Quip Desktop App Released For Mac And Windows

Recently Quip announced a new Mac and Windows version of its collaboration-friendly  messaging, spreadsheet, and word processing application. Until now, the app has only been available via Quip’s website and on Android and iOS. Users have been asking for a desktop app for a while now and the company has finally delivered. Desktop use of Quip has been steadily increasing unlike many of its competitors.

Quip Desktop feels light and reliable. You can use the app without an Internet connection and it will sync you once you’re back online. It’s also reassuring to know that your work is constantly being backed up to Quip’s online servers. The arrival of Quip on desktop, particularly on Windows, makes it a formidable opponent to Microsoft’s Word and Excel. However, Quip has said that they see Google Docs as their biggest competitor as the service is perceived as being free.

The really interesting (and exciting) part of the app is that spreadsheets and text documents can be edited by multiple users both on and offline. Users make changes with unique IDs so everyone is notified of changes  so for example, if one two users edit the same thing, Quip notifies users of both changes, and its up to each individual to accept or revert. No one has to resolve anything unless they want to.

It may seem like Quip Desktop is forcing users to deal with a serious technical challenge but nobody seems to mind. The company has a pretty good track record as it has been reported that they haven’t had to deal with a synchronization problem in over two years. More than 30,000 companies, Facebook being one of them, use Quip. The startup boasts having millions of users and if they continue to make smart moves like this one, they may soon be able to boast a million more.

You can download Quip Desktop here.