for, 2 againstExecution: 3 for, 5 againstDesign: 5 for, 1 againstPerformance: 1 for, 0 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Polished UI and design
From 3 comments
This looks beautiful! Love the database model, which reminds me of Salesforce's flexibility with an AWESOME front end. Really excited to see how people use it.
gwintrob on HNWell-polished product.. can you u talk a little bit about the design and the front end. what did you use for the UI design and front end. it is clean..
mgulaid on HNThis looks fantastic! I was drooling during the demo video - you've improved on so many things from the standard spreadsheet at once. If I could make a request for the API: it's…
christiangenco on HN
Real-time sync and collaboration
From 2 comments
The "instantly syncs updates with all users" bit caught my eye. I always wonder how people go about implementing that. Asana works that way, and they have their own framework…
kbd on HNAt first I thought it was just a prettier, easier to use version of Excel. Then you showed me the filtering and I had an "Aha" moment. Excel is quick and easy, but it's hard to…
porter on HN
Filtering makes it easier to ask questions of data than Excel
From 1 comment
At first I thought it was just a prettier, easier to use version of Excel. Then you showed me the filtering and I had an "Aha" moment. Excel is quick and easy, but it's hard to…
porter on HN
Objections
Needs an API before it is useful
From 2 comments
Great... but could be useless without an API.
kolev on HNThis looks fantastic! I was drooling during the demo video - you've improved on so many things from the standard spreadsheet at once. If I could make a request for the API: it's…
christiangenco on HN
Hard to beat Google Sheets for everyday use
From 2 comments
This really looks very nice! After defining 3 tables with related records, some thoughts: - Trying to enter some records, I pressed space in the checkbox column, "zoom view"…
kbendyk on HNCongrats! I got very excited when I first saw the video. Then I signed in to use it, but got stuck. For me the UI seems a bit heavy. Not sure what it is about the UI, but it…
salimmadjd on HN
Mobile app loses offline cache when it restarts
From 1 comment
Any chance you could get the mobile app not lose its cache when 'closed' (or rather 'crashed'/'restarted')? At the moment, offline support works fine unless the app closes or…
tekacs on HN
Sluggish scrolling and low record density on large tables
From 1 comment
Here's one use case: i tried importing a 500+ row wine spreadsheet into it (it has columns like type, producer, name, vintage, rating, source etc). I had to save the file as CSV…
Erwin on HN
Requests
Public API, with JSON access to tables
From 3 comments
This looks fantastic! I was drooling during the demo video - you've improved on so many things from the standard spreadsheet at once. If I could make a request for the API: it's…
christiangenco on HNVery impressed. Spreadsheets have never quite "clicked" with me, but this did. It exposes a lot of functionality that your average person would want out of a spreadsheet in a…
addisonj on HNGreat... but could be useless without an API.
kolev on HN
Android app
From 2 comments
Looks pretty great. I'm not sure if I have a use case personally, but seems quite well-executed. Any plans for an Android app? Also, minor note. On the fifth step of the tour,…
michaelmior on HNI read hacker news for a long time and decided to join just to congratulate you for this! I'm a developer and truly like the database aspect of the app. Linking tables is super…
ccath on HN
Scripting such as JavaScript
From 1 comment
Are there any plans to make this scriptable with say Javascript?
orbifold on HN
Automation from email and other sources
From 1 comment
Congrats this looks awesome! Have you thought much about automation? For example, it would be awesome if every email I send/receive could create or update a row anchored on the…
ivankirigin on HN
Questions
How is real-time sync implemented and what stack is used
From 2 comments
The "instantly syncs updates with all users" bit caught my eye. I always wonder how people go about implementing that. Asana works that way, and they have their own framework…
kbd on HNImpressive! can you tell us more about the stack used?
aikah on HN
Why Google sign-in is required
From 1 comment
Why does it require Google auth?
kdr77 on HN
How it compares to Bento and FileMaker
From 1 comment
How does this compares to products like Bento (RIP) and Filemaker?
tunesmith on HN
Alternatives named
Google Sheets
From 2 comments
Here's one use case: i tried importing a 500+ row wine spreadsheet into it (it has columns like type, producer, name, vintage, rating, source etc). I had to save the file as CSV…
Erwin on HNCongrats! I got very excited when I first saw the video. Then I signed in to use it, but got stuck. For me the UI seems a bit heavy. Not sure what it is about the UI, but it…
salimmadjd on HN
Asana
From 1 comment
The "instantly syncs updates with all users" bit caught my eye. I always wonder how people go about implementing that. Asana works that way, and they have their own framework…
kbd on HN
Bento and FileMaker
From 1 comment
How does this compares to products like Bento (RIP) and Filemaker?
tunesmith on HN
Dabble DB
From 1 comment
Ah, another DabbleDB! I hope you stick around longer. :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabble_DB
perplexes on HN