When the Pixel 3 was announced a few months ago there was a lot of press about the incredible Camera and the enormous Notch. Lost in this noise is a wireless charging accessory that Google calls the Pixel Stand.
The Pixel Stand
The Pixel Stand is basically a standard wireless charger. It’s just a piece of plastic with no visual user-interface. Some say it’s overpriced at $79. Like I said, it’s a boring plastic stand.
But it completely transforms the Pixel 3.
This boring plastic stand transforms the Pixel 3 into an Assistant…
Pixel Stand immediately turns the Pixel 3 into an Assistant
This boring plastic stand transforms the Pixel 3 into a photo frame…
Pixel Stand can show you favorite photos while it charges
This boring plastic stand transforms the Pixel 3 into a gradually brightening alarm clock…
Pixel Stand gradually brightens a few minutes before your alarm. It has a special display too.
Google is onto something by transforming your phone when placed in situations like on your nightstand or on your desk. Perhaps the most interesting part about all this is there is no software on the boring plastic stand. It’s all in the Pixel 3 phone.
Pixel Stand Settings
When you place the Pixel 3 onto the stand it goes into a special mode. When you take it off it goes back to being a regular phone. It’s pretty magical to see your phone transform into something else just by putting it onto a boring plastic stand. I hope as mobile devices continue to evolve we’ll see more of these thoughtful transformations.
Have questions about the Basecamp 3 Android app? Let our awesome support team know by sending us an email.
Basecamp 3 works where you do on Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows — anywhere you’ve got a web browser and an internet connection. Your first Basecamp is completely free so try it today, it takes just a minute to sign-up.
You could always Add a To-do, Upload a File, Post a Message, or Add an Event right from the Home Screen. Most people, however, just needed to browse projects or the Hey! menu without the “Big Green Add Button” in the way.
Now you can simply swipe up on the Home Screen navigation to reveal these Quick Add options. We’ve also added a list of Recently Visited sections for easy reference. Just tap on one of these to jump right back to it.
Swipe up to quickly add To-dos, Files, and more. Jump to recently visited places
2. Comments with Image Galleries
We’ve improved the interface for commenting on Basecamp Messages. Now you can format your comments using Bold, Italic, and Bullets. You can also select multiple images to attach to form an Image Gallery in Basecamp.
Tap the Paperclip icon. Then select the images one at a time in the order you want them to appear. Tap Upload Files, and they’ll be grouped together into an Image Gallery. You can add and edit captions too.
Format your comments, make an Image Gallery
3. Reply Directly inside a Notification
If your phone supports it (Android 8.0 and above) you can now have Basecamp conversations without opening the app. Just reply to a Ping or Message notification. You’ll see a running history of what’s been said.
Reply to Basecamp discussions without opening the app
We hope these features help you get around Basecamp easier, give detailed suggestions, and reply to discussions without losing focus. We’ve got more planned! Stay tuned. Until then, get the latest on Google Play.
Multiple Accounts in a product is a difficult to design for. It’s not a typical thing, though. Most have just one Google, Apple, Instagram account. However, some might want to share an iPad or HomePod with family. Since those don’t support multiple accounts, the owner’s profile ends up overrun by someone else’s preferences. It’s an edge case that’s difficult to design.
Basecamp 3, the product for which I design the Android app for, does support multiple accounts. You can flip between your Personal Basecamp, Work Basecamp, and other Basecamps you’re part of. The design keeps each Basecamp’s data and preferences separate.
A few months ago our family got a Nintendo Switch. I didn’t think too much about how easy it is to share. The system is so intuitive that you actually don’t have to think about it too much. It wasn’t until today that I really looked at how simple and elegant the multiple account setup is on the Switch.
The Switch Home Screen displays the game library
Nintendo has the benefit of just dealing with one thing: Games. But each game has its own preferences, save data, difficulty settings, etc. I might be further along than my 9-year-old. My 14-year-old might be further along than me, etc.
Our Switch has 3 accounts
The coolest thing is you can see what game was last played and who has been playing it. Currently it’s my 9-year-old.
Currently playing
When you select “Change User” you get this panel. This panel also displays if you select a game that isn’t currently being played.
Each account can have its own instance of the game
If you want to add a new account you can just tap the “+” button.
Easy to add another account
When I select my account…
I’ll change the instance of the game to my account
The Switch shows that my instance of the game.
You can tap the Profile pictures in the top left corner of the Home Screen to get to the Account profiles.
View my account
Each Account has stats and settings that are separate from one another.
My profile
The best detail about this system that Nintendo designed is that every Account is “logged in” when the device turns on. The Games, however, can be switched between Accounts so that each player can start again where they’ve left off.
It’s a novel approach that doesn’t get into the business of switching the entire Home Screen for each Account. Nintendo’s Multiple Account system gets out of the way so you can all enjoy sharing the Switch and playing games as a family. Pretty cool.
Any other devices or apps that handle multiple accounts particularly well? Let me know in the comments below.
Ping and Message excerpts, image previews, and grouped Campfires make catching up with Basecamp a breeze.
There’s a new Hey! screen design in Basecamp 3 for Android. Hey! is already pretty good on Desktop and Web. Currently you get a chronological list of unread Campfires you’re following and discussions you’re part of.
On Mobile, however, you’re probably peeking in for a quick summary of What’s New. Hey! should help you prioritize what’s important at that moment. A better design can save time.
Here’s how the current Android Hey! and this new design compare:
The new design (right) makes Hey! easier to parse and prioritize.
✨ What We Improved
Show me my Pings. Excerpts from unread Ping conversations are now shown at the top of the Hey! screen. If you have more than one unread Ping conversation they’ll be grouped together. You’ll see all your new Pings in one place. Note: All Pings are still accessible everywhere in the app via the top navigation. Just tap the “conversation bubbles” icon next to Search.
Group unread Campfires together. New chats from Campfires you follow are now easily scanned since they’re grouped together. The Campfire notification will also display who spoke last (which matches Basecamp 3 on the Desktop and Web).
Give context to Messages, Comments, and more. It’s a mystery what’s behind that unread notification. It might be 1 sentence, or 1 emoji, or a long paragraph. Now there’s an excerpt of text and image thumbnails so you can see what was posted without having to tap through.
💅 The Result: Better Insight into What’s New
Messages and Comments are no longer a mystery. Excerpts and image previews hint whether you should dive deeper or move along. Unread Campfires aren’t scattered across other notifications. You can prioritize chats you want to read.
The new design gives Hey! notifications more context. It helps you stay looped into Basecamp without having to tap each notification. Stay updated at your own pace.
🖼 Bonus: Swipe Through Multiple Images
We also updated our image viewer to know if a Message or Comment has multiple images. Now you can swipe back and forth between images! If there’s a caption we show that too.
We hope you like these improvements to the Basecamp 3 Android app (Version 3.9.1, updated May 1, 2018). We have a lot more planned and thanks for being a Basecamp customer—especially if you have an Android device!
Thanks for reading. If you have any questions about Basecamp 3 for Android please let us know.
— Brought to you by the Android Team at Basecamp: Jamie, Dan, and Jay
💨 Navigation takes you to Projects and Teams faster
🗺 Sticky titles and breadcrumbs keep you from getting lost
🎨 Themes and overall styling updated to match the refresh
💨 Navigation takes you to Projects and Teams faster
Whether you have one Project or one hundred, we know you’re using the Android app to check on Basecamp quickly, on-the-go.
📌 Pinned Projects and Teams are more prominent on the Home Screen. Quickly scan for the Projects that matter to you. These pinned Projects and Teams stand out when you’re sharing a video from YouTube or uploading a photo or PDF.
Pinned Projects and Teams are more prominent.
🔍 Quick Jump to a Project or Team by typing a few letters in Search. Just start typing in the Search field. Since Search is accessible on nearly every screen, you can quickly switch back and forth between two Projects.
Jump to Projects, Teams, and People (too!) by typing a few letters in Search.
🗺 Sticky titles and breadcrumbs keep you from getting lost
Basecamp keeps everything in one place. It’s not uncommon to follow a few discussion threads across different Projects. Perhaps you’re commenting on To-dos within various To-do Lists (also spread across different Projects). We’ve made it so you won’t get lost in the Android app.
🍯 Message titles stick to the top when you’re reading discussions. This is especially helpful after you’ve tapped a Hey! notification. Bonus: Tap the collapsed title to jump to the top of the Message.
Navigation scrolls away while the Message title remans.
🍞 Breadcrumbs show where To-dos, Docs, and Files are. Dive into a To-do List or Folder. You’ll always know where you are in relation to the rest of the Project. If the breadcrumb trail gets too long, just swipe the path side-to-side. This will reveal the beginning and end of the trail.
Breadcrumbs show where things are in the Project.
🎨 Themes and overall styling updated to match the refresh
The updated Android app has rounded buttons and softened corners to match elements of the Basecamp 3 design. We’ve also updated icons and colors throughout the app.
🖍 Customize your Basecamp colors by choosing a Theme in the Me tab. Bonus: If you have multiple Basecamp accounts, you can assign a different color for each one.
Pick a color by going to the Me tab.
💯 Pings and Search are available from any screen. Keep a conversation going while you look at the details of a To-do together. Search for a link to a file to reference in your comment. Having Pings and Search available means less jumping around in the app.
Search and Pings are accessible on nearly every screen.
➡️ This is just the start…
We’ve got more planned in the coming months for customers on Android. Until then, these new updates are ready for you in the latest Basecamp 3 Android app. Download it today on Google Play!
The Android Team has been on a roll, steadily improving the Basecamp 3 app these past few months. We’ve even added some new features specifically for Android 8.0 Oreo devices. Here’s a summary of all the good stuff we’ve added since summer.
Vastly improved image, media, and document handling
Easier to share links, text, images, and more from other apps and across Basecamp
Automatic links to invite people to your Projects and Teams
The ability to sign-up for a new account with a 30-day free trial
Introducing the new File Browser.
Gallery View
A brand new File Browser shows you a gallery view of the last 100 images, videos, and GIFs stored on your device. Tap a thumbnail in the gallery to attach a file to a comment, check-in answer, Campfire, or Ping.
Tap the attachment icon (paperclip) to open the new File Browser.
Sketch Tool
With the Sketch tool you can draw on and annotate images. This is particularly handy if you need to add notes to a screenshot. You can even give the file a more descriptive name before uploading the drawing to Basecamp.
Sketch on any photo you’re about to upload to Basecamp.
The Sketch tool can also be used to create a standalone drawing. Draw a diagram using up to 4 colors. Make a mistake? No worries, you can undo multiple times. A copy of your sketch is also saved in your device’s photo gallery.
Sketch out an idea to share with your team.
Camera and Video Tools
You can now directly access your device’s built-in camera from the app. Capture your surroundings with the Camera tool. Or record an update for your team with the Video tool.
Direct access to your device’s camera from the app.
Browse Tool
The Browse tool integrates with your device’s file browser. You can access PDFs from Dropbox, spreadsheets from Google Drive, photos from Google Photos, etc. Your preferred cloud storage service will be at your fingertips.
Browse Dropbox, Google Drive, or your preferred cloud storage service for files to upload to Basecamp.
Better navigation.
Look back at a discussion
Now you can look back at the discussion as you’re adding a comment. Start writing—flip back to reference the original Message—then continue writing.
Reference the message you’re commenting on.
My Schedule
See an overview of your upcoming events in My Schedule. This lists all the events you’re involved in across all Projects and Teams in Basecamp.
See everything coming up on My Schedule.
Invite your team with a text
Get people working with you in Basecamp by sharing an invite via Messenger, WhatsApp, Email, etc.
Add people to your Project by sharing a link.
Post to a Ping
Send files, YouTube videos, Tweets, websites and more directly to your Ping conversations.
Share links, images, text, and more directly to a Ping.
Improved media file handling.
Inline PDF viewer
Tired of downloading PDFs then searching for them in your Downloads folder just to read them? Now you can open and read your PDFs directly inside of Basecamp. Pan, zoom, and swipe through multi-page documents.
Note: password-protected PDFs must be downloaded to preserve security.
Read PDFs in Basecamp without having to download them to your device.
New audio file support
Previously our Media player only supported videos. You had to download audio files to your device to listen to them. Now you can listen to audio files such as MP3s, AIFs, and WAVs directly in the Media player.
GIFs in Campfires and Pings
Hooray! We added GIF browsing and searching to Campfires and Pings! A favorite feature of ours: perfect for those times when a reaction GIF is needed.
Probably the best feature we’ve made: GIF browser and search in Campfires and Pings.
Additionally you can now change your profile picture and company logo (admins only) in the app.
Updated for Android O.
Support for Android 8.0 Oreo is complete with under the hood optimizations, a new adaptive icon, and finer control over Basecamp notifications. Turn off specific notifications, and set custom sounds for others. Lucky to have Android O on your device? Long-press the app icon to access the Quick Add menu. This new notification control is in App Settings (the “i” icon).
Android O updates include a new adaptive icon, notification dots, and better control over Basecamp notifications.
No Basecamp? No worries.
Create a new Basecamp account right from the login screen
Sign up for a 30-day free trial right after you install the app. Setting up a new company account on Android also gives your team access to Basecamp on the web, iOS, as well as on Mac and Windows computers.
If you use Inbox by Gmail, you know how helpful bundles can be for organizing your email.
The Basecamp team has worked with Google to organize Basecamp 3 email notifications into bundles. Here’s what it looks like in the Inbox web app:
Bundled email notifications from the “Android” project in Basecamp 3
Inbox shows you a summary of what’s new in your projects. Every Basecamp email notification is now grouped into a bundle specific to its project or team. Basecamp 3 bundled notifications work great in Android and iOS too:
Basecamp 3 bundled email summaries shown on iOS, Bundled emails for “Android” project shown on Android
If you use Gmail just go to Inbox by Gmail to start seeing your Basecamp emails organized. Get the Inbox Android app or iOS app to use on your mobile device.
Also, now’s a good time to make sure Basecamp is notifying you the way you want. Read our Help Docs for tips on how to turn on/off email notifications and more.
We hope this helps you and your team stay up-to-date on your Basecamp projects. Thanks for using Basecamp 3!
Running your business on email, chat, and meetings? No wonder you’re frazzled — that’s the hard way! You do not have to put yourself and your team through the anxiety ringer all day, all week, all month, all year, and all career. There’s a better way.
Do yourself and your whole team a solid and switch over to Basecamp 3. It’s the saner, more organized way to run your business. We promise.
Got one of those fancy new Google Pixel phones? Basecamp 3 for Android has been updated to support the new App Shortcuts feature.
Basecamp 3 for Android now supports App Shortcuts
Just long-press the Basecamp 3 icon to quickly add To-dos, Events, Messages, or Files to Basecamp (without having to open the app)! This feature is also available for devices that support Android 7.1.
We hope you like this addition to Basecamp 3 for Android. We’re always making improvements to the app, so please stay tuned! Thanks for your continued support!
Thanks for taking the time to read my article. My name is Jamie, and I’m a Designer on the Basecamp 3 Android team. If you’re a Basecamp customer you should get Basecamp 3 from Google Play. If you’re not a Basecamp customer… what are you waiting for? Try Basecamp today.
The Basecamp Android team (Dan Kim, Jay Ohms, and me) has spent the last few weeks making big improvements to Basecamp 3 for Android. Here’s what we just rolled out:
The New Home Screen
The new Basecamp home screen is where you’ll begin. Here you’ll see all your Basecamp project cards. If you have a lot of Basecamp projects, tap on “Jump to a team or project” then type the first few letters of the thing you’re looking for. The cards you don’t want will disappear.
You can also Pin projects you want to stick to the top. Do this by tapping the beige pin on the top right of the project card. If you want to Unpin the project, simply tap on the orange pin. At the top of the screen there’s a switch to show only things in Basecamp that you’ve bookmarked.
The Inbox
Next to Home is the Inbox. You’ll see a badge on the Inbox any time you have unread Pings, Hey! or Campfire notifications. When you’re viewing the Inbox you can swipe to the right or left to view Pings and Campfires. If there aren’t any notifications for Pings you can see your previous conversations. If there aren’t any notifications for Campfires you’ll see a list of Campfires you’ve pinned and are following.
Latest Activity
Tap Activity next to Inbox to view the latest activity across all your projects in Basecamp. Here you’ll see all the messages, to-dos, comments, and files added even when you’re not participating in the conversations. It’s a passive way to see what’s happening in Basecamp. You can also run various reports on Basecamp activity by tapping the “View Reports” button.
Me
Me is where you can see your To-dos and Drafts. You can also update your profile, manage the devices you use with Basecamp, update your Notification and Device Settings, and log out of Basecamp.
Faster Account Switching
If you have more than one Basecamp 3 account, you’ll be automatically signed into your first Basecamp account (in alphabetical order). Once you see the home screen, you can tap on the account name in the title bar to switch accounts.
Bonus: Tips and Tricks
You can “@mention” people in comments, messages, and Campfire chats. To do this just start by typing the “@” symbol and a few letters of the person’s first name. This will notify them in Basecamp. You can also tap a person’s profile picture anywhere in the Basecamp 3 Android app to see that person’s profile.
We hope you like the new updates to Basecamp 3 for Android. We’re always making improvements to the app, so please stay tuned! Thanks for your continued support!
Thanks for taking the time to read my article. My name is Jamie, and I’m a Designer on the Basecamp 3 Android team. If you’re a Basecamp customer you should get Basecamp 3 from Google Play. If you’re not a Basecamp customer… what are you waiting for? Try Basecamp today.
