Even as Microsoft is testing a new version of its Teams collaboration app, one of its biggest competitors in the online collaboration space has started rolling out its own new version. Today, Slack announced a redesign of its app, which is supposed to make it easier for its users to switch between channels and keep track of their messages.
In a blog post, the Salesforce-owned Slack talks about and shows the new design in action. There will be a new Home section that will be the one stop place for all of a Slack user"s workspaces. The blog post states:
You’ve told us that navigating channels and messages across multiple workspaces can be tough. That’s why we’re introducing the ability to view channels from every workspace, all in Home—no more toggling back and forth! See the whole picture, so you can zone in on the information that’s most important to you.
The new design will also have dedicated spaces for all of a Slack user"s direct messages, along with another Activity section to view any mentions, reactions, app notifications and other related items. There"s also a new Later section where users can put in messages and other content and save it for future use.
Finally, there"s a new Create button that will allow users to not only send messages to others, but also to create a new channel, launch a Huddle private call with someone, and make canvas plans.
Slack says this redesign will be available for new teams today. It will roll out to existing Slack users over the coming months.
As we mentioned before, this Slack revamp comes even as Microsoft has been publicly testing a new and reportedly much faster version of its Teams app. It will also come with some new features that are designed to simplify its use. It"s currently scheduled to be generally available in October.