AppSheet is a

no-code development platform No-code development platforms (NCDPs) allow creating application software through graphical user interfaces and configuration instead of traditional computer programming based on writing code. As with low-code development platforms, it is meant ...

for

application software Application software is any computer program that is intended for end-user use not operating, administering or programming the computer. An application (app, application program, software application) is any program that can be categorized as ...

, which allows users to create mobile, tablet, and

web application A web application (or web app) is application software that is created with web technologies and runs via a web browser. Web applications emerged during the late 1990s and allowed for the server to dynamically build a response to the request, ...

s. It allows using data sources like

Google Drive Google Drive is a file-hosting service and synchronization service developed by Google. Launched on April 24, 2012, Google Drive allows users to store files in the cloud (on Google servers), synchronize files across devices, and share files ...

DropBox Dropbox is a file hosting service operated by the American company Dropbox, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, California, that offers cloud storage, file synchronization, personal cloud, and Client (computing), client software. Dropbox w ...

Office 365 Microsoft 365 (previously called Office 365) is a product family of productivity software, collaboration and cloud-based services owned by Microsoft. It encompasses online services such as Outlook.com, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, programs form ...

, and other

cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles, suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...

-based spreadsheet and database platforms. AppSheet can be utilized for a broad set of business use cases including

project management Project management is the process of supervising the work of a Project team, team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project initiation documentation, project documentation, crea ...

customer relationship management Customer relationship management (CRM) is a strategic process that organizations use to manage, analyze, and improve their interactions with customers. By leveraging data-driven insights, CRM helps businesses optimize communication, enhance cus ...

, field inspections, and personalized reporting. AppSheet was acquired by

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

in January 2020.

Platform

The AppSheet platform allows users to create mobile apps from cloud-based

spreadsheet A spreadsheet is a computer application for computation, organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form. Spreadsheets were developed as computerized analogs of paper accounting worksheets. The program operates on data entered in c ...

s and

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

s. Apps can also be created directly as an add-on from spreadsheet platforms like

Google Sheets Google Sheets is a spreadsheet application and part of the free, web-based Google Docs Editors suite offered by Google. Google Sheets is available as a web application; a mobile app for: Android, iOS, and as a desktop application on Googl ...

. The platform is available from both a

self-service Self-service is a system whereby customers acquire (or serve) themselves goods or services, paying for the items at a point-of-sale, as opposed to a shop assistant or clerk acquiring goods or providing services in addition to taking payment. Comm ...

model and a corporate licensing model for larger organizations with more governance, data analytics, and performance options. Compared to

low-code development platforms A low-code development platform (LCDP) provides a development environment used to create application software, generally through a graphical user interface (as opposed to only writing code, though some coding is possible and may be required). A l ...

which allow developers to develop with faster iteration cycles, AppSheet is a no-code platform which allows business users familiar with basic spreadsheet and database operations to build apps. AppSheet compatible data sources include: *

* Google Forms *

Microsoft Excel Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet editor developed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows, Windows, macOS, Android (operating system), Android, iOS and iPadOS. It features calculation or computation capabilities, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a ...

Dropbox Dropbox is a file hosting service operated by the American company Dropbox, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, California, that offers cloud storage, file synchronization, personal cloud, and Client (computing), client software. Dropbox w ...

Box (company) Box, Inc. (formerly Box.net) is an American public company based in Redwood City, California. It develops and markets cloud-based content management, collaboration, and file sharing tools for businesses. Box was founded in 2005 by Aaron Levie an ...

* Smartsheet *

Salesforce Salesforce, Inc. is an American cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It provides applications focused on sales, customer service, marketing automation, e-commerce, analytics, artificial intelligence, and ap ...

DreamFactory DreamFactory is an American software developer based in Las Vegas. It develops both commercial and open-source software that provides Self-hosting (compilers), self-hosted integration and API generation services to multiple applications in cloud ...

Microsoft SQL Server Microsoft SQL Server is a proprietary relational database management system developed by Microsoft using Structured Query Language (SQL, often pronounced "sequel"). As a database server, it is a software product with the primary function of ...

MySQL MySQL () is an Open-source software, open-source relational database management system (RDBMS). Its name is a combination of "My", the name of co-founder Michael Widenius's daughter My, and "SQL", the acronym for Structured Query Language. A rel ...

PostgreSQL PostgreSQL ( ) also known as Postgres, is a free and open-source software, free and open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) emphasizing extensibility and SQL compliance. PostgreSQL features transaction processing, transactions ...

Amazon DynamoDB Amazon DynamoDB is a managed NoSQL database service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It supports key-value and document data structures and is designed to handle a wide range of applications requiring scalability and performance. History W ...

Features

Data Capture

AppSheet apps capture data in the form of images, signatures, geolocation, barcodes, and NFC. Data is automatically synced to the cloud-based, or users can opt to manually sync the data at any time. Common uses for data capture include field or equipment inspections, safety inspections, reporting, and inventory management.

Data Collaboration

Synced, shared data allows users to collaborate across mobile or desktop devices.

Workflow Workflow is a generic term for orchestrated and repeatable patterns of activity, enabled by the systematic organization of resources into processes that transform materials, provide services, or process information. It can be depicted as a seque ...

rules can also be used to trigger notifications or work-based assignments where appropriate. Offline access is also possible as data storage is localized to the device and synced upon internet connectivity returns.

Data Display

AppSheet data can be displayed in graphical and interactive formats. Common data views include tables, forms, maps, charts, calendars, and dashboards. Each app can hold multiple views consisting of data from various sources.

Declarative Programming Model

AppSheet's platform allows users to declare the logic of the app's activity in order to customize the app's user experience rather than use traditional code. This level of abstraction essentially trades a granular level of customization that would be available through hard code for increased efficiency, scalability, and security that would be available through a declarative model.

History

AppSheet was originally founded by Praveen Seshadri in March 2014 after several months of developing the product at his home in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. In 2015, AppSheet received seed funding from

New Enterprise Associates New Enterprise Associates (NEA) is an American-based venture capital firm. NEA focuses investment stages ranging from seed stage through growth stage across an array of industry sectors. With over $25 billion in committed capital, NEA is one of t ...

. In 2018, AppSheet launched SPEC, a natural-language programming tool allowing non-coders to build apps by asking users in plain English what they want to build. On January 14, 2020, AppSheet announced they had been acquired by

and would be joining the

Google Cloud Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a suite of cloud computing services offered by Google that provides a series of modular cloud services including computing, data storage, data analytics, and machine learning, alongside a set of management tools ...

team.

References

External links

* {{Google Cloud Software companies established in 2014 2014 establishments in Washington (state) Software development Software companies based in Washington (state) 2020 mergers and acquisitions Google acquisitions Google Cloud Defunct software companies of the United States Web applications Cloud applications