In this blog post, we summarize the four big topics of Bubble Con 2024: Native mobile apps, security updates, a new workflow editor and exciting AI updates. We also take a look at the developments at Bubble competitor WeWeb and the new Rows AI Analyst 3.0.
The announcement at Bubble Con 2023 that Bubble would be developing native apps for iOS and Android caused great anticipation. Attendees were able to sign up to a waiting list to get early access to the new mobile editor. But even a year later, it's still Waiting.
Although the Mobile Editor was presented at Bubble Con 2024, it will only be available to a small group of participants who were on site in New York for the time being. For all those who have been on the waiting list for a year, the wait is still on. How long is still unclear.
The community has been waiting a long time for native apps - a feature that is particularly promising for projects that do not require an external backend. Even if Bubble is late in delivering here, it is an important step. Nevertheless, we at VisualMakers remain curious to see whether the Mobile Editor can keep up with Flutterflow, currently our preferred tool for native app projects.
In the waiting list of long overdue updates, it's finally the turn of the Workflow Editor! The new editor, which is currently in the beta phase, brings some much-needed innovations.
The most noticeable change: the new workflow editor is vertically aligned, similar to Zapier. This visual change makes the workflows clearer and more modern. There are also new features such as a search bar for workflows, an improved folder system and the option to name workflows.
But the best is yet to come: Bubble is planning to introduce important backend functions such as conditional branching, looping and parallel processing. This means that the tool will finally close a gap that many developers have been missing.
The Bubble AI is also getting an update. The previous AI feature was rather controversial in the no-code community, as it could only create front-end structures for individual pages. This is now set to change with the new "Bubble Assist" feature: In future, the AI will be able to create full-stack MVPs - i.e. both front-end and back-end.
We are particularly excited to see how the AI will implement data structures and workflows. Bubble Assist could significantly accelerate the development of MVPs and revolutionize the development process.
Security is an often neglected topic in the no-code world. Many companies have concerns about whether no-code tools like Bubble meet the requirements for data security. To allay these concerns, Bubble has acquired Flusk - a no-code cybersecurity application specifically for Bubble Apps.
Flusk monitors Bubble applications for vulnerabilities and bugs that the Bubble Issues Tracker may miss. With this acquisition, Bubble shows that it takes security seriously, especially for companies that have strict security requirements.
While things were hotting up in New York at Bubble Con 2024, French competitor WeWeb was a little quieter over the weeks. Due to planned maintenance work, WeWeb was offline for several hours on Wednesday, September 25. This was because there were important updates to improve the performance of WeWeb apps.
Particularly interesting: WeWeb has optimized the code structure of its apps. This should help apps built with WeWeb to run even faster. However, the maintenance work also had side effects. WeWeb still recorded outages and errors in the days that followed. And even now, two weeks later, our developers are still reporting bugs in the editor and performance problems. Let's hope that this subsides soon.
After all, the WeWeb Marketplace is finally live! Here, users can download free templates to develop their apps even faster. VisualMakers has also already released two templates. You can find them here & here.
Rows, the modern spreadsheet tool, has also recently released a major update. Rows AI Analyst 3.0 can now answer more complex data queries, identify trends and even create pivot tables. This update takes Rows to a new level and makes it an even more attractive alternative to classic spreadsheet tools such as Excel.
In episode #105 of our podcast a few months ago, we spoke to Henrique Cruz, Head of Growth at Rows. Henrique told us how Rows managed to crack the million-user mark in just a few years. You can find the link in the episode description.
Bubble Con 2024 showed that Bubble is responding to the wishes of the community with important updates such as the new Workflow Editor, improved security functions and AI features. While WeWeb is also making interesting progress, it remains to be seen how the two tools will develop in 2025.
