✅ A Better Way to Handle Boolean Values in Your App

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Tired of managing boolean values like this?

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Let’s change that. Here’s a cleaner, more user-friendly method that improves both UI/UX and logic management.

:wrench: Step 1: Create a Helper Table

Start by creating a new helper table. In this example, it’s called Permissions.
This table will store the possible boolean options you want to work with.

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:file_folder: Step 2: Add a Column to Your Main Table

In the table where you want to store boolean selections, add a new column.
You can name it anything — in my case, it’s also called Permissions.

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:control_knobs: Step 3: Set Up a Choice Component in the Frontend

Now, add a Choice Component in your frontend.

  • Link it to the Permissions helper table.
  • Set it to write selected values into the column you just created.

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:white_check_mark: Step 4: Enable Multi-Selection

Make sure to enable multiple selections in the component settings.
This way, users can select several boolean values, which will be saved as a list in the column.

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:brain: Step 5: Convert Selections into Boolean Columns

Finally, use If–Then–Else columns to convert selected values into booleans.

For example, check if a specific permission exists in the list:

  • If Permissions contains "Can Edit" → true, else → false

This gives you readable, usable boolean values from a dynamic list.

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:speech_balloon: Feedback is Welcome!

If you found this helpful, feel free to share your thoughts!
And if you spotted a mistake, or if you know of a better approach — even if it’s completely different from mine — I’d genuinely love to hear it. Improving together is the goal. :light_bulb:

Thanks for reading! :raising_hands:

1 Like
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Can you share the use case for this? I almost never use text for handling permissions, if I have to manage permissions in the data view, it would be:

  • A table of different roles.
  • Use boolean for each permission type.
  • Relation from role in user table to role in permission table.
  • Lookup booleans for each permission.
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I have been using it several times whenever I need to get Boolean inputs, because normal Boolean inputs are not quite good in UI/UX

Yes, I also do a similar approach but I need to make it custom to everyone so this is the reason I did it like this

You can have multiple use cases for this like adding product variants

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Can you share what’s not great about them?

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As mentioned the usability and UI/UX when there are many Boolean inputs required at once

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What’s the difference in UI/UX compared to the choice component?

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I think it can easily be seen, I attached the image as well

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So more about space management on mobile as it’s using a modal? I’m not against it, just trying to understand your reasoning.

Appreciate any clarification more than what you mentioned, in case any Glide people read this later to consider changes.

  • What’s wrong about the boolean approach (more fields to manage, take up screen estate)?
  • What’s better about the way you did it (you only show how you do it, and not why you think makes it better)?
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Thanks for your message! Just to clarify my reasoning a bit more—especially since this is being used inside a modal on mobile devices.

I'm not against using the boolean method. I just wanted to explain why I approached it differently, in case anyone from the Glide team reads this later and considers feedback from various perspectives.

❌ Issues I Faced with the Boolean (Checkbox) Approach:

  • Using several boolean inputs made the interface feel crowded, especially in a modal view on mobile.
  • It became overwhelming to see so many toggles stacked together, making it harder to focus on what actually needs to be selected.
  • Clicking each checkbox individually was time-consuming and felt inefficient—especially when animations or visual delays are involved.

✅ Why I Preferred the Choice Component Instead:

  • The choice component combines all options in one place, which looks much cleaner and more organized.
  • It takes up less screen space, making it easier to manage inside a modal, especially on mobile.
  • Visually, it gives a more polished and professional look compared to a long list of checkboxes.
  • It also simplifies interaction—users can select options more quickly without multiple taps.

That’s why I decided to showcase this approach—so others facing the same UI/UX challenges can consider an alternative solution. Hopefully this clears things up a bit more!

2 Likes
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Good to see the clarification! I just want to have one suggestion here.

Instead of storing the permissions as text in your case, use something like a rowID or a number.

In that case, when you have to change the readable text later, you won’t have to re-do all things related to that text.

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Yes, it’s quite easy to do

  1. We need to create row ID column and use it in the value
  2. Then simply add conditions that check if the Row ID is present or not.
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the choice component has limited text display on mobile devices and if the list is too long, you need to search for it. personally i’ll just use the Chips.

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It all goes down to prefrences, but my idea is that if there are a lot of chips then it is possible that the user may not see it