Hi there! We're the Workona team! We all work in the browser, but it was never built for work. Cloud software has simply outgrown the tool we use to access it.
Browsers have become an OS within an OS, but they struggle to withstand the heavy workloads of modern teams. We’re proud to be taking Workona out of beta today to address the problem:
You should check out Workona's workspaces. We've built some of what you've mentioned as a Chrome extension backed by a web app.
Our workspaces (persistent windows with names) remember your tabs automatically, are multiuser/collaborative, and even have a URL (like any good web object). You can also access your workspaces on multiple computers, so you can start a project at work and finish it at home.
We're officially launching out of beta next month, but you can sign up now if you're interested:
Just tried it -- this is a great idea. Unfortunately, I can't use it because Workona spaces don't "containerize" accounts I'm logged into.
For example, I need multiple spaces where each space is "dedicated" to a single Google account -- it has multiple tabs open that are logged into that particular Google account.
I tried to create that setup, but the accounts "leak" between spaces: logging into a Google account in one space doesn't allow tabs in other spaces to be logged into a different Google account.
If you ever implement proper account isolation per space, please notify me: I'd like to be a beta tester.
Glad you like the concept. You're correct that we don't attempt to do account isolation as that isn't the purpose of our workspaces. Our workspaces are meant to be used at the project/meeting/workflow level, not at the Example Inc./Acme Inc./Home level.
As another person suggested, you can use Chrome profiles with Workona installed on each, but that likely isn't what you're after.
> For example, I need multiple spaces where each space is "dedicated" to a single Google account
Could you sign in to chrome in your different google accounts, with an instance of workona per google account? It's not perfect, but might do what you want it to do?
This looks promising. I've tried to adjust some of my workflow around a concept like this using Spaces/Task Switching apps but eventually just fall back to old habits. Will give it a try.
Glad you guys are launching! I tried workona for a week, but couldn't justify switching away from firefox. It seems though, you added a lot of features, maybe it's time to try again..
Does Workona save tabs and their state, or only the URL?
For example, if I'm halfway through filling out a form but switch workspaces, will it lose my progress? Can I have multiple workspaces open in different windows?
It depends. If you are just opening the workspace for the first time, then we will just be loading up the URLs. We do preserve tab state (form data, page scrolled, text selected, etc.) when you switch between workspaces that are already open. That way the tabs don't have to reload as you repeatedly switch contexts.
By default Workona opens workspaces in the same window, but you can command-click (Mac) or control-click (Windows) to open a workspace in a new window.
Think of it as a way to save links organized in "workspaces" for a specific project or workflow rather than a traditional bookmark manager.
For example, if you were writing a blog post, you could create a workspace for the Google Doc, Wordpress page, Hemingway Editor, and all the research you might want to include in the post.
You can then shut the workspace and pick up right where you left off with everything you need to work on the blog post later. This way you don’t clutter up your bookmarks with links that will be irrelevant once you're done working on the project.
We couldn't agree more, Michail. So much so that we founded a company (Workona Inc.) and built pretty much exactly what you've described.
Workona's extension turns your browser windows into "smart windows" (workspaces) that remember the tabs you open in them. This allows you to shut a project and pick up right where you left off later.
Your workspaces will help you split up your 477 open tabs into the 70 projects, topics and ideas you talked about. Workona also lets you "switch to these groups in your workflow" seamlessly so you can focus on one thing at a time. Soon workspaces will be sharable and even have URLs that can be used to access them, which will open the set of tabs in their own window. To ensure workspaces open quickly, we prevent the tabs from loading the content until you click on them.
We haven't officially launched yet, but we recently opened up the beta if you want to try it out (only Chrome for now, but support for Firefox coming soon). We'd love to hear your thoughts:
https://workona.com
Also, saving the workspace requires naming them, which may be a flow-breaking meta-question. "How should I call what I'm doing right now" is not always an easy question to answer. Maybe some favicon-based graphical collage would be viable?
This is an awesome idea, I just installed and tried it out. A few things jump out at me: if you have fifty tabs open, the first use experience is a little painful--you want to be able to create workspaces and quickly file things away, but it's a very slow process. Opening a workspace pops you into a new view, and it's not immediately obvious what to do from there.
I get that the first use may not be the case you're optimizing for, but it was a bit frustrating.
Glad you like it! You’re right that onboarding can be tough for users with lots of tabs. We're working on a few things that will make it easier.
The intended initial set up flow is:
- Create a workspace (+ button next to the word “Workspaces”)
- Switch to the window with all your unsorted tabs
- Drag and drop the tabs into your workspaces (multi-select coming soon)
Things get much easier once you’re set up. Workspaces are essentially smart browser windows, so you can just open a new (unsaved) window and browse like you normally do. If at any point you decide you want to save the window as a workspace, you simply click on our icon and give it a name.
I've only tried it out for a few minutes, but it already functions really well.
One of the more important issues is the privacy - as I was installing the extension into chrome it asked me for permission to know my e-mail address. While as a user I might get easily deanonymized through my browsing patterns, but associating my browsing data directly with my e-mail is something I'd like to avoid.
Especially in light of current facebook discussions it would be very important to get privacy right.
There's something about saved/unsaved/open/closed workspaces that doesn't feel right. Maybe because I came to expect that everything gets saved. I'll think about it more.
Uninstalling and reinstalling the extension doesn't recreate the 'saved' workspaces, which adds a feeling of fragility.
Otherwise it looks great and search is a nice touch. Looking forward to shareable works spaces!
Thanks! Our founding team is very privacy-conscious ourselves and certainly understand your concerns in light of the recent news. Right now the extension stores all your data locally (hence uninstall resulting in loss of workspaces). We’re working on building online backup / sync and are doing so very thoughtfully with regard to data security.
Glad to hear that you like the search feature! Clicking on a workspace in the search results is very similar to what will happen when someone opens the workspace URL from a calendar invite, etc.
Your point about workspace naming is one we have considered carefully. We think it’s important to have a name to use as a handle to reference later or your workspaces quickly turn into your tab graveyard. The last thing we want is for people to say “I have no idea what any of this is.”
If you don’t want to give it a name, that’s fine, just don’t close the window. When you’re ready to close it, take a moment to give it a name you can remember it by, then shut it.
That is an interesting problem - creating, naming and remembering spaces. Can a space have a name, a real name before it exists and can be experienced? How does naming a space influence its content?
I've run into a bug of duplicate workona tab, do you have an email address to send a screenshot to?
I was about to mention how I started using this neat new extension called Workona just this month but you guys are here yourselves. Been loving the organization and cleaner browsing so far!
We won’t ever sell your data under any circumstances. Our business model is focused on increasing your productivity at work, not data collection. In other words, no one will ever see your URLs but you (except for the collaborators you explicitly share your workspaces with).
