Atomic is a user interface designer that runs in the browser. Without writing any code, application designers can use it to show how the interface of an application should look like and behave when certain commands are executed.
Currently, Atomic runs in Chrome on Windows and Mac OS. There are plans to make it run in other browsers in the future. Also, most features probably work just fine on Linux but it has not been tested, the company behind it focusing on the most common platforms, according to Vimal Jobanputra, cofounder and CTO at Atomic.
Atomic can be used to depict the UI for iOS, Android or web applications. The tool keeps all its projects and related assets on Atomic’s servers and has to be online all the time to work with it. A project consists of several layered pages and hotspots to navigate between pages. There are several basic drawing tools available - rectangle, oval, line, text – and a graphics importer that accepts PNG, JPG, SVG and GIF files. Raster images can be copied and pasted from Sketch and Photoshop. Objects on a page can be grouped in layers of various depths. The transitions between pages can be animated, Atomic using GSAP to perform animations in preview mode.
Whenever the users edits a page, Atomic saves that page while keeping the previous version, creating a history for each page that can be navigated back and forth.
There can be multiple collaborators working on a project. A designer could share the project with developers to show them how she envisions the interface of the application. This enables developers to see exactly how the designer wants the UI to be done down to the pixel level, collaborators having access to detailed element properties – size, position, color, etc.
Atomic has recently came out of beta being available in three paid plans. Additional plans - Educational and Team - will be introduced later.
