Shift (software)

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Shift is a desktop application for email management developed by Redbrick Technologies in 2016. It features simultaneous usage of multiple email accounts and web services.

Application software computer software designed to perform a group of coordinated functions, tasks, or activities for the benefit of the user

Application software is computer software designed to perform a group of coordinated functions, tasks, or activities for the benefit of the user. Examples of an application include a word processor, a spreadsheet, an accounting application, a web browser, a media player, an aeronautical flight simulator, a console game or a photo editor. The collective noun application software refers to all applications collectively. This contrasts with system software, which is mainly involved with running the computer.

Email method of exchanging digital messages between people over a network

Electronic mail is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Invented by Ray Tomlinson, email first entered limited use in the 1960s and by the mid-1970s had taken the form now recognized as email. Email operates across computer networks, which today is primarily the Internet. Some early email systems required the author and the recipient to both be online at the same time, in common with instant messaging. Today's email systems are based on a store-and-forward model. Email servers accept, forward, deliver, and store messages. Neither the users nor their computers are required to be online simultaneously; they need to connect only briefly, typically to a mail server or a webmail interface for as long as it takes to send or receive messages.

Web application application that uses a web browser as a client

In computing, a web application or web app is a client–server computer program which the client runs in a web browser. Common web applications include webmail, online retail sales, and online auction.

Contents

Shift
Shift logo.png
Developer(s) Redbrick Technologies Inc.
Initial releaseSeptember 2016
Stable release
3.4.2 / February 26, 2019
Written in JavaScript, Python (programming language)
Operating system Windows, Mac OS, Linux
Type Email client
License Proprietary
Website https://tryshift.com

History

Shift was founded by Redbrick Technologies. As a product development company, many employees at the company were managing multiple email accounts, in addition to web applications and extensions. The team began exploring ways to manage multiple accounts more efficiently, and decided to build Shift.

The soft launch was in September 2016 to a limited beta audience, with a subsequent stable release in December 2016 on Product Hunt.

Software release life cycle sum of the phases of development and maturity for computer software

A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software: ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help improve software or fix software bugs still present in the software.

Product Hunt product discovery website

Product Hunt is a website that lets users share and discover new products. The site, which was founded by Ryan Hoover in November 2013, is backed by Y Combinator. Users submit products which are listed in a linear format by day. The site includes a comments system and a voting system similar to Hacker News or Reddit. The products with the most votes rise to the top of each day's list.

Shift 2.0 was released in November 2017, [1] with updates including a cross-account ‘unified search’ option, and support for web applications like Slack, Asana, Trello, Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, Evernote, Airtable, Dropbox, Canva, Flipboard, Zendesk, Headspace, Spotify etc.

Slack is an American cloud-based set of proprietary team collaboration tools and services, founded by Stewart Butterfield. Slack began as an internal tool used by his company, Tiny Speck, in the development of Glitch, a now defunct online game. The name is an acronym for "Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge".

Asana (software) Project management software

Asana is a web and mobile application designed to help teams organize, track, and manage their work. Forrester, Inc. reports that “Asana simplifies team-based work management.” It was founded in 2008 by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and ex-Google-and-Facebook engineer Justin Rosenstein, who both worked on improving the productivity of employees at Facebook. The product launched commercially in April 2012. The company was most recently valued at $1.5B.

Trello is a web-based list-making application originally made by Fog Creek Software in 2011, that was spun out to form the basis of a separate company in 2014 and later sold to Atlassian in January 2017. The company is based in New York City.

Features

Shift is compatible with Gmail, Google Inbox, Outlook and Office 365 email accounts. Users can connect up to two email accounts in the free version, and an unlimited number of accounts in each of the two premium versions. This allows users to stay signed in to all connected accounts, including G-suite & Office 365. Advanced users have access to a directory of web applications and extensions inside the Shift interface.

Gmail Googles email service

Gmail is a free email service developed by Google. Users can access Gmail on the web and using third-party programs that synchronize email content through POP or IMAP protocols. Gmail started as a limited beta release on April 1, 2004 and ended its testing phase on July 7, 2009.

Inbox by Gmail email app by Google

Inbox by Gmail is an email service developed by Google. Announced in limited invitation-only basis on October 22, 2014, it was officially released to the public on May 28, 2015.

Outlook.com webmail service from Microsoft

Outlook.com is a web-based suite of webmail, contacts, tasks, and calendaring services from Microsoft. One of the world's first webmail services, it was founded in 1996 as Hotmail by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith in Mountain View, California, and headquartered in Sunnyvale. Microsoft acquired Hotmail in 1997 for an estimated $400 million and launched it as MSN Hotmail, later rebranded to Windows Live Hotmail as part of the Windows Live suite of products. Microsoft released the final version of Hotmail in October 2011 and it was replaced by Outlook.com in 2013.

Technology

Shift is written in JavaScript and Python. It was originally built on Electron framework. However, later it switched to the Muon framework to support extensions. For secure communication, Shift uses HTTP over TLS (SSL) to encrypt data sent between the client, the server and other third-party services. OAuth 2.0 (with support for MFA) is used to ensure users are authenticated and authorized.

JavaScript, often abbreviated as JS, is a high-level, interpreted programming language that conforms to the ECMAScript specification. It is a programming language that is characterized as dynamic, weakly typed, prototype-based and multi-paradigm.

Python is an interpreted, high-level, general-purpose programming language. Created by Guido van Rossum and first released in 1991, Python has a design philosophy that emphasizes code readability, notably using significant whitespace. It provides constructs that enable clear programming on both small and large scales. Van Rossum led the language community until stepping down as leader in July 2018.

Electron (software framework) framework that enables cross-platform desktop applications

Electron is an open-source framework developed and maintained by GitHub. Electron allows for the development of desktop GUI applications using front and back end components originally developed for web applications: Node.js runtime for the backend and Chromium for the frontend. Electron is the main GUI framework behind several notable open-source projects including Atom, Visual Studio Code, the Tidal client app, Light Table and Discord.

Reception

Shift was among the top 3 finalists in the ‘Product of the Year’ category at the VIATEC Awards 2017. [2] According to the tech review site Cnet, “Shift may be the ultimate solution for Gmail users [...].” [3] Product Hunt, [4] TechRepublic [5] and Lifehacker [6] have shared positive reviews of the software. Forbes has listed Shift as one of the essential tools for marketers. [7] Hubspot has listed Shift as one of 13 tools to organize and manage email [8] . Todoist has published Shift as an integration for boosting productivity [9] . According to Netted by the Webby Awards, "Shift makes work so much better. [10] "

CNET American media website about technology and consumer electronics

CNET is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. Founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition in 2008. CNET originally produced content for radio and television in addition to its website and now uses new media distribution methods through its Internet television network, CNET Video, and its podcast and blog networks.

TechRepublic is an online trade publication and social community for IT professionals, with advice on best practices and tools for the day-to-day needs of IT decision-makers.

Lifehacker is a weblog about life hacks and software which launched on January 31, 2005. The site was originally launched by Gawker Media and is currently owned by Univision Communications. The blog posts cover a wide range of topics including: Microsoft Windows, Mac, Linux programs, iOS and Android, as well as general life tips and tricks. The staff updates the site about 18 times each weekday, with reduced updates on weekends. The Lifehacker motto is "Tips, tricks, and downloads for getting things done."

Related Research Articles

Webmail is any email client implemented as a web application running on a web server. Examples of webmail software are Roundcube and SquirrelMail. Examples of webmail providers are AOL Mail, Gmail, Outlook.com/Hotmail.com, Rackspace Email, Yahoo! Mail and IceWarp Mail Server. Many webmail providers also offer email access by a desktop email client using standard email protocols, while many internet service providers provide a webmail client as part of the email service included in their internet service package.

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of notable webmail providers who offer a web interface in English.

Google Pay Send mobile payment system developed by Google

Google Pay Send is a peer-to-peer payments service developed by Google that allows people to send and receive money from a mobile device or desktop computer at no cost to either sender or receiver. When set up, a Google Pay account must be linked to an existing debit card or bank account in the United States or United Kingdom. Google Pay Send can be used through the Google Pay Send app and Gmail. The app is available for Android devices running Android 4.0 and above, and for iOS devices running iOS 7.0 and above.

A Google Account is a user account that is required for access, authentication and authorization to certain online Google services.

G Suite is a brand of cloud computing, productivity and collaboration tools, software and products developed by Google, first launched on August 28, 2006 as "Google Apps for Your Domain". G Suite comprises Gmail, Hangouts, Calendar, and Google+ for communication; Drive for storage; Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Sites for collaboration; and, depending on the plan, an Admin panel and Vault for managing users and the services. It also includes the digital interactive whiteboard Jamboard and the app development platform App Maker.

Gmail interface

The Gmail interface makes Gmail unique amongst webmail systems for several reasons. Most evident to users are its search-oriented features and means of managing e-mail in a "conversation view" that is similar to an Internet forum.

HubSpot is a developer and marketer of software products for inbound marketing and sales. It was founded by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah in 2006. Its products and services aim to provide tools for social media marketing, content management, web analytics and search engine optimization.

Sparrow (email client) email client

Sparrow was an email client for OS X and iOS. After a 4-month beta period, Sparrow went on sale in the Mac App Store on February 9, 2011 and became the top paid and top grossing app in less than one day. On July 20, 2012, the company announced that it had been acquired by Google and was ceasing continued development of the application except for critical bug fixes.

Mailbox (application)

Mailbox was a freeware email management application for iOS and Android, developed by Orchestra, Inc. It drew the attention of numerous technology blogs for its usability and innovative features, such as swipe-based email sorting, snoozing and filtering. Weeks before its launch, a pre-registration period resulted in a waiting list of over 380,000 reservations. Upon its iOS launch on 7 February 2013, Mailbox became the second-most-downloaded free app in the App Store that day.

Mailbird is a desktop email client for Windows 7, 8 and 10, inspired by the Sparrow email client for OS X.

Newton (app)

Newton is an email management application for iOS, Android, MacOS, Windows and Chrome OS developed by CloudMagic, Inc. The application is known for its searching capabilities, cross-platform abilities and user interface. It has been referred to as an email client better than Gmail's native app. As from September 15, 2016, CloudMagic has been renamed to Newton Mail with premium services, adding a host of new features and functions.

Streak is the developer of an eponymous customer relationship management platform for Gmail. The firm is also the developer of SecureGmail, open-source Google Chrome extension that allows users to encrypt Gmail messages.

Google Docs Cloud-based word processing software application owned by Google

Google Docs is a word processor included as part of a free, web-based software office suite offered by Google within its Google Drive service. This service also includes Google Sheets and Google Slides, a spreadsheet and presentation program respectively. Google Docs is available as a web application, mobile app for Android, iOS, Windows, BlackBerry, and as a desktop application on Google's ChromeOS. The app is compatible with Microsoft Office file formats. The application allows users to create and edit files online while collaborating with other users in real-time. Edits are tracked by user with a revision history presenting changes. An editor's position is highlighted with an editor-specific color and cursor. A permissions system regulates what users can do. Updates have introduced features using machine learning, including "Explore", offering search results based on the contents of a document, and "Action items", allowing users to assign tasks to other users.

Nylas Mail is an open-source desktop email client by Nylas, known for its emphasis on user-contributed extensions. It was formerly known as Nylas N1 and was rebranded as Nylas Mail starting with the January 17, 2017 release.

Kopano is an open-source groupware application suite originally based on Zarafa. The initial version of Kopano Core (KC) was forked from the then-current release of the Zarafa Collaboration Platform, and superseded ZCP in terms of lineage as ZCP switched to maintenance mode with patches flowing from KC. Kopano WebApp similarly descended from Zarafa WebApp. Since October 2017, Kopano Core is also known more specifically as Kopano Groupware Core, since Kopano B.V. developed more products that were not directly requiring groupware components.

Bitwarden password manager

Bitwarden is an open-source password management service that stores sensitive information such as website credentials in an encrypted vault. The Bitwarden platform offers a variety of client applications including a web interface, desktop applications, browser extensions, mobile apps, and a CLI. Bitwarden offers a cloud-hosted service as well as the ability to deploy the solution on-premise.

References

  1. ↑ "Shift 2.1- Released November 16, 2017 - Shift". support.tryshift.com. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
  2. ↑ "2017 VIATEC Technology Awards". VIATEC. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
  3. ↑ "Two dirt-cheap ways to solve your email hassles". CNET. 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  4. ↑ "Shift - Product Hunt". Product Hunt. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  5. ↑ "Shift: The Google email, calendar, and drive client that's almost perfect". TechRepublic. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  6. ↑ Ravenscraft, Eric. "Shift Is a Desktop Email Client That Easily Switches Between Gmail Accounts". Lifehacker. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  7. ↑ DeMers, Jayson. "40 Gmail Hacks And Tricks Every Marketer Needs To Know". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  8. ↑ Kolowich, Lindsay. "How to Organize Your Email: 13 Management Tools". blog.hubspot.com. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
  9. ↑ "Todoist Integrations That Will Boost Your Productivity". Ambition & Balance. 2019-01-31. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
  10. ↑ "Shift". Netted. 2017-02-22. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
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