Startup turns spreadsheets into smartphone apps

Glide helps companies create smartphone apps based on Excel files, no coding necessary

Spotted:  US-based startup Glide has created a way to build apps without coding. The company turns Excel spreadsheets – the kind you use for accounting – into smartphone-ready apps.

Users plug information into an Excel spreadsheet and the program turns it into an app. Glide offers several templates, including for human resources — like organising interviews or employees — advertising a small business or running a podcast. Users can also create their own Excel sheet. The service is currently available. There is a free option and fee-based services.

Glide was started by four programmers who were frustrated at how difficult it was to create an app. David Siegel, CEO and co-founder at Glide, and his co-founders Jason Smith, Mark Probst and Antonio Garcia Aprea were working for a different company at the time. They started exploring non-coding methods to create apps and decided the widely used spreadsheet made the most sense for companies.