conflicting information…overall, the user experience is disappointing

The website promises more features than the app delivers. For example, although I should be able to save a lesson as a template (according to the website), and I click the button that says “Use as a Template", the template is not applied to the lessons in the course as the dialog box warns me. Several pages in the help site are empty, and a search for “lesson template” resulted in zero hits.

I bought the app via the App Store, so I’m on version 4.4, but the website only mentions up to 4.2.2 (and the help document seems to be for an even earlier version - v3.0?), so I wasn’t sure where else to look for help. Response to requests for help from the developer is a far cry from 24 hours…more like several months, so I’ve stopped asking. The Twitter group hasn’t been updated in over a year, and I don’t have enough time to scroll through the FB page posts when I should be lesson planning. That makes me hesitant to join any group (Yahoo or otherwise) to find any information.

I got a much quicker response (within a day) when I first asked whether I should buy the app due to development forecast or to wait…of course, the encouragement was to buy, as it would be updated soon after, which turned out to be about 6 months later. However, I’ve recently been told the iOS companion app is not likely to be updated any time soon, which is why I went ahead and bought the desktop version in the first place (I teach mostly from my iPad, but viewing and input into the system is much easier on a real keyboard). The desktop update via the app store also lags considerably behind the updates released to those who buy the app directly off the website. If you format your plans with font styles and colors for easy identification, you won’t be able to view them on the companion iOS app, where visual cues are most helpful.

The app has potential, but it needs a lot of work (both technically and in the customer service area) to make it user-friendly. I’d give it one star, but “hate it” seems a bit strong. I still use it, but it’s definitely a struggle. I just don’t want to see $40 go to waste, especially since the App Store wouldn’t give me a refund when I asked for one. (Actually, they never responded.)

jl9258 about Planbook