Collections vs Work Apps

Hi Everyone! I've questioned whether or not to even post this, because I don't want to seem negative, but I'm having a really hard time understanding Collections.

When it popped up (randomly) a few months ago, I asked my Smartsheet team about it, and they really didn't have much information, but I was actually really excited to try it, because I often find myself having to create an "ADMIN" workspace to hide certain "behind the scenes" files from my users, however now that I've tried to use it, I just don't get it.

So, one KEY thing with it, is that you DO have to give access to your data sheet, and not just as view only. If you want someone to be able to edit a report in a collection, they have to have edit access to the sheet. This is not ideal.

Also, the ONLY place that I see you can find the link to the collection once you share it (outside of an email) is in the notifications. It's not like WorkApps, where you can click that icon on the sidebar and see all that you are shared to.

You also can't create folders within a Collection. This feature seems like it could be very useful, and who knows, maybe this is a me problem. Which is why I am reaching out.

Have any of you tried it and been successful? I'd love to hear your thoughts and how it's working for you.

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Comments

Jason Hidek

@RamaniK There is a ton of work to do for collections. It is horrendous right now. I have no idea who decided to move all work back to the file workspace manager. That is what every other product has. Its clunky and people have to remember where to go or save a ton of shortcuts. Workapps.smartsheet.com was THE place to go, all in one place of all your processes.

Advanced users must now have been part of these discussions, as I cannot fathom any advanced workapp user wanting to migrate back to the workspace view.

Not a single one.

I have never seen a SAAS roll back features. You spent 3+ years touting Workapps and the Advanced Pro package for people to jump on and now you want to take it away.

If Collection is not 100% exactly like or better then Workapps, then sadly we are done with Smartsheet. Oh what could have been.

If you are not going to support Workapps, then you should have your 3rd party vendors support it and we can work with them.

Imola

@RamaniK

Your input and clarifications are highly appreciated!

Continuing the FAQ list posted, an interesting info would be:

7. Will users added to a Collection as editor count as a provisional member on USM?

Because if so, plus the other many reasons mentioned before me, we also believe that the gains of Collections won't nearly balance out the loss of Workapps which made Smartsheet unique among competitors.

On our side nobody wants to regress 10 years to a pseudo-folder-tree interface with Collections, organized or not in folders, especially not our users who are constantly on the field, shop floors or construction sites. They are the heavy Smartsheet users on mobile devices who need a quickly accessible, clean, almost spartan yet functional interface and app menu. We will not expect them to scroll through the new Workspace panel.

That is exactly why Workapps is the ace up in Smartsheet's sleeve from our point of view. We did not yet switch to the new USM, but unfortunately it's the first time in 8 years we are seriously questioning and doubting the direction of the roadmap, and worriedly follow the flood of negative feedbacks submitted by fellow users regarding Collections and the new USM all together. We really hope that the better customer experience will rule above all other goals.

Oana Intors

@RamaniK Thank you for your response.

However, I feel that Collections is a downgrade not an improvement compare with WorkApps.

WorkApps set Smartsheet apart, as many users have already pointed out. Removing it will make things more difficult, not better.

If WorkApps disappear, we may need to look for alternative options.

Richard Heath

Hello @RamaniK

I read with interest all the proposed upgrades for Collections.

I'm keen to understand when "Report sharing - Adding a report to a Collection will not require you to share the underlying sheet for the report to populate. You will be able to control the exposure of information only to those who need to see it" will be made available. This functionality will allow us to commence using Collections with our external clients, limiting information to what they need to see rather than an entire Sheet.

Regards,

Richard.

skarkhoff_TR

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/479246#Comment_479246

Following this! @RamaniK - You mentioned that editors using WorkApps are not counted as provisional users/members, but what about individuals shared to Collections as editors? This is assuming that sharing a report without sharing the underlying sheet is rolled out soon…

PaulaB

Workapp is honestly the thing that really impresses people who aren’t familiar with Smartsheet — it really is the “wow” factor. I use it to dock everything: Dynamic Views, dashboards, forms — it brings everything together in one place and makes it super easy to navigate.

I’m concerned that it could be replaced by "Collections", which really takes as back to folder days… It seems like a step backward and could actually limit how much users engage with Smartsheet. Instead of bringing everything together like Workapp does, Collections might make things feel more fragmented and harder to access. Glad to see this is a common perception amongst the community.

Richard Heath

Hi @RamaniK

Do you have any ideas on when "Item 3. Report sharing - Adding a report to a Collection will not require you to share the underlying sheet for the report to populate. You will be able to control the exposure of information only to those who need to see it without giving them access to all of the underlying data, " will be made available? Your post was from February 2025, and I don't believe any changes have rolled out since this time.

I'm hoping to share important Reports with external users, but can't afford to share the Sheets that the data resides in.

Kathy PPT

We rely heavily on WorkApps and would not like to go back in time.

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