Member Tools 4+

Great idea, poor execution

As an introverted member of the church, the idea behind this app is invaluable- a place where I can look up my fellow church members and leaders and get their number or address and find a way to connect that isn’t walking up at church and saying “hello, let’s talk” because that’s terrifying. However, many of the aspects of this app make it difficult for me to use, earning it’s star rating- it’s been buggy lately, meaning that I have been too anxious to use it for its intended purpose. The information doesn’t sync often enough (despite my best efforts to push the sync button!) so it often isn’t very helpful. So many people are on “private”- I don’t know if that’s the default or if people are just choosing it, but again, if all of my church leaders are on “private”, I feel like I don’t even know who to talk to much less how to reach them. And there’s no in-app messaging options, which honestly would make my life so much simpler. If these things were updated, especially the last one, this app would get 5 stars from me. But until the technology catches up with my needs, the best I can do is 3 stars.

The Church is True, this App is Not

This app is atrocious. As a clerk, I see so much potential in its use, but it is a literal pain to work with. It’s glitchy, slow, inconsistent, and with the Church-wide push towards digital/online materials I really hope they either revamp or replace this app entirely. I try to encourage members to get accustomed to everything being online/digital, but when they need to use this app, it can be discouraging. Honestly, I just barely deleted it and plan on just using the church website (which is not perfect either, but is significantly better). I may redownload it, but for now, it is too unreliable.

EDIT: Since being reached out to about my review, I redownloaded the app to see if the said changes actually did anything. The app seems a little less glitchy and more user-friendly. I added a star to my rating, because I could tell people are actually trying to make it better. I appreciate effort and genuinely hope this app can live up to its potential. I plan on adding more stars to my rating if it continues to work well. Thank you.

EDIT #2: This is significantly better. Thank you.

Developer Response ,

Good news! Syncing is back up and running smoothly. If you bump into any more hiccups, simply hit “Help” then “Send Feedback” in the app to let us know. Or drop us an email at membertools@churchofjesuschrist.org. We’re here to help!

Great app, just a few suggestions

Overall I think this app is great! I think it does a great job when it comes to contacting members and finding peoples numbers in my ward, which I find is very necessary at times. It also is a really great tool when I want to see who the new people in the ward are and their names so I don’t constantly ask them “hey, sorry what’s your name again?” I just look it up haha.

A few things I think would make it better are 1. I often find that I need to find someone from another stake but I don’t have access to the stakes around me, it would be infinitely more convenient if I could see as far as the stakes in the area around me to be able to contact people in those wards as well. 2. Another thing is age, it has been very difficult for me to figure out who people in my ward are when they don’t have a picture or ages on this app. I know that only a few people can access age but I feel that it is a very important identification tool and would help immensely if everyone could see age and birthday (even if it’s just for individual wards).
These are just a few things I would suggest.
Thanks for keeping these in mind!