Slack for Android updated; brings in faster navigation, Android emoji and more

Slack, the online platform for team communication has released an updated version for its Android app. Slack for Android 2.0 brings in many exciting features including faster user experience for navigating around the app along with a new interface which goes in line with Google’s Material Design guidelines. First of all, Slack explains that the left and right drawers have been dropped in favour a simpler tabbed navigation in the app. These tabs are said to provide quick access to all channels, direct messages, starred items, and mentions. With the new  “Jump to…” option, users can quickly head to any channel, group, or direct message. The updated app also supports full message formatting on Android. The company said that they respect a user’s emoji preferences set via the web and has brought in Android emojis. In other features, users can now simply select their their team from the top dropdown menu and a much more refined notification experience. Slack adds that, “a shiny new button floats attractively in the bottom right corner of the channels list for quickly locating or creating channels, DMs or groups.” The app also brings in an improved Search functionality with the ability to open search results in a new ‘archive viewer’ so users can see the full context of a message result. Slack shared that, “We’ve heard your feedback regarding the slowness of switching channels, switching teams, and generally navigating around the app. This is our first release to offer substantially better experience when you’re not connected, all the messages that loaded last time you were connected can be read, and you can move much faster from place to place. It’s a bit better now, but it will be even better in the future. Promise.”