Retool needs a retooling

Retool, for those who don’t know, is a low-code platform allowing even non-developers to build a web app. With a no/low code person (me) and a deeply experienced developer (the boyfriend), we thought this would be a cool new tool to learn.

I’ve used Glide in the past, taking an excel sheet compiling a list of some of my knitting patterns and details of each pattern. Glide let me make an app with my only code experience being HTML. It was exciting, and when I was done, I had an app that I built using Google Sheets.

So where does Retool sit?

We just don’t know who the audience is. No/low code has been around for a while now and one would hope that means there’s a level of intuitive behavior planned in the UI. With Retool neither of us could jump in (even after watching a short intro tutorial) and start to rebuild the Fibrary using my CSV file. It’s not meant for someone with very limited experience and it’s not meant for someone who is a seasoned developer.

The effort doesn’t seem worth it. I’ll probably go back to Glide soon and test out the upgraded tools they’ve created since the version my Fibrary was built on is no longer supported.