Tech —

Hands on with Glassboard 2.0 for iOS: simple, private group sharing

Introducing sharing and collaboration for the boardroom, or some friends.

Hands on with Glassboard 2.0 for iOS: simple, private group sharing

Glassboard: is it a group messaging app? Sort of. Is it a collaboration app? Sure. Is it like a Facebook Group? Maybe. Version 2.0 of the app, released this week, can be as many or as few of those things as you'd like, depending on who you're sharing with and why. On the one hand, it's a way to share notes, photos, files, and other updates with a group of friends. On the other, it could be useful among a group of colleagues working together on a project.

Glassboard 2.0 is now available for iOS and Android, as well as a newly unveiled Web app. The apps are offered by Sepia Labs—the new home of former NetNewsWire developer Brent Simmons—and we thought we'd take a look at the recently updated offerings. "The easiest way to describe Glassboard: as Pair is to the bedroom, as Path is to the rec room, Glassboard is to the boardroom," Simmons told Ars in an e-mail. "It's an app for communicating inside teams (formal or not). I think it's how people will work together in the future—it cuts way down on e-mail."

Indeed, if you are new to small group sharing apps, the idea is like taking Facebook and stripping down all parts of the social network except for the parts where you share privately among clearly defined groups. Or if Google+ allowed everyone in your circle to post to that same circle. The idea is to keep things insular and private. There's no way to blast updates to the whole world like Twitter, and there's no friending or unfriending. You can create or join various groups—close friends, family, coworkers, Ars Technica staffers, cousins, etc.—and post a variety of content to those "boards" as a way to keep each other up-to-date. According to Sepia Labs, Glassboard is supposed to be a digital boardroom.

What one of your boards might look like.
What one of your boards might look like.

The app is pretty straightforward and easy-to-use. Groups are invite-only, so you can only join groups that others have explicitly asked you to join. Alternately, you can create your own groups and invite others. One of the new features in version 2.0 is that you can now create an invitation code and share it among friends instead of digging up everyone's e-mail addresses to send a specialized invite. Once you have one or more groups established, you can make posts that include text, photos, videos, locations, and now files (uploading has to be done via the Web app, though you can still download and view them on the iOS app). The app offers push notifications so you can be made aware of new messages instantly if you so choose.

Another new feature as part of version 2.0 is that users can reply to Glassboard posts via e-mail instead of launching the app. This is particularly useful if there are people on your "boards" who don't use an iOS or Android device. BlackBerry users or those who don't have access to the Web app can still participate, and it allows for more flexibility in communications (always a plus).

Like John Gruber, I wasn't particularly taken by Glassboard when it was first rolled out. But after having used Glassboard 2.0 for several days, I am beginning to appreciate. There's value in an app whose sole purpose is to make it easy to share things privately with social or professional groups. And although there are other apps similar to Glassboard, this one has the benefit of being very straightforward and simple—no muss, no fuss. It may not make you excited to jump out of bed in the morning, but it does exactly what it claims to do. That's all you need when it comes to communicating with your friends or coworkers.

Channel Ars Technica