Slack has rolled out a new mobile feature called “Catch Up” that allows users to quickly triage unread messages, similar to how Tinder works. When you tap the Catch Up button, Slack shows you one chat channel or DM conversation at a time. You can swipe left to mark it as read and move on, or swipe right to leave it unread for later.
According to Slack product leader Akshay Bakshi, Catch Up addresses two common issues Slack sees – the overwhelm of too many unread channels, and people wanting a quick way to check messages on their phone before getting to their computer. He says the Tinder-style swiping aims to make it “fun and easy” instead of another boring feed.
Catch Up fits into Slack’s recent attempts to combat feature bloat and organize better amidst the chaos of enterprise messaging overload. However, it actually ignores Slack’s own organization methods like the Later feature. Unread messages just remain unread in your sidebar when you swipe right. The goal is speed and flexibility first.
There are plans to improve Catch Up further with AI for better auto-summarizing of messages. For now, it looks at your own channel priority. It launched on iOS and Android for free Slack users, coming soon for paid tiers. The iPad will get a variant. While desktop seems unlikely to ever swipe through cards, Slack is looking at more “focused mode” options there in the future.
In the end, Catch Up lets you quickly slice through the sea of unread Slacks, using the simple read/unread dichotomy – the escape hatch for when you just can’t deal with full-on app organization. A Tinder-style combatant for enterprise messaging overload.
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