Our parents are so frustrated with Blackbaud...it would all get MUCH better for our school if there were just an app, that (like with Facebook etc.) had a little number telling you how many notifications you have and you just click on the app. I am never going to get our parent community to embrace this product until this happens. Please seriously consider this!!!!!!
In order to get our parents "on board" with Blackbaud, we need an app. As the others have said, it's cumbersome to have to log in each time. This should be a no-brainer to get parents more engaged.
Our parents are begging us to have a blackbaud app! We have so many communication snags simply because parents will not log into their account on the computer - they want everything on their phones. We are having to turn to third-party apps for messaging, which is cumbersome and confusing to parents who thought blackbaud would be a 'one stop' for everything.
We are pretty new to blackbaud and basically assumed it had an app when we started because why in the world would it not at this point?! Parents should not have to sign in with usernames and passwords on their phones (to read the message from an announcement that was texted to them!!!), its so obnoxious and is really making it difficult getting our parents on board with this system.
We have a new head of school and she asks me at least once a week when Blackbaud will have an app. It's a huge problem in her mind, and if she is not in favor of the system she will quickly be advocating for another. Are there any chances that there will be an app?
It's very disappointing to see how many people have been pleading the case for an app and the response from Blackbaud is a resounding (and dismissive) 'Nope.' I've been in the communications field for more than 20 years, and it's likely a good thing I know how to function in a dial-up world because the K12 tool is a good-ol' '90s throwback.
I hope Blackbaud eventually reconsiders developing an app to support its parent communications tools.
An app is definitely the missing piece for Blackbaud and the parent experience. We've recently been pitched by local companies offering school solutions via app, and this is what our parent community is asking for as well. The web login is not ideal and we have a hard time getting parents to use the portal, even after suggestions such as saving passwords in their browser, booking marking the login page, book marking their child's class page, etc. An app is necessary for the future.
please provide an app. Please. Definitely a huge
missing piece for K-12
We are having the same issue. Parents are asking us to switch to another system. using the mobile web interface is just not large enough. parents wants something simple similar to Facebook.
I received an answer on the BB chat that the likelihood of an app being created is "likely never." For having so many people asking for an app, that is very shortsighted. Yes, we CAN access everything on the web. But most of the users don't WANT TO. Number one ask among parents AND teachers. Cannot even easily get to page on iphone since you can't save a chrome shortcut to the desktop. We are looking for replacement SISs.
Our school is actively seeking out Final Site because everyone wants and app and they offer one. I want to keep everything in one wheelhouse, but responsive design for what the parents want to access - grades, assignments, calendar, athletics, doesn't work as well as an app format would. PLEASE make an app!
YES Please!! I get this question all the time and I get 3rd party app companies seeking our business all of the time because parents send them to me!!! RWD doesn't work well on the phone which is how the majority of people are accessing the site!!
Seriously. It is weirdly misguided branding to have "app" in the name and not offer an app. It could be limited in features, but would be SO HELPFUL to parents.
As communication director for our school, the number one Blackbaud question I get from our parents is this: Why isn't there an app? This seems like low-hanging fruit for you--an app for a platform like this seems like the industry standard. PLEASE consider it!
Please consider adding this. Using BlackBaud LMS on a phone is awful- the scaling doesn't work right, and it's virtually impossible (and absolutely inconvenient) to utilize the majority of features from a cell phone.
It would helpful to have an app where things would be adjusted for tablets/phones/etc.
I cannot stress enough how important this is. We constantly have parents comparing our LMS (BlackBaud) to other products that do use an app. The fact of the matter is that most people, especially our parents are using a mobile device. This should be priority #1 in my opinion.
This would not only help parents but also students and teachers who use the announcements and message function of Blackbaud. We all would really appreciate push notifications when messages and announcements are inbound to us. That way we could maximize the potential of the Blackbaud messaging/announcements functionality while on extended overnight field trips, and I'd know my student was trying to get in touch with me regarding the homework when I'm home and not actively looking at my Blackbaud dashboard.
YES! This would be fantastic for our parents instead of using chrome on their phone.
Younger parents almost exclusively access the software via phone, not even via tablet. This preference is well-documented in surveys about millenials and their habits. The poor phone experience is a real pain point for us.
This is a non-stop parent request we receive and it's primarily around the issues with having to log in over and over with the mobile site. As they point out "with the Facebook app I only have to log in once" and I can't argue with that!