- Here is a review of Spike, an app that makes email, video conferencing, and collaboration easier.
Recently, I discovered the Spike app through an Instagram ad. After I downloaded the email app and linked it to my Google account, I found myself using it as my default email app now.
The best feature, in my opinion, is that Spike brings the familiarity of iMessage/SMS to emails. As you scroll up or down, you can easily see all emails from the same contact just like you would in a text message thread. This can come in handy if you subscribe to email newsletters and want to read a previous message from that source that you might have missed.
I also like the user interface of the mobile app. You can easily turn on a light or dark mode. And when you push down on messages while viewing your inbox, you can easily mark messages as read or unread. This helps you to quickly achieve “inbox zero” (getting through all your unread messages and tasks).
To help you get to “Inbox Zero,” Spike has Priority Inbox and Other section. And you can easily filter your unread messages so you can zip through them with ease. The speed that Spike loads email is unprecedented as well.
Some of the other noteworthy emails include the ability to schedule emails and set reminders for having them resurface at a different time. And Spike makes it easier to pin emails, unsubscribe from messages, mute notifications, and auto-archive.
If you sync your calendar, then Spike will show you the events in the sidebar within your inbox. Adding new events with Spike is also very easy to do.
Those of you who work in collaborative environments would be interested in the Groups feature. Rather than using siloed collaboration apps like Slack or Microsoft Teams, you can use Spike to set up group chats. You can even create and use Groups with people who don’t use Spike.
In addition to Spike’s built-in video and audio calls, recently Spike also launched a standalone audio and video conferencing tool that is simpler to use than Zoom and Skype. You simply click on the link, enter your name, and start your secure video chat. This service is free, without a time limit and you can connect as many people as you want. Anyone can use the tool without downloading it or creating an account. Plus it has screen sharing built-in and it is secured with SRTP encryption.
All of the features mentioned above are available for free. This is impressive considering rival services like Superhuman charges $30 per month.
So how does Spike generate revenue? The company has pro accounts for $7.99 per month (month-to-month) or $5.99 per month as an annual plan. The pro features include an unlimited number of personal accounts, 1 customer domain account, unlimited searchable message history (GSuite, Gmail, and IMAP), unlimited group chats, more automated rules, voice meetings, and video meetings.
When you are at your desk, I would highly recommend using the Spike website or desktop client. Using Spike on those platforms is just as intuitive as the mobile app. You can download Spike for iOS, Android, Mac or Windows from SpikeNow.com.
