Planning Center Services
reviews and complaints

Sweet Moses, what did they do to this previously semi-useful app? This latest update is terrible. The app is basically a wrapper to their website, which used to be mostly tolerable, though laggy and awkward. Now, it is so unusable, it's practically total crap. I am sitting here trying to learn a lead riff for a song and I can't even scrub through the song to hear the riff. How impractical is that?! They released an update that actually REDUCED the value of the app. Not only that, but the app has this mindless feature (bug?) where music stops playing when the screen locks...again, a reduced feature over the previous version. I can't listen to the songs unless I actively manage keeping the screen awake every 30 seconds. Planning Center, please get your act together and un-break your app and website before it completely diminishes your brand. The PCO experience on iOS is garbage!

Below is my initial review of the update. Since I wrote it, there have been more changes (perhaps the app "resetting" after the update), and is now more useful. The media player still has bugs (delays, freezes app), but the layout is fine, and admin changes have been restored. I also would still like to see the event display notes along with the songs and keys. I write this for any users who have the issues described below, give it a couple of days and see if it gets better.
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The latest update has taken away most of my capabilities. None of the songs are playing anymore, the layout has greatly limited its usefulness (cannot make admin changes), and it is difficult to navigate within an event (ie: clicking on a song name in a set list used to let me see it, hear it, and see notes about it- all those options are gone). Please reverse! (Mar 24, originally written)

Hello,

I use this app regularly, I even schedule people on this app. Most of the app runs just fine like I’m able to view plans, review the itinerary, times, etc. The thing that I hate the most is that when you make a change to your schedule on the computer it won’t register correctly in the app. For example let’s say I moved myself to another position and filled that position with somebody else, it will show that that person was requested but it will still say that I am confirmed for two positions when in reality I’m only confirmed for the one I moved to. (This glitch only happens on my iPhone because when I view the app on a Samsung device everything works perfectly) This isn’t just a glitch on my end however, my supervisor has the same problem along with many people in my church. You really need to fix this, because it’s confusing a lot of people as to who is and isn’t scheduled!

Thank You!

My church uses this app for all their service planning! It is a very useful app and I sometimes wonder how we would get along without it! There are number of reasons why I like it but the top four are (1) its ability to download songs (either from admin song list or playlist from schedule), (2) it is easy navigation (everything is three clicks away or less), (3) its professional look (emails included. The apps style encourages church leaders to start promptly and set dates easily, (4) the easy way one can set up a particular schedule and all participants have the ability to add the schedule to their calendar.
(4 1/2) It comes with a metronome!

Planning Services is a breeze! I love the style, the flow, the structure, and being able to see exactly what is happening. Thanks Planning Center for helping church (and many other organizations) able to plan anything they want with any person, (any song), anytime, and anywhere.

I definitely think This was a great idea, and, when functionality properly, it's a big help. Not sure what I would do w/o something like this now. But... If its stuck in load and you X out to try to hit the reload... Nothing happens. You get a white screen... Forever... Unless you delete it and download it again. If churches are paying for the site, which was obviously developed and growing in popularity b/c of mobile devices that can access it, I hope that it's being spent I making this a stand alone app instead of an interface for the website. A lot of the bugs would disappear. Also, I like the previous of the media player better (when you had all songs for the service to listen to the set) but I also like the update to keep the music playing when our of the app. Please put both together. And/or, give the user signed in the option of how to see their music in the player. Still, its now a necessity for me lol. Thanks!

The website doesn't really have the greatest user interface (a lot of clicking to get the information I'm looking for), but my church production team uses it, so I must make do. When I almost missed my shift, I tried to check if there were notification configurations for my account on the website and discovered that I needed the app to even see a list of the days I was scheduled for. So imagine my surprise when I installed the app and found that in order to see my schedule, I was told to download the app -- from within the app itself. I'd only recently gotten a smartphone so I mostly had to interact with the site, and the site, for all its foibles, at least had more options than the app/mobile version does. I'm rather disappointed, because there's so much potential for greater UI on the iOS platform, but it's yet to be taken advantage of, at least in terms of this app. I rate it one star, with the extra star being for it at least not bricking my phone.

App doesn’t even work for me and support is through ZenDesk so absolutely horrendous.

The database pulled my information from a different organization who had my email for an unrelated reason yet obviously (hopefully) must use these services. The welcome email I got from my facilitator (generated internally by services) redirected to the wrong website. I created a login. When I finally go to the correct website/app (this one), I continually get the same error when I log in. Which tells me to try to log out and log back in because “something went wrong”.

When I login it continues to give me the same error, to which the ZenDesk employee replied. “I’ll send you a new welcome email.” Which he never sent. He has denied my multiple requests to talk to a supervisor, and not listened to the initial issue I shared about the data being incorrect as far as what organization I am using services for.

App doesn’t work, and support team seems outsourced, do not recommend.

For the most part, PCO works really well. But for the love of everything decent and holy, PLEASE send a notification to all users on a plan when the plan is updated. Too often, keys get changed, arrangements are changed, and there is no way to know unless the person the changing notifies everyone themselves. It makes no sense why all users wouldn’t receive a little Notification saying what changed. I know it’s easy to say the person changing SHOULD send out an update. But people make mistakes and what’s the point of automating some simple tasks if we simply say that other simple tasks are human responsibilities.

And while it’s easy to say you don’t do this because e-mails are easily over-looked, that’s kind of a cop-out since the notification could easily have a custom subject line that lets the user know an important change is made. If anything, you could prompt the admin or editor with a notification, “Would you like to notify your team?” after a change is made.

Disclaimer: I’m an administrator user for my church, so my experience is based on trying to make full use of the app’s features.

This app constantly seems to need its cache cleared in order to correctly show what the website shows, and has repeatedly caused me to lose in-progress work on song lyrics & chords. It frequently misbehaves in unexpected ways, and is generally just unreliable and frustrating to work with.

This *isn’tdue to any network connectivity issues on my device. I often started trying to do something in the app, only to run into a bug that prompted me to switch to their website on the same device, which then worked without issue. So it really *isjust the app itself that’s the problem.

I’ve also uninstalled & reinstalled the app to see if that would somehow resolve the problems I keep running into. Unfortunately, it didn’t.

So until they take the time to fix the app’s problems, I can’t recommend it – not for making updates, not even for just looking at things (since the app’s cached data could be stale).

This app is basically just a clone of the web-based Planning Center Online. Both versions could be improved by actually taking you to your next scheduled event instead of always dumping you onto the main PCO page & then having to pore through pages of events (our church has 3 different services & the one I'm involved with happens to be at the bottom) or having to click the My Schedule link. The iPhone application is too big for the screen with a lot of moving the screen back & forth required to find what you're looking for. Playing MP3 files & looking at sheet music attachments is inconsistent & difficult. This app should be redesigned so it's actually easy to use, so it shows my plans in one place when I first log in then shows each entire plan in a straight line from top to bottom when when click into a plan. If you have to spend any amount of time & want to do anything more than just check to see when you're scheduled, don't use this app as it's very unwieldy because it's not designed to work on the small screen area that an iPhone offers.

Our church has been stuck in the past for so long. I was lucky enough to be selected to be on the beta test group for using this service. So far, I'm loving the service from the web page, but not near as much from the iPhone app. I only gave it a "it's ok" rating cause like most other folks I found it to just be "ok". I had much higher hopes for this app. For instance, why can't you just see the same calendar on the side bar from the web page on the phone app? That would be nice. Also, being one of 3 sound guys we are all on a rotation that changes every month. I can't see the weeks that I've agreed too unless I pick and choose each week until I see when I'm up next. I did find that if you go into the "people" tab and chose your name, then it will give you your schedule but that seems like a lot of steps for basic information.

If anything, it's still light years ahead of what we had and I'm really looking forward to using the service and watching this app progress. All in all, it's basically a way for you to view what you've already done on the web page but not a whole lot more.

So I've been using the PCO app for several years now and can safely say that I know my way around it pretty well. I do a lot of editing of plans and find myself having to navigate between different service types and different campuses in the folders they're in. I was never really happy with the app cause it was buggy and slow. Now, with this new update I can add confusing and unclear to that list. This update completely disrupts the workflow of myself and my peers who schedule/plan. I used to open the app several times a day for a good amount of time to check on the devices I'm scheduled for and to update/view plans. Since the update, I've had to go out of my way to pull out my laptop to use the website over the app. The lack of lines and defined borders makes it a struggle to know what the borders are for each icon and button. I really wish that this wasn't done. Thousands of people use the app every week and this update could have slowed down the planning of thousands of services. If there was an option to use the old skin then I'd be ok with it, but the app isn't any faster or any more stable.

I love planning center, but I’ve grown to hate the app. The interface is inconsistent, with different (mismatched) themes across different parts of the app. There are many annoying alerts that the app could go without having, too.

User experience is fine, in theory (more in the paragraph below). Straight forward with obvious buttons and menus.

The big issue comes with all the bugs in this app. I do not remember a time I scheduled a Sunday Service without the app giving me some pesky bug. I’m convinced the developers or project managers do not test the app, because very common operations are inconsistent or require restarting the app before registering changes. Some operations cause the app to crash all together. None of this is present on the desktop interface. All the small bugs add up to frustration when trying to make even small changes to a schedule. I thought my app was out of date, because I downloaded it so long ago and mostly use the desktop browser version, but it’s the latest version. I hope this app is tested thoroughly, like it should have been in the first place, and all these bugs are fixed.

This app is a tremendous help for on the fly scheduling and adjustments to Planning Center Online Services when not at a computer. The interface has a good amount of features but isn't to complicated. It can be a little difficult to explain to new users on your team but overall it serves your teams needs to stay connected to what's happening in your services.

If I can add a suggestion it would be to make it a little easier to access plan files. Also I find that when I hit repeat on a media file or song file in the media player if I navigate away from the app it plays nicely in the background. However if I reopen the app to check a service plan or item, the player stops the repeat function and so I have to navigate back to the previous place that the original media file was in order to play it again and turn the repeat function back on. It gets a little frustrating at times.

I use an iPhone 6s which has a larger screen. Maybe you could make an app similar to Music Stand (simple form of PCO) for iPhones for when a team member only wants to review a services music and chord charts. Just a suggestion.

Again, overall this app will serve as an incredible resource for you and your team in connection with Planning Center Online Services.

I truly hope the developers read these reviews.

The user-experience on this app is agonizingly frustrating. It seems like it takes ages to do anything, requires a multitude of clicks, and requires you to wait between each of those clicks for the painfully slow page refreshes. And, because the buttons are so small and difficult to click, if you click incorrectly, you're forced to wait for the page to load. Once it does finally load there is no obvious way to get back to what you were doing in the first place, and so you end up starting over with the whole process.

For example, as a worship leader if I want to add a song to an item in the service (a basic functionality of PCO), I have to do the following:
1. Click the element I want to change
2. Click the (tiny) pencil button to change it. This button is super close to the equally tiny "comment" and "delete" buttons.
3. Click the "Add a song" button
4. Search for the song as PCO only loads the first nine songs in the database
5. Click on the song
6. Click the "Accept" button

Each of these clicks are slow to load, difficult to find, and rife with the potential of incorrectly clicking on the wrong thing. This app should be tossed out and reworked from scratch. If you're considering downloading it, don't bother. It will just frustrate you. Get the work done on a computer and use your notes or song sheets.

This is a good app and keeps our teams organized by letting everyone know what’s going on. I agree with the statements made with the one reviewer about notifying everyone on a team when changes are made. When changes are made the entire team SHOULD get notice of it. This should not increase the volume of notifications by much unless one has a team that is comprised of too many chiefs and not enough Indians where too many people have plan change authority and no one can decide. Maybe make an option to limit plan change authority to plan creator and creator designees. Then offer a toggle as to who gets what type of emails. You need not track changes as you say simply send an update email on update to those with the subscribe to plan updates toggle and maybe a second toggle that says all plan updates on my team or just the updates involving me.

The developer missed the point of the second suggestion below. Calendaring and scheduling is NOT flexible enough! I can calendar things especially repeating events in google calendar and iCal that I can NOT calendar in planning center, specifically items that require a “custom “ schedule like daily every 3rd day, or weekly on Thursday, or every 2 months, on the second Tuesday, etc. I see no way to schedule those kind of things in planning center.

Developer just says, oh “go see the calendaring….” I did, thus this edit. Calendaring is not flexible enough.

A second suggestion in calendaring/scheduling/and blocking out time Is to allow “custom” scheduling like I can do in the android and iOS calendaring where I can schedule or block out things like first Thursday every month or second Monday every other month. This would be really useful for leaders setting a consistent schedule for team members and team members blocking out time for other commitments.

This is THE WORST APP I have ever had on my phone, but my church uses it and I’m stuck having to navigate it’s maze. One day I open it and immediately find the information I need. The next day I follow the same path and can’t find anything. (The latter was today’s experience) Incidentally every single person at our church that I’ve discussed the app with loathes it as well. If you can avoid it, do not use this app. “Dumpster fire” is too kind!

It is nearly impossible to tell which options of a song you have selected as play or skip because the bold print is hard to tell from regular print. Many folks in our choir are senior saints, who need things to be as easy to see and use as possible. I would love to include a screen shot of my personal page to this review with some items highlighted as play and others skipped to show the almost imperceptible difference, but I find no way to do so.

If I have the app, I don't need emails. Please give me the option to turn ALL email notifications off. If I get emails, I don't need to see them in the message center. Accepting/declining a request should clear the message center notifications. For one serving request I get the following notifications: 1. email to my inbox, 2. Notification from the app, 3. Message center notification in the app, 4. Reminder email the day before, 5. Message center reminder in the app.

Our church asked us to use The Planning Center for volunteer signups. Several of us downloaded the app and we got a virus! We all downloaded it at different days/times too. Some a couple months from each other. Anyway- our phones are really, really screwed up. Email apps need to be deleted and reinstalled, Drains batteries like crazy, kicks you off of WiFi, asks for your passwords constantly and now I can’t even access safari without spam coming up. DO NOT INSTALL!

I have used planning center several years now. I’ve used it for about three different organizations. I recall being able to switch between the organizations when I was playing for more than one at a time. However, since the recent update I’m stuck in an old organization that has archived my profile, and I cannot switch to the organization I’m currently active in. I attempted to figure it out on browser to no avail. Please help! Or make it easier to switch organizations.

I don’t like that you cannot see openings to serve in the first upcoming service if you are not scheduled or if you decline an opening and circumstances change and you want to volunteer for an opening that may still be available. You should also be able to see the entire list of scheduled volunteers for a service whether you are serving or not. This app is difficult to use and not intuitive for someone who has worked in IT for years. The link to the support website from the App Store also does not work.

Your app is not good. It logged me into a church I have never been to and I can’t even log into my church. Happens every time I get logged out when you “update “ your app. How about fixing things first then work on new features.

Your response is hmm talk to your leader and then we will help you. I’ve used this app since you started. It’s never been good. It got pushed on us by some Worship leader who left and stuck our church with this. I would use another app but that’s not my role. Otherwise I would have already dumped your app.

First, the Services app does NOT reflect the changes I make to my plan on the computer at planningcenteronline.com To me if I update the plan in either place, the changes I make should show up in both places! Is the app not connected to the website?
Second, realizing that the app is NOT reflecting the website, I have attempted NUMEROUS times to change/adjust my plan in the app but to no avail! None of my changes EVER stick even after clicking Save! At this point this app is no good to me which is a shame because it would be much more handy than the website if it was indeed accurate!

As a helpful suggestion, a calendar app within the application it's self would be most helpful to allow one to see what days and dates/times one is signing up for
While the option to have it added to your regular phone calendar is somewhat helpful there is no way to view what you have signed up for in a true calendar display
Additionally it would be nice to be able to toggle between that and the messages easier such as have email leader visible when making a choice to accept or decline an invitation as well as view calendar
Some simple adjusts would be so helpful
Thank you so much

Lately, it’s just been buggy as heck. The website is great, and MOST of my work is done there. However, the last 2 versions of the app leave me shaking my head. Many times it tells me my churches main folder is empty (I have worship plans for 3 months in there). Sometimes it just won’t update or clear notifications. And c’mon guys, “delete and reinstall” is not a bug fix. I’ve been using Planning Center since way before there was an app, and will continue to do so. However, you guys have GOT to put more thought and testing into the app. It was buggy but tolerable on my 6S Plus. It’s unusable with my 11 Pro.

I hate having a password. Between the stupid password credentials and having multiple devices I constantly forget my password. I DONT EVEN WANT A PASSWORD. Can’t I at least just have a 4 digit code and I can make it 1111 gosh I hate it. What am I worried about!? Someone getting in and doing the scheduling for me? It’s stupid. Please add a option to disable the password.

Also why does it lock me out after 5 attempts!? I have so many passwords to remember that after 5 tries I get locked out!? WHY? Who am I trying to keep out of my account?!? Satan? Scammers? NO! Literally nobody wants to get into my account except me!

First off love planning center on the mac not may problems there. This app on the other hand has given me some fits. Randomly changes keys. A lot of the time doesn’t recognize some of my musicians have notifications prepared so I will have to exit the app multiple times or have to click prepare notification on and off multiple times. I also have had issues with it taking a while to add a song in planning center. I get the loading icon for a while and end up having to exit the app. Love the concept just needs bug fixes. Please fix these issues. It hurts the purpose and convenience of the app. Also would love for it to have the option of adding and transposing MP3s on the app. Thanks!

This should be called “Planning Center Services Companion” app. If you are simply using it to look at your scheduled plans, it’s passable. Although the UI is a bit perplexing with many dead ends (back buttons anyone?) it does the job more or less if u are needing to a hand in practice, but that’s about it.

That’s being said, I don’t think modern people want to use just a portion of a service in an app. I don’t understand why I can’t use this to even ADD a person to a plan. As a leader it’s a real pain if, say I forget to add a person, and then I want to give them access to set on stage and I have to grab my laptop. Of maybe I wanna just review future plans on the fly I haven’t been scheduled on but I MADE BECAUSE I’M THE ADMIN and I can’t do it. Just annoying. I want a uniform experience.

I’m not one to ever rate apps and I certainly don’t enjoy a negative review being my only one, but god lord this app is outstandingly bad.

One of the companies I work with uses it for their scheduling and it’s such a consistent pain to use, even in the short amount of times Im forced to.

Loading anything can take minutes on minutes, app crashes constantly, and the pages are so unresponsive that I sometimes just simply give up when trying to look for details within plans.

I’ve just spent 10minutes trying to open a single plan and time after time, the app freezes or crashes just to have to start over again.

I then uninstalled, reinstalled, logged out, logged back in, made sure the app is updated as well as my phone, all to no progress being made lol

To any companies thinking of using this app: please don't lol