How to use the Slack app on Android?
What’s Slack?
Well, if you’re working in a corporate environment, you might already be aware of Slack. For the benefit of those who haven’t used Slack yet, let me throw some light on it.
Slack is a channel-based messaging platform that allows workers to collaborate and communicate effectively with each other.
With the integration of tools and services like Trello and Clickup, Slack provides an integrated platform for workers to complete their projects without having to switch between apps too often.
You can create organized workspace channels for various products, projects, locations–anything relevant to your organization. Moreover, Slack also lets you make voice and video calls with on-the-go screen sharing.
Using Slack on a desktop makes sense when you are glued to the chair at your workplace and not likely to miss out on those “ding” notifications (well, unless the notifications are turned off).
But imagine you are in a cafe, chit-chatting with your coworker, and your boss pings you to urgently report to him. Or you have received an urgent Slack call from a remotely-working team member who wants to walk you through a project.
I doubt you’ll disagree with me if I predicted the nightmare this might become if you were to leave these Slack contacts unanswered. This is the exact reason why you need Slack on your handheld device. It gives you the freedom to leave your desk for a spell to discuss the daily news with your colleagues over a coffee.
In this article, I’ll show you how to install, set up, and use Slack on Android. Let’s start right off with the installation and setup process:
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Slack installation and setup
Step 1: Install ‘Slack’ app from the Google Play Store
Get the app by clicking this button.
Step 2: Open Slack app
Step 3: Tap on the “Get Started” button
Step 4: Enter your email address and tap “Next”
Step 5: A “Check your email” message will appear on the screen for email address confirmation. If you have your work account opened in your phone’s email app, then tap “Open email app” and it will redirect you to the email app for confirming your email address. Otherwise, sign in to your email account in the incognito mode of your phone’s browser.
Step 6: Next, open the email you received from Slack for confirmation and tap on the “Confirm email address” button.
Step 7: Thereafter, tap “Open in Slack” to complete the confirmation process. The browser will ask if you would like to stay or leave the incognito mode. Tap on the “Leave” button and proceed. Next, the Slack App will be launched.
Step 8: Confirm the language as English or other as per your preference.
Voila! You have signed in to your Slack account and you’re ready to rock your corporate conversations and stay in touch with your coworkers anywhere anytime with Slack on Android.
As an additional note, Slack can be used for personal use too. So don’t hesitate to create a Slack group of friends or family to plan projects, vacations, and more.
Tips to use Slack app on Android
- The Slack app on Android has “Home”, “DMs”, “Mentions”, “Search”, and “You” options in the nav bar.
- In ‘Home’, you can find the Threads (sequential replies to messages), Channels, and Direct Messages. At the bottom, you have an option to Add teammates by sending an email, adding from contacts, or sharing the invite link. The apps and tools integrated into your Slack account will also appear on the home page.
- As the name says, in “DMs,” all the direct messages from teammates can be seen. You can reply to your teammates from Home or DMs. To help you find a lost or forgotten message, you can search for it by typing in a word you may have used in the message. You can also leverage this feature to jump to the contact you want to chat with.
- The ‘Mentions’ category displays all the reactions to your messages. Here reactions signify the emoji responses to your texts. To react to a message, tap and hold the message until the options appear and release. You will find multiple options including emojis reactions, edit message, mark unread, remind me, add to save items, reply in thread, copy text, share message, delete message, and more.
- Under the ‘Search’ category, you can browse for people or channels. Slack also offers a feature to narrow down your search by the use of tags like in: (for channels, e.g. #vacationplan), from: (contact name, e.g. John Paddock), to: (e.g. me), and has: (the text a message contains, e.g. camping).
- Finally, you can change your profile settings by tapping on “You.” Notification settings, status, preferences, and other settings can be modified here.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I use Slack app for free?
Yes, Slack offers a free version of the application with a limited number of features: 5GB storage per workspace, message history of the last 10,000 messages, 2FA, and one #general channel are key features available in the free version.
What is the pricing for Slack premium plans?
To leverage the advanced features of the Slack app, you can upgrade to any of the two paid subscriptions. The Standard plan prices at $2.67 per person per month when billed yearly and $3.20 per person per month when billed monthly. The Plus plan would cost you $5 and $6 respectively.
How can I enable mobile notifications for Slack?
On the Slack app, go to You. Here, you can change what, when, and how you want to be notified. Change the notification settings from the options available; that is, On mobile, notify me about…, Notify me on mobile…, and System options to customize your notification preferences. Make sure you have turned App notifications on for Slack in your phone’s Settings app.
Wind up!
Whether you’re already using Slack or not, you can’t deny the fact it is one of the best communication apps for teams, within or outside the corporate world. For all the tips mentioned in this article, the integration of Slack with other apps and tools takes it to another level–and that’s what makes it stand out from other apps in the same category.
The global Slack outage on January 4, 2021, wreaked havoc for IT companies worldwide as team communication came to a halt. Although Slack was down for only a short while, the outage demonstrated how reliant we are on collaborative tools like Slack, especially after the onset of COVID-19.
As companies are switching to remote work, it’s essential to have complete control over the tools you use to work productively. For this reason, and for the benefits discussed above, I recommend the Slack app for Android.
I hope this article brought some value to your Android usage. Have you been using Slack on Android yet? If yes, let us know your experience in the comments section below. Not yet? Try it out and let us know how it works for you. See you next time, cheers!
Featured image: Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash