from Hacker News

Twist – the communication app for teams (by Todoist)

by bauerpl on 6/22/17, 6:04 AM with 11 comments

  • by yoz-y on 6/22/17, 7:36 AM

  • by bshimmin on 6/22/17, 7:36 AM

    I watched the video - which is quite rare for me, it must be said - in which it started out by telling me how broken email and Slack were, and then proceeded to explain how Twist was much better, by apparently letting me do things in my own time and organising stuff into channels. I came away totally unconvinced as to how this was really any different from Slack, where people post crap, I look at it when I feel like it, and things are organised into channels.

    It seems there's some nuance where channels can have a sub-category inside them, but I'm sure if you throw humans at it they'll still just post irrelevant crap and animated GIFs all over the place.

    Skimming through their Twist vs Slack document (https://twist.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003654569), it does seem like there are some mildly compelling reasons why this might be an improvement over Slack - but this is a very busy space and it's hard to imagine why someone would try this over Slack when it has so much mindshare right now. I don't wish to sound overly negative - this looks like an attractive and thoughtful product.

  • by maitrik on 6/22/17, 7:40 AM

    I have actually thought about this idea before and really like what they are trying to do.

    But I do not like the idea of installing one more app and adopting one more platform. Why not just use existing infrastructure of emails and integrate with that nicely?

    The channels on Twist could be folders on gmails (with google integration at first) and users could reply to threads from their favorite email client. If they want to use a dedicated app they could easily install the app.

    I think this would help them with growth a lot more since it would use the existing infrastructure of emails. Of course, it doesn't solve the notifications problem that they are trying to solve but that's what the app is for.

  • by gressquel on 6/22/17, 7:35 AM

    Looks like we have gone full circle now. Twist looks like email with prettier UI

  • by the_common_man on 6/22/17, 7:17 AM

    Can someone tell me how something with just 3 points appears on the front page? I feel there must be some way to game the HN sysem but I don't know what it is.

    http://imgur.com/a/VeLRo

  • by dfischer on 6/22/17, 7:43 AM

    Seems like there is a wave of anti-slack/notification rhetoric right now.

    Between this and the basecamp article.

  • by mdekkers on 6/22/17, 8:09 AM

    again? cut with the spam already