Sharing Is Caring, and Google Cares

Kin Ho
Staff Writer

Two days before Google’s I/O 2016, an event bringing together developers for an immersive experience focused on exploring the next generation of technology, Google released its newest and most inclusive app yet: Spaces. With its sleek interface and broad functionality, Spaces encapsulates the definition of modernity.

Focused on the dispersion of information, Spaces highlights as a group sharing application compatible with both Android and iOS operating systems, additionally connecting them to the web to allow for a more easily accessible network.

Perfect for collaborative projects, Spaces is used by Google as a solution to the difficulty of sharing ideas of a particular topic without having to repeatedly copy and paste a series of unintelligible URL’s. A sharing ‘space’ becomes easily accessible through a single tap of any page, photo, or video. Once established, this space can be instantly shared over text, email, or other social platform.

Incorporating a generic conversational element, individuals can comment and discuss within a certain topic. As these discussions become more elaborate and detailed, a built-in search function can be used, making it more convenient for users to easily explore other content shared by the group or even certain keywords within the topics.

With such a broad usability, a sole focus of the app becomes difficult to pinpoint. Is it for business? Is it for conversations? Perhaps the app takes the best of both worlds and amalgamates both functions.

“We wanted to build a better group sharing experience, so we made a new app called Spaces that lets people get other people together instantly to share around any topic,” said Luke Wroblewski, product director at Google.

Unlike similar social networking apps such as WhatsApp or Slack, Spaces holds a considerable disadvantage in its inability to share files. The Washington Post is accurate in describing Google’s ongoing quest for “the one social platform to rule them all.”

The name Spaces comes from its ease in sharing content in a “space.” We’ve all been in that position where, swamped with countless deadlines and extracurricular commitments, our professor decides to fill our schedules with yet another group project. With all these subjects, topics and ideas to handle as a University of California, Santa Barbara student, Spaces becomes the perfect solution. The app allows for a clean and undistributed panel of focus as each topic can be moved onto a separate space for ultimate concentration.

No more having to frantically call your group mates the day before the project is due. Spaces removes the clutters your work space and also your work life.

Rather than having to multitask with an abundance of tabs or windows as students may be used to, Spaces incorporates searches, YouTube, and other internet functions within a single app, becoming an incredibly time-saving innovation.

Because of this, Spaces transcends from a simple app to an effective ecosystem primed for group collaborations and clean interfacing. All you need is a Google ID, and you’re ready to rock Google’s newest and most streamlined collaborative app yet.

But did we need an app like this? Perhaps it’s the perfect app for student life we never even knew we needed.