Quip – Collaboration On Any Device

Quip is a mobile productivity suite that provides a way for people to collaborate across nearly any Internet-connected device. Combining features like online chatting, document storage, and checklists, Quip has been embraced by users in a variety of industries.

Although Quip offers dozens of productivity tools, it’s the application’s document collaboration capabilities that most people will notice first. Using Quip, you can edit the same version of a document with colleagues or collaborators. Rather than forwarding multiple attachments and creating separate email chat threads, you can upload a document to Quip once and chat about the progress of that document in the chat thread that appears along the left-hand side. You can also create a checklist that includes all the items that need fixing before your document will be complete.

While most Quip users will collaborate on text files, the application also supports collaboration on spreadsheets. The entire Quip productivity suite is accessible both online and offline, which means users can work on their documents (and even send messages) whether they’re in the office or in the air. Any work that’s done offline is synced immediately when the user’s device is once again connected to the internet.

Practical Uses:

• Collaborate on a spreadsheet with colleagues
• Use checklists to keep big projects organized
• Edit a document in real-time with a client
• Create new documents while working offline

Insider Tips:

• Use keyboard shortcuts to work more quickly within Quip
• Quip Spreadsheets support more than 400 functions
• Quip is available on iPhones, iPads, and Android devices
• Files created offline will sync whenever the device regains an Internet connection

What we liked:

• All Quip features work offline and online
• Users can select which collaborators to add to shared task lists
• Every document has a chat thread where collaborators can discuss revisions
• Quip is an excellent solution for larger teams

What we didn’t like:

• Nothing

Alternatives:

• Box – https://www.box.com
• Etherpad – http://etherpad.org
• Zoho Docs – https://www.zoho.com/docs

Company Info:

• Launched: July 2013
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: San Francisco, California
• Founded by: Bret Taylor and Kevin Gibbs
• Web site: https://quip.com

Costs:

• Quip is free for personal use
• Quip Business is $12 per user, per month when paid monthly

Rating:

• 5 out of 5 (wow)