You know what? I didn’t plan to build anything big. I just needed a simple tool. If you’re curious about the minute-by-minute breakdown, I captured it here. Then Saturday happened, coffee happened, and I ended up shipping three small apps by Sunday night.
I used Glide with Google Sheets. It’s a no-code tool. You drag parts. You hook up data. You hit publish. That’s it. It felt fast—like “I blinked and it worked” fast.
Let me explain what I made, what I loved, and what made me sigh into my mug.
What I Built (Real Stuff, Not Mockups)
- Field Trip Sign-Ups for our PTA
- Parents used a link on their phone.
- They signed with email and got a “You’re in!” message.
- I added a simple form for permission.
- A Zapier flow sent email reminders the night before.
- Snack Shack Schedule for Little League
- Coaches picked slots.
- I set user roles: coach, parent, admin.
- When a slot got filled, it hid from other users.
- I added a little “Late Shift Alert,” which sent a text via Twilio.
- Returns Tracker for a Tiny Online Shop I help run
- We scanned the order QR with the phone camera.
- It logged a status: received, checked, refunded.
- A chart showed refunds by week.
- The owner could export a CSV on Fridays.
It was all live in two days. Not perfect. But live. Seeing someone tap it on their phone at a cold soccer field? That was a nice moment.
The Good Stuff
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Set Up Was Fast
Drag. Drop. Pick a data source. I used Google Sheets and Airtable. I linked columns. I felt like I was cheating. -
It Looked Clean on Day One
Buttons and lists came ready to go. The styles were simple. I didn’t wrestle with CSS. That saved my Saturday. Think Pinterest-style card layouts; for more visual inspiration, see my roundup of apps like Pinterest I actually use.
Need another model outside the productivity space? Luxury dating platforms obsess over polished onboarding; the way Luxy positions its premium brand breaks down tactics like gated sign-ups and high-gloss visuals you can adapt when you're refining an MVP. -
Login and Roles
Email sign-in worked fine. I set who can see what. Parents saw their kids. Admins saw everything. No headaches. -
Share a Link, and Boom
You publish a web link. It works on phones and laptops. No app store drama. This was huge for the PTA folks. It felt almost as instant as sending a Snap—if you're hunting for alternatives, here’s my honest take on apps like Snapchat.
The Not-So-Great
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Big Data = Slow
When my sheet got thousands of rows, some pages lagged. Filters stacked on filters made it worse. I had to trim data and cache some parts. Glide now offers Big Tables designed to handle larger datasets more efficiently. -
Sync Delays With Sheets
Formulas in Google Sheets caused delays. A parent would submit, then not see changes right away. Not long, but long enough to cause “Did it save?” texts. If you’re hitting similar hiccups, Glide’s checklist on why your app might feel slow is a handy reference. -
Design Limits
It looks nice, but not custom to the pixel. You get themes, not total control. For a brand team, this might feel tight. -
Logic Can Get Tangled
“Computed columns” are handy, but big rules get messy. I ended up making helper columns with plain names like “is_late” and “visible_to_coach.” It worked, but it took care. -
Vendor Lock-In Feel
Data exports are fine. But the logic lives there. Moving to a full code stack later would mean a rebuild.
Bonus tip: after you ship, recording a few real user sessions with a tool like Loup helps you catch those “why is this page lagging?” moments before users complain.
Small Moments That Stuck
- A grandma signed up her grandson from an old Android phone. She clapped when it worked. It made my night.
- The snack shack scanner caught a smudged code. We still got the order. We laughed because it was windy and I almost dropped my phone.
- Zapier fired twice once. We fixed it with a “processed” flag column. Simple. Annoying. Fixed.
If your next weekend sprint leans toward building a hyper-local directory—think cafés, wellness spots, or nightlife in one city—it helps to study how specialized guides lay out locations, ratings, and search filters; a quick example is the Prescott edition of RubMaps, where you can see how a mature directory surfaces geo-pins, user reviews, and filterable lists you might want to replicate in a no-code build.
Who This Helps
- Teachers, PTA leads, coaches
- Project managers and ops folks
- Founders testing an idea fast
- Anyone who needs a tool this week, not next quarter
Who might hate it? Teams that need heavy custom UI, strict rules on code, or real-time stuff over giant datasets.
Tips From My Weekend
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Start With Your Data
Name columns plain and short. Keep one sheet per thing: people, events, shifts. -
Test on a Slow Phone
If it feels slow there, prune filters, shorten lists, and shrink images. -
Keep Logic in the App, Not the Sheet
Computed columns were faster for me than Google formulas. -
Use Roles Early
Set who can see what on day one. Saves you pain later. -
Add a Safety Column
I used a “processed” or “sent” flag so automations didn’t fire twice.
Costs and Setup Notes
I began on the free plan. It worked for testing. When the PTA app got active, I moved to a paid plan for more rows and better features. It wasn’t dirt cheap for a tiny group, but the time saved was worth it. I published to a web link and told folks to “Add to Home Screen.” That felt like a simple app install without a store.
My Verdict
I liked it. I still use it. For small tools and fast wins, it shines. I shipped three useful apps in two days. That’s rare for me.
Would I use it for a big, custom product with deep rules and heavy data? No. There I’d go with a full code stack like Next.js with a backend like Supabase, or a builder like FlutterFlow with real control.
But when someone texts me, “Hey, can you make a simple app by Monday?” I smile now. Because I know I can.
And honestly, that feeling alone is worth a second cup of coffee.