Glossary of Shift Terminology

Manan from Shift

Mar 15, 2023

We'll be adding to and improving this article over time. The glossary shared here is meant to give you some fundamental definitions of terms you'll come across with using Shift.

Term or Phrase	Definition
App	An app such as Slack or Asana that you access within the Shift environment. Apps that you've added to your setup are accessed via the lower section of the Shift sidebar. All of the apps in Shift are web-based versions.
App shortcut	An element of a Workspace.
App unread badge	The circular notification count appearing on an app icon alerting the number of unread notifications within that specific app instance. Toggle this count on or off by right-clicking on the app and toggling "Show App Unread Badge".
App instance	An app instance refers to that specific app appearing on the Shift sidebar. If you have 2 separate Slack apps added to Shift, these are each a "Slack instance".
Badge	Badges are circular notification counts appearing on Workspace and app icons alerting the number of unread notifications
Custom app	A custom app is an app instance that was added to the Shift sidebar using the "custom URL" method.
Workspace (email connected)	An email-linked Workspace is a focused space where you can connect an email account (with corresponding Calendar and Drive) and add a unique set of apps and bookmarks.
Workspace (not email connected)	A non-email-linked Workspace is a focused space containing a grouping of unique apps and bookmarks
Workspace unread badge	The circular notification count appearing on a Workspace icon alerting the number of unread notifications within that Workspace. You can adjust whether this numerical count displays just unread emails, just notifications from certain apps, or a total of both.
Extension	Shift utilizes Chrome's extension library to allow the use of extensions in the Shift environment.
OAuth	OAuth is a delegated authorization framework that enables apps to obtain limited access (scopes) to data. Shift uses Google and Microsoft's OAuth process to enable access within the Shift environment.
Primary account	Your Primary account is the email tied to your Shift account. Paid users need to be signed into Shift with this email to access paid features. This email account will always appear at the top of the Shift sidebar.
Partition	A partition is a browsing session (e.g. Chrome profiles). Each email account and app added to Shift is a separate partition which is how you can be signed in to multiple email accounts and app instances within one environment.
Sidebar	The sidebar is the area on the left side of the Shift environment where your Workspace and app icons live.
Services/Fixtures	Services/Fixtures by Microsoft and Google (e.g. Docs, Analytics, Sheets) which can be easily accessed via the drop-down menu in each Workspace.
Tab	A tab is a web tab. Nothing crazy here.
Quick switcher	The Quick Switcher is a tool built into Shift that allows you to instantly toggle between previously opened tabs, emails, and apps.
Epic/Unified search	Epic (formally known as "Unified") search is a built-in search function that allows you to search keywords across the apps and email accounts added to your Shift. Quick answers and web results are also delivered.
Smart link-handling	When you click on a link related to an app, the smart link-handling feature will detect this and ask if you'd like to open this link in the respective app.
Alpha channel	The Alpha channel is one of two testing channels where power users can go to get early access to the newest features. The Alpha channel is the first to be updated with a new release.
Beta channel	The Beta channel is one of two testing channels where power users can go to get early access to the newest features. The Beta channel is updated after a new release has lived in Alpha for a few weeks.
Stable channel	The Stable channel is where 99% of the Shift user base lives. The Stable channel is updated after a new release has moved through Alpha and Beta.
Shift for teams	One of the two paid plans at Shift. Users must contact Sales to sign up for Shift for Teams and exact pricing will depend on the number of licenses purchased.
License	A license is needed to access the paid features of Shift. Each paid user of Shift requires a license (e.g. if a team of 5, 5 licenses are needed).
Unified Calendar	Unified Calendar pulls from all of your added email accounts and displays a daily view of all your calendar events.

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