March 2023 Summaries

Bubble's community event highlighted the rapid evolution of generative AI and its impact on software development, with no-code playing a significant role in shaping the future. The event featured inspiring stories, practical advice, and demos from power users who built AI-powered apps using Bubble, showcasing the speed, ease, and flexibility of developing with no-code. Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI is set to bring an Azure OpenAI plugin to Bubble users, while Eden AI offers a range of AI services through 14 newly released Bubble plugins. The event also discussed plans for new documentation and learning materials on building with AI on Bubble, as well as the possibility of a Bubble AI hackathon in the near future. Ultimately, Josh Haas emphasized the importance of having a flexible mindset in the rapidly evolving tech landscape, particularly when it comes to integrating AI into software development.

Bubble has relaunched its version control system, a new feature designed to empower teams to grow their businesses and projects from small to large scales. The new system is built on tried-and-true software industry best practices, providing transparency and reliability for collaboration. With over 2 million users building on Bubble, the platform aims to streamline collaboration, make it easier to divide work among team members without worrying about stepping on each other's toes. The new version control capabilities include branch tree visualization, main & hotfix branches, guided merge flow & conflict resolution, and more. These features are designed to take the guesswork out of development processes, allowing teams to focus on building incredible businesses and technology.

Generative AI is transforming the way we approach creativity, entrepreneurship, and work, offering a new scale of accessibility to machine learning and artificial intelligence. No-code tools are amplifying this impact by allowing small teams and solo founders to leverage technology's power. The future of software development appears to be no-code + AI, enabling users to create applications that can talk back to humans in an easy-to-understand language. This combination is opening up new markets and opportunities for entrepreneurs, particularly those with niche ideas or limited resources. Generative AI is ideal for small teams and solo founders, allowing them to explore new markets at a faster pace than large companies. No-code and AI are force multipliers that multiply effort, achieving 10x results, and lowering the barrier of entry to building software companies. The intersection of no-code and generative AI is creating a community of experts in deploying these technologies, with businesses built on GPT and other large language models emerging as examples. Bubble's AI x No-Code Residency aims to fast-track answering questions about integrating LLMs into the platform and exploring conversational interfaces for building no-code apps.

It was Sunday night in Toronto when the first earthquake struck some 5,500 miles away in Turkey, causing widespread devastation and destruction. A simple web app called deprem.io was created by Enes Ozgor to help pass victims' data along to disaster officials, but it quickly took shape into a more comprehensive platform that allowed both those in need and those offering aid to connect with each other. The app drew thousands of users in just 24 hours, generating millions of page views and requests for help, and was eventually taken down by Turkish authorities after its data export showed over 70,000 logged requests for help and 7,000 offers of assistance.

Lottie for Bubble is a plugin that allows users to easily add animations into their Bubble apps, using small, lightweight, and scalable animations like those found in Lottie animations. The plugin makes it simple to copy and paste animation JSON URLs into your app, with advanced features such as hover or click playbacks, customizable playback speed, and background color. This enables developers to enhance the user experience of their app by adding interactive and engaging animations that can be scaled up or down without pixelation. By using Lottie animations, developers can create a more engaging landing page, tell a story, highlight key features, add personality, and make a lasting impression on users.

The CommandBar plugin for Bubble is a powerful tool that helps app builders make their apps easier to use by providing a configurable widget with onboarding and discovery nudges, a delightfully fast universal search bar, and a command palette for executing actions. This plugin enables users to find anything in the app quickly, navigate between pages efficiently, and execute custom workflows within the app. With its generous free tier and extensive help resources, CommandBar is an ideal solution for companies looking to increase user retention and make key features more discoverable.

Laura Oppenheimer is a Lead Product Manager at Bubble, where she joined in late 2022 after spending the previous year working as a state director for Tech for Campaigns, a nonprofit that places tech talent on down-ballot democratic and progressive campaigns. Prior to this, she spent over a decade in the education technology space, holding marketing and product leadership roles. She has been enjoying her time at Bubble, where she is excited to work on ways to make onboarding easier for new employees and help drive improved communication between the product team and cross-functional stakeholders. The company's culture is valued by Oppenheimer, who appreciates its open approach to new ideas and its "dogfooding" of its own product. She has also praised the structured interviewing process and the $800 work-from-home office enablement benefit. A typical day for her involves user research, customer calls, sprint rituals, and collaboration with designers and engineers to drive customer solutions.