IRIS ParentMail 4+

Frustrating niggles make the app annoying.

If the school offers parents evening on 2 dates and you book an appointment on one date it constantly shows a notification that you need to book an appointment. The app thinks you need an appointment on both dates. The constant notification is annoying. Other reviewers have commented this is the same for forms that you don't need to respond to because you aren't taking up the event offered. Even if you move the item to the archive the notification persists.

The second frustration is that despite having the app and having push notifications there is no way to turn off emails or SMS. Consequently I get a summary email everyday that something has been sent to the app - even though I have read it in the app. I get an SMS and this is then duplicated in the app as a new notification.

ParentMail need to sort it out so that items in the archive don't generate notifications and have a way to turn off emails and SMS if you are receiving push notifications from the app.

Developer Response ,

Hello Daniel. Thank you for your feedback. We appreciate the suggestions and the improvements for the App. We will look into these and forward the suggestions to consider in the future.

Very One Way

Full of issues, sadly. Could be good, if fixed. Got a trip form to fill in, but can’t. I can’t type into any of the fields. The form text isn’t selectable either, as I’m trying to message the office about the form issue. The office email is within the form text, but I can’t select it to copy. There’s no way of using this app to get back in touch with the school after receiving one of the methods of communication. Needs developing to make sure the forms can be completed, text can be copied and maybe introduce a feature for the app user to message the main office. Currently we can’t reply to anything. Using an iPhone 12 with the latest OS at the time, 15.7.

Overdue Items Payments’s

Update - thank you for your response but let me correct you. The school may be in full control of how things are presented on the app but on this occasion the items certainly were not marked as compulsory as you suggest. I will make my point again parents should have the ability to remove what is irrelevant to them. Please note I thanked you for your response rather than the abrupt “hello” from you.

When school invite you to pay for something such as a trip, locker rental or similar the payment requests show in the To Pay / Payments tab. If you do not wish to pay for the said opportunities they remain in the tab as Overdue and there’s no option for the parent to delete. Not being able to remove these messages feels like a bullying tactic to me trying force parents to pay for things that they simply don’t want or can’t afford. If you read back through the reviews you will see that this was bought to ParentMail’s attention 3 years ago yet nothing has been done. Ultimately the parent should have more control of what’s displayed on the app.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for your feedback. The only items which never leave the Overdue area are Compulsory Payment items. Payment Items that have been given a Due Date will appear if unpaid and disappear when they run past the Due Date. Please contact your school if you have questions or concerns over how they are categorising their payment items.