Brightspace Pulse Reviews

by Hitori_Samishiku

It would be good if it worked. I got it to work once or twice and it was great. However, in total, I haven’t just used it once or twice; I’ve used it many more times and I’ve consistently had the “A Little Hiccup... The Internet is being fussy right now. Let’s try again?” error message pop up and despite refreshing and reconnecting to my network (even going to cellular data instead of Wi-Fi) I keep getting that message. Maybe it’s just my school’s security or something... but then BrightspacePulse should verify be able to bypass that security via a sign-in or other means.
In conclusion, if BrightspacePulse worked, it would be great since I wouldn’t have to go to my school’s website page every time and sign in. But it doesn’t work. Don’t get me wrong I was hoping it would work—work like everyone else’s reviews, it seems—but alas. No such luck. My experience: 1/5. Because that’s about how many times it seems to work.

UPDATE: Even after updating, this “hiccup”/“fetch” problem still persists.

by Gkomin18

I’m a student at Loyola Marymount University and we use BrightSpace for all of our courses. I was thrilled to hear that there was an app for my phone or iPad that I could use to keep up with my assignments. Now, having used BrightspacePulse for TWO AND A HALF YEARS, I can say that it is a decent app and does most of what it should do, but it’s basically just a portal for Safari in a different app. To view any course announcements or to be able to download any files while on BrightspacePulse , you have to open the course homepage which opens a pop-up safari window. This just makes BrightspacePulse messy, and every time I open the homepage within BrightspacePulse , I just wonder why I don’t use the normal webpage on Safari instead because it’s the same thing. It’d be AMAZING if BrightspacePulse was all in one and didn’t have to open safari to show half of the course’s content and the announcements. Schoology, which I used all throughout high school, does this very well in their mobile apps and their webpage and I would love for the developers to take a look at that and see how far behind their app is in terms of usability and other productivity apps out there in 2020. If your professors make a lot of announcements and require you to check on them daily, just use BrightSpace in a web browser and don’t even bother with BrightspacePulse until it gets updated to be all inclusive.

by Ttogss

In high school I used canvas for all of my school assignments. Canvas was great because it had a stellar mobile app for the iPad and it was very clean and easy to use. It had the same features as the the website version. Canvas is super powerful, it puts all your due dates in a calendar so you never miss an assignment. It also has a todo list with the highest priority assignments first. In addition, each course homepage was so easy and simple. Couldn’t say the same for D2L.

D2L is not a good course manager platform. BrightspacePulse does not use useful Data from other courses to make a list of assignments to do all in one place. The was the most important feature with canvas. If brightspace had a calendar and a to do list for your classes, it would make my assignment planning so much easier. I just need one that has all of my assignments! BrightspacePulse would be perfect then! Other than that, it is very disorganized. Especially with someone who has adhd.

by Mirnitica

Let me just start off by saying that this application does one thing well, and that is to deliver notifications about grades and assignments posted: however, everything else is crappy. For one thing, you have to use Safari if you want to see the entire course content. You’re barely getting any course content via The application. If I wanted to use Safari, I would go on safari and not use an app which is more convenient. Also, this application doesn’t allow the dictation feature to work on the discussion boards. I find it extremely irksome that I have to type my discussion posts. I should be able to dictate things, we’re in the 21st-century, after all… Not being able to download assignment files, not seeing the weeks readings in their entirety also makes BrightspacePulse not really be worth much, which is why I gave it two stars. Canvas is much better

by Briznit

BrightspacePulse works smoothly, but it is a “bare bones” app. Many features are simply links to the content on their website. It is not a true mobile version where students can work on assignments through their tablets or phones (a supposed advantage in using D2L). Additionally, there are features and content areas missing from BrightspacePulse that I can only access through a roundabout way once BrightspacePulse directs me to the website. These features include access to the Announcements (which seems like a significant oversight) and any discussions forums that are not incorporated into learning modules. I must access the website to see the content within these areas.

by Jmwp10

I think the iPhone version of BrightspacePulse is great, but the point of BrightspacePulse is to access classes and assignments on a mobile device, however the best device I have found to go paperless, use my ebooks, access class information is the iPad. With the amazing updates to the the iPad and the duel screen functionality, the only aspect of my class that has not coughs up to this tech is the pulse app. There is no iPad version . This is how I will be accessing classes and this view is bad to say the least. Screen is not screen sized and buttons and font are extremely large and pixilated, and the keyboard functionality doesn’t work in the assignments/ discussions. The phone app works great but need iPad version to reasonable take class and use split screen mode to see txt book and class work or class and take notes. The whole reason I got iPad to use for college. BrightspacePulse is not suited to use on iPad and we can not use phones in class!

by ViperMom149

I think I found a little bug issue. I had to uninstall and reinstall BrightspacePulse because I can’t scroll down to read the rest of the lectures in learning material. I emailed Classroom Support at my school and they emailed me back saying they have the same problem they just zoom in then zoom out and it starts to work. So I tried that but when I zoom in all the text except for the heading disappears and direct come back. I have to force close BrightspacePulse and go back in to the lesson to get the text to come back - but I still can’t scroll down.

After I reinstalled BrightspacePulse I went back in to the learning material but still couldn’t scroll down to read the rest of the text. I tried the zoom-in trick and it actually worked this time but I have to do that for every single page.

I’m using an Apple Xs and the iOs is the most current release.

by CGJ1332

Using this full-time for grad school and use BrightspacePulse for checking grades/occasionally replying to discussion posts. The notification tab needs work most of all. I’ve had the red dot stuck on mine for days now with no actual new updates. When there are new notifications, it’s not obvious what classes from this tab. It is messy and not an optimal design for the feature.

The discussion posts on this program, both desktop and mobile app, are not ideal. The formatting especially is nearly useless to do in-app, and almost always requires a separate word doc program to format before copy/paste to Pulse. This is a serious program in grad school that requires a strict adherence to formatting and citation guidelines. With some UI/UX work, this could be a 5 star app.

by Videomaster321

BrightspacePulse is amazing for keeping track of assignments and your grades, especially because it has its own calendar so you don’t have to clog up your personal calendar with your homework due dates. However if you have to add work to the calendar (professors that use 3rd party homework providers and don’t import the due dates into your schools system) the second you take your finger away from setting the date or time that menu goes away. Why?! It used to stay up until you clicked done or save, now if you misclick or anything you have to reselect the menu to fix it. I should not need to click 3 separate times to add an extra assignments due date and time. I wish they would change it back to the way it was before.

by Jaytothe^2

Things it does well:
1. organizes due dates of all courses in one page. 2.Visually represents workload due that day.
3.Easy to access syllabus and grades.

Things it doesn’t do well or at all:
1. discussion replies. Will tell you if someone responded but from there your better off closing BrightspacePulse and checking things from your laptop or browser outside BrightspacePulse . If not you’ll hit snags constantly.
2. Assignments. If you want to access an assignment it’s best to do it out of BrightspacePulse , as the in app function just takes you right to your browser but with added limitations from still being in-app.
3. Tests. Follows the same above issues, may be less awkward but I wouldn’t risk testing it out.

Maybe it’s because of D2L and not BrightspacePulse , but for example, blackboard is 5* app for LMS. This is definitely useful, just only to check your grades and due dates. Of which both could be improved upon. Not all due dates on assignments seem to transfer in app, and grades are only per assignment. To calculate the overall grade you have to do it yourself or using D2L.

So in all honesty 3* is generous.

by E-Baus

Bright space is convenient for completing class work, but an ongoing issue (>1 year anyways) is that the notifications icon in the bottom menu tray does not signal when a new notification is available. You have to manually access it and look for new notifications published to your account. Further, once you find a category containing a red dot (indicating a new notification), there are times where the notification will never clear. Highly inconvenient for students trying to keep tabs on their coursework, and I wish BrightspacePulse developers would fix this rather simple and annoying issue.

by MazelTovCoctail

It’s good for viewing any Content posted by the professor but not much else. No way to print or download files. No way to view grades, class list, or anything else. BUT BrightspacePulse seems to be very stable, just limited in capability. The notifications are borderline useless. Just generic messages that are essentially just a glorified app notification badge (# of new things to view). Things that NEED to be added are better notification (which are essentially useless at the moment) and the ability to download files to my phone/other apps/cloud, not just an offline cache. BrightspacePulse has limited functionality but does what it does pretty well.

by Anna975

BrightspacePulse reaallly helped me to stay on track with my assignments, deadlines, and other stuff. But, I can’t download and export any files directly from BrightspacePulse . I would always have to go the looong way only to download a file which is 1) launch the main site and then 2) download it from there. I’ve see other school platform apps that actually download it straight off from BrightspacePulse and can view it in Word, PowerPoint, or whichever app can view and edit the file. Please fix this problem for my future studies! Thank you!

by Someotherguywithopinions

I like that it alerts and notifies me of everything that’s posted but I wish it had a feature that allowed us to see which notifications we haven’t seen. I don’t think it would help very many out but I’d definitely give BrightspacePulse a more polished and refined impression. As well as discard any notifications that the no longer exist on the actual online website if the professor took it down. I haven’t had the AP for two long but I wish there was a setting that allowed us to have a bit more control over which tasks we could set so stand reminders for like if we have a test coming up and we could set a reminder for every other day at 7pm so we could remember to study.

by Keshall

This is great to use on my iPhone. In the Notification area courses are color coded, icons are clearly defined, lead-in marker to access further information about particular notifications had never had any issues. The Course listings are easy to navigate...provided the educators plug everything in correctly.

I’m really hoping there’s an iPad version available or coming soon. It would be nice to pull up BrightspacePulse and have it work to it’s full potential instead of a minimized screen and appearing somewhat pixelated when enlarged (still doesn’t access the full screen). This is the only reason I didn’t award 5 stars.

by Joey Holcomb

BrightspacePulse is amazing! I’m a student at Daytona State, and it truly does help get around your courses. However, as many reviews have already stated, you have to enter a browser to see pretty much anything. That does get a little but annoying. You should be able to see more within BrightspacePulse ; otherwise, BrightspacePulse is completely pointless. As it stands, you’d be better off going online. The setup and navigation of BrightspacePulse is great, though, and it does help to get notifications on my phone since (admittedly) I’m on it a bit more than I should be.

by Tyhaybonnie

I never miss uploaded work or grade posted from school. As a college student pulse is a life saver. Some people have so much going on in life especially when you have kids, husband, and daily activities you don’t always log into your school portal you really forget!!!!! Thank God for pulse It let’s me know when I need to log in, what has been uploaded from my instructors, and my grades. It contributes to me being a successful student andddddd it’s free. You don’t always have money for some of the things you need for school. So during the pandemic I have had to stop working, purchase tons of things for school that I REALLY NEEDED. So life is going is so many different directions and pulse is a blessing to me I tell everyone about it . I am soooo grateful to the creator of pulse . You been one of my go to apps for two years and counting. Thank you so much for being free . College students NEED and LOVE this pulse app..

by BonyOne

Pulse is great for moderating discussions, but when it comes to reading students’ papers, it’s difficult at best. The functionality for reviewing papers is really lacking. When you try to scroll through the paper, the entire screen scrolls. Then, when you try to scroll back, you end up scrolling the paper all the way back to the beginning. Additionally, you can only see the whole paper in landscape mode. It’s not convenient. If BrightspacePulse had a little better functionality, I’d give it 5 Stars.

by Tennis Maya 987363

This is a great app and it has a lot of features like the checklist on the calendar. I believe to get the best rating, notifications of when things are due should be sent straight to your phone. The main thing is you should be able to check your grades. I can easily go to the link on my phone and I don’t want BrightspacePulse to just guide me there. When I found out there was an app I put all my peers on it and I was kinda disappointed because they didn’t have these things. But I believe this can be fixed and it will be a phenomenal app.

by Soso-soso

I am very happy to have found a phone app that I can access Portland Community College D2L( Bright Space). I tried to access my college online courses on D2L app but couldn’t. No idea how it worked here but I am glad that I can access my online classes on Pulse. My time on public transit is utilized efficiently and it counts towards my studying time. I am on top of my assignments because just like any app, it sends me notifications.
I wish if the tabs are to access grades and assignments in a way other than the notifications tab.
Very helpful app though, and a life changer.

by Zdorovye

Handy app BUT, each update makes it less reliable in providing notifications. Now, there’s a red dot for the notification but the actual content isn’t updated - it has to be refreshed manually.

Also, the date format for discussion posts shows only the date of the original post but not the date for any replies to it.

Come on guys! Put yourselves in the shoes of the people using BrightspacePulse - the students! Either go back to four versions ago, BrightspacePulse was much better then, or, get it right now considering the above comments before launching the next version.

by Tanner77

I just discovered the pulse app halfway through the fall 2019 term. It solves some of the major annoyances I’ve had with using D2L for school, namely having to log in frequently and ending up with multiple browser tabs of D2L from previous sessions.

I definitely recommend BrightspacePulse !

But! it desperately needs split screen functionality so I can have my good notes app on one half of the screen with Pulse on the other. I am using the iPad version obviously.

It also seems to have a glitch when I am taking quizzes and if I switch out of BrightspacePulse too many times the keyboard stops appearing when I tap on an answer input field. Even quickly restarting BrightspacePulse doesn’t seem to fix this.

The pulse app is great blessing to me and a well done effort by the Brightspace Team and I excitedly look forward as it gets even better!

by K'la Smoot

As a third trimester pregnant woman I occasionally have mommy brain and I will forget things from time to time. I take 5 classes at Broward College and BrightspacePulse has really helped me to stay on track and always alerts me whenever there is changes to the schedule and the best part is that I get alerts whenever my grades are put. BrightspacePulse is amazing and I’d be really amazed if there was anything they could do to make it better because it’s already the best.

by Gracie's Leash

I really like BrightspacePulse. I really think it depends on the professor who is utilizing it to make it worth using... because I’ve had classes where I’ve had barely anything on there and classes were everything was on there. It seem to run great I wish all teachers would use this. I love being able to quickly check to see if someone replied to a post or question that I had and to be able to get my grades through here at a quick- glance without having to get on my computer.

by Takagari

Several reviews have criticized BrightspacePulse as bare boned. Your rating it based on something is is not, would you rate a pen based on the graphite quality of a pencil? This is a virtual learning management (VLM] system and not a virtual learning environment (VLE)! This is my fifth year and second school system using D2L/bright space, each year they make incredible leaps in their VLE and pop out these VLM to support that environment. Assignment grader has made it easy for me to grade from anywhere on my iPad. Keep up the good work!

by Abm117

BrightspacePulse is great for easy accessibility and to keep me updated with class announcements and grade postings. Before using this, I would have to log into my student account just to check a grade. Now, it’s so easy for me to simply click BrightspacePulse and get all the information I need without the extra steps. Also, the notifications are so fast, it’s almost like receiving grades and announcements in real time.