What's the Big Deal with Shift?
I've been using Shift for about a year now and it's one of those products that I can't live without. I stick with largely because of one feature. Shift touts itself as "The workstation for productive people". That's one of those taglines that get you excited about transforming your life, which I'm down with. Really though, Shift is a tool that allows you to manage your other tools, in one place.
I get that vision, I do. I use at least 20 different web based tools every day. So I've got browser tabs galore. The idea of having all of those tools within one app to rule them all makes sense. And I use it. And I like it. But that's not what made me a Shift or Die kind of user, it's something else entirely.
The Curse of Multiple Google Accounts
Sometimes I wish my digital life was simple. I dream of having one Apple Id, one Google Account, one email address, one Slack workspace and so on. But that's not my life. I've got dozens of each of them. Having multiple emails or multiple Slack logins isn't a big deal. Those clients work fine and make it easy to switch between them. But when it comes to Google Accounts, it's a major drag. Anyone that regularly jumps between Google accounts feels my pain.
Having multiple Google accounts is more than just having multiple Gmails. Google has a ton of services that are all accessed via my Google account. Some people may not fully appreciate this problem if they're just using Gmail, but even in that case if you've ever tried to login to two gmail accounts at the same time, you've probably experienced some pain.
In my case, I manage a lot of different projects. For most of those projects I am using different Google services. From Gsuite to Adwords. Google Analytics to Google Cloud. Data Studio to Keep. There are literally hundreds of tools, which is why we all love Google of course. But logging into each of these tools and toggling between accounts is a mess. I have to enter passwords and logins dozens of times per day, getting bumped out and opening more and more browser windows doesn't fully work, and it's a serious pain.
Shift, the Google Account Uncomplicator
At the core of Shift are Google Accounts. I'm not sure one would use Shift without connecting their Google accounts. I have a dozen, but there are really six accounts that I regularly shift between Google Services on. Without knowing exactly whats under the hood with the Shift app, I can tell you they somehow isolate logins to unique browser sessions or likely complete Chrome instances given that Shift does tend to burn RAM.
This isolation allows me to jump between Google accounts without any conflict. I can go from one Google Adwords account to another with the toggle of a button. I can quickly login to Google Admin and manage email accounts for entirely separate domains with ease. I can be looking at a Data Studio report for one company and jump to an entirely different company with no pain. I can literally use any Google service that is tied to any Google account all simultaneously without issue, conflict or frustration.
Without question, this capability alone is worth the annual subscription. I've saved countless hours of logging in, clearing cache, opening incognito, trying different browsers and so on. And I've shaved 100lbs of stress and 100 hours of therapy with Shift. Yeh, it's that good.
The Verdict
Use Shift for Universal Account Management: I came to Shift because of the pain around managing so many SaaS products. And I use Shift happily for that.
Love Shift for Unified Google Account: I love Shift because it removes the pain of having so many Google Accounts. And I wouldn't give it up for nothin.
This one wasn't as long as my typical product review articles. Most of the time I'm covering a product or service that I just learned about. In this case, Shift is very close to my heart. I've personally introduced Shift to 50+ people and I know at least 10 who have subscribed from me urging them to. Shift is a great tool, and they've also done a great job marketing the product. I remember seeing dozens of Facebook ads before I finally took the time to try it out.
As always, I hope you found this product review useful. It was a lot of fun to write. And of course, I used Markup Hero to create stunning screenshots, annotations and walkthroughs. Got a product you think I should try? Tweet @markuphero and maybe I'll review it.
