Salesforce adds new features to Trailhead Live and Go mobile app
Trailhead Live now features a live chat option and is available on Trailhead Go. While the mobile app fills a need, users still gravitate toward the desktop version.
Salesforce has added two new features to both Trailhead Live and the Trailhead Go mobile app, making it easier to connect with other users and learn on the go.
Trailhead Live, which features training sessions about Salesforce-related topics with instructors in real time, now includes expert-led Q&As during live broadcasts, enabling viewers to ask instructors questions during sessions. Sessions can also now include live chat capabilities, giving viewers the opportunity to speak with one another. Live is no longer only available to desktop users; it is also available on the Trailhead Go mobile app.
"While it's great to follow a recorded video, the reality is that at some point you want to be able to interact in real time with a trainer," said Nicole France, vice president and principal analyst at Constellation Research. "Live training sessions -- even virtual ones -- are the only way to do that."
Learning on the go
Live was one of the most requested Trailhead features on both the mobile app and desktop site, said Amber Boaz, a Salesforce MVP and Salesforce solution architect at Rapid7.
"Lots of users learn in different ways, and Trailhead Live fills a hole in Trailhead functionality," Boaz said.
Greg Grothaus, a Salesforce administrator at Cloud Pathfinder and a platform app builder, has logged 20 to 30 hours on Trailhead Go since its launch at Dreamforce 2019, and three to five hours with Trailhead Live. For the most part, he finds the app helpful when he doesn't have access to his laptop or a full web browser and is a way to fill his time when he has a few minutes to spare.
In the old days when we had downtime during a commute, we would listen to audiobooks. Now we can get job skills, for free.
Greg GrothausSalesforce administrator, Cloud Pathfinder
"In the old days when we had downtime during a commute, we would listen to audiobooks," he said. "Now we can get job skills, for free."
Grothaus is currently working toward his third Salesforce certification -- Sales Cloud consultant. This is the fourth most-sought certification after administrator, platform app builder and platform developer I, according to the Mason Frank Salary Survey 2019/2020. The survey also showed that 94% of survey respondents use the Salesforce training tool.
Boaz also uses the Go app in her spare time, in place of mindlessly scrolling through Twitter or playing Candy Crush.
"Hour for hour though, I do more Trailhead on my laptop than my phone," she said.
Trailhead Go shortcomings
While the Trailhead Go mobile app makes it convenient for Salesforce users to study for certifications and learn more about the product, it is not a replacement for the desktop site.
This personalized homepage on the Trailhead Go app provides a link to Trailhead Live materials.
Trailhead Go users are able to do the reading portions of training modules from the app, but when they need to do any hands-on work in a sandbox, the app asks users to open a Salesforce training environment, moving them from the app to the full website version of Trailhead.
"To do the work in the sandbox, you really need a mouse and a keyboard," Grothaus said.
Trailhead Go is currently only available for iOS, while the full site is available on any device.
The reason for an iOS-only mobile app is that a high proportion of the Trailhead audience is likely on some form of iOS device, France said.
"Nevertheless, Salesforce is definitely missing a trick in not making it available to Android users as well," she said.
Trailhead users who want to take advantage of real-time broadcasts can view the schedule in advance on the Trailhead Live webpage.
