Planning Center Services Reviews

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

PlanningCenterServices 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’t* due to any network connectivity issues on my device. I often started trying to do something in PlanningCenterServices , 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 *is* just PlanningCenterServices itself that’s the problem.

I’ve also uninstalled & reinstalled PlanningCenterServices 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 PlanningCenterServices ’s problems, I can’t recommend it – not for making updates, not even for just looking at things (since PlanningCenterServices ’s cached data could be stale).

I love planning center, but I’ve grown to hate PlanningCenterServices . The interface is inconsistent, with different (mismatched) themes across different parts of PlanningCenterServices . There are many annoying alerts that PlanningCenterServices 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 PlanningCenterServices. I do not remember a time I scheduled a Sunday Service without PlanningCenterServices giving me some pesky bug. I’m convinced the developers or project managers do not test PlanningCenterServices , because very common operations are inconsistent or require restarting PlanningCenterServices before registering changes. Some operations cause PlanningCenterServices 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 PlanningCenterServices is tested thoroughly, like it should have been in the first place, and all these bugs are fixed.

First off love planning center on the mac not may problems there. PlanningCenterServices 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 PlanningCenterServices 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 PlanningCenterServices . Love the concept just needs bug fixes. Please fix these issues. It hurts the purpose and convenience of PlanningCenterServices . Also would love for it to have the option of adding and transposing MP3s on PlanningCenterServices . 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 used to be able to see others information they put out, now I can only see who’s in my team. It won’t let me access a file in the right key. We changed one from a G to an A, and we had to completely change our sight and print the new key, which was still the wrong lyrics. I haven’t been able to get in touch with someone on a different team. I am Audio and Visual, They are on Vocals. There have been times I needed to send her a message asking for help, but it won’t let me see. I also can’t use filters, other than my teams. I have all these things I put my information in, so others can see, now, they can’t see it, nor can I.

Hello,

I use PlanningCenterServices regularly, I even schedule people on PlanningCenterServices. Most of PlanningCenterServices 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 PlanningCenterServices . 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 PlanningCenterServices 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!

We use Planning Center for our scheduling and check-in for church. It’s a very capable software but can be a little clunky or challenging at times. The services app is helpful for viewing what is going on but not for and diction all scheduling or other more involved activities. You will need a computer to do anything beyond checking your schedule or making minor changes to a current schedule. Not bad overall not great either.

When I have run into concerns our internal administrators typically help quickly, but when further help is needed the Planning Center Tech Support has not been the most responsive. They are friendly and helpful but I have waited multiple days when they boast a 24hr response time. A little disappointing from the support side.

As a member of a large statewide choir, PlanningCenterServices is very handy for receiving the details of an upcoming concert. Our leaders send the music out for us to listen to, and on major events we even have the music by parts! The last update has made it impossible to download the MP3’s on my computer. I get the loading circle with a note preparing to download that I give up on after several minutes. This is upsetting because I use these to learn my part. I can still listen on my phone, but that’s not always convenient.

I love PlanningCenterServices. We use it in our church constantly and it really helps to keep everyone on track with schedules and songs etc. However, many times it shows people on the services schedule who had been deleted previously from the schedule or it doubles up names, and every single time, the only way I get it fixed is by deleting and redownloading PlanningCenterServices because when I hit the name to remove it, the “oops error” message pops up and takes me back to the schedule. Please fix this bug or let me know how to get rid of it without having to delete and redownload. Thank you for this wonderful tool.

Love PCO. But (you just had to know that was comin’)... I like getting the piano parts right, and getting my fingers used to doing what the guy on the recording is playing. At present, I can take that itsy-bitsy white dot and move it backwards to hear “that part” again. Of course, there’s no real control, and I almost always move it way too far. It would be great to be able to rewind in 10- or 15-second bits, and be able to advance in 30 second bits. That way, I can practice those piano riffs over and over again.

Also, would like to see an option to turn on or off sleep mode on the phone or tablet. I never (EVER) remember to turn off sleep mode on my phone. It could be put in as an option that we could set (Disengage Sleep Mode while using Planning Center). Just a couple of thoughts.

Have been using PlanningCenterServices for at least 6yrs. It has made great new upgrades and fixes over the years that I greatly appreciate. Keep them updates coming!

There is one problem currently that I have been dealing with PlanningCenterServices. Definitely not a deal breaker but hoping there will be a fix soon.
I don’t know when it started but noticed it about a month ago. The times on the mobile app doesn’t match the time set up using the desktop website. It is always off by 2hrs despite being correct via desktop website. Example: I have service set for 9am but on PlanningCenterServices is starts at 11am.

I have been using this from a scheduler’s side for a couple of months now and it is really professionally done. It makes me look like I spend a lot more time than I do when it comes to scheduling teams. It does lack some features that are in the full website version, but it works really well for most purposes. I’m not going to make major changes to a plan from PlanningCenterServices, but it’s great for making the more common plan and scheduling changes (this was the only reason I had for giving it 4 instead of 5). It’s always handy to be able to carry around the weekly service plans in my pocket. Thanks for a great app and platform!

PlanningCenterServices has truly changed our teams for the better and has helped us grow in our organization and planning. Can’t say enough good things about PlanningCenterServices if you haven’t tried a tool to get you services organized, this is it! The next few things are just a few suggestions I’d like to see available for PlanningCenterServices as they are for the desktop version. I would love to be able to access the matrix view on my iPad when planing services. I would also like to see an improvement for uploading files because I have to try a couple times before it fully uploads. Sometimes it starts to upload and then it will crash.

Sometimes the volunteer leaders at my church send updates to set lists at hours I’m not in the office so I turn to PlanningCenterServices to make changes. Being able to easily add a link in PlanningCenterServices would be helpful, because I need to do this in our team’s process. I have to turn to Safari browser which is less than appealing on a mobile device. I also sometimes still have times when a service shows “needs” we don’t have. We’re just not that needy! (Yes, I love your update fixes). Those don’t show up on the web browser.
I’d give a high five if imbedding links could work!

It’s almost like they’re shaming me for blocking out dates and not being able to serve! But seriously, the last two updates have not resolved this crashing and closing of PlanningCenterServices when blockout dates are entered. Which adds more stress to try and find a way to communicate that we will not be available. Please fix this!
***
Problem solved! Thank you to Matt, for kindly responding and suggesting to delete PlanningCenterServices and re-download it. I can blockout dates for both my husband and I, no issues!! So anyone having PlanningCenterServices crash, delete it and re-download it!

Hey PCO. I love Planning Center and I love your app. Super intuitive and practical!! I use it almost as much as I use PCO on my computer. But I’ve been having a couple of problems lately. When I create a new person on PlanningCenterServices and put their info in, it doesn’t save the info. I know this because after I create a new person and schedule them for an audition, I ask them to check their email for a PCO invite and they never get it until I redo creating them on the full-site version. Also, sometimes it crashes and it seems to always be at the worst time. I lead worship for The Point Church out the Raleigh area of NC. One thing we are asked to do is to be praying about things to say at certain points in the service. God will give me things to say at odd times and when I receive them, I like to write them in my notes on PCO immediately. I was doing that tonight and was almost done when PlanningCenterServices crashed. This wasn’t the first time this happened, but tonight it was extremely frustrating.

Love PlanningCenterServices- so useful, you did a great job with it.
But it would be really nice if you could play the music from the chord charts you’re looking at. Music Stand has that feature, where you can play the same music as the lead sheets or chord charts if you touch the screen and push play above, but in Services, you have to start the song in the Media Player, and then quickly exit out of the and go to Files, where the chord charts are attached. I think it would be really great if you could play the music from Files.
Other than that, I don’t have any other suggestions or complaints! :)

For any tech company to promise weekly update releases across their products is ambitious and crazy enough. For a company to actually deliver, and without frustrating customers with unnecessary or ill-communicated changes? That's Planning Center.

If you plan any type of service or event, religious or otherwise, that requires the coordination of multiple people, teams, media, notes, and timing, then this is PlanningCenterServices you're looking for.

Constantly making incremental improvements and listening to users for feedback, PlanningCenterServices (and company) should be the standard to strive for. Their Support is second to none, and I've never had an issue they couldn't resolve.

I've been using PlanningCenterServices since version 1, and it just keeps getting better. I appreciate that it's not just a port of the web app, but that it's device-conscious, and adjusts to fit the screen size it's given to work within.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Also, who writes the update notes? Seriously? I laugh every time. Thank you for caring about every little detail.

I love PlanningCenterServices! It’s easy to use and understand. It’s definitely effective and helpful, particularly in receiving and responding to requests.
The only thing that me and the rest of my team would love to see is the ability to view the notes that can only be created on the desktop site. They appear in a blue bubble with the number of comments posted. We prefer to post song info in there, but no one can see it on PlanningCenterServices ! The other two description or note options on both PlanningCenterServices and website either make the plan look excessive and long or they stay with the song every time we use it in a plan, even though the details we put in will need to change every time. I like everything else about PlanningCenterServices and will still continue to use it regularly!

Hey I love PlanningCenterServices it’s great but now that I’ve moved to a new church I’m unable to remove myself from my old church worship team. I think it’s the reason I can’t accept requests from my new worship team. Error says “this request is no longer valid”. Otherwise I’d give 5 stars.

Update! Tech support was super helpful and the fix was super easy, and I figured out I can have multiple logins under the same email for every church I serve with apparently. Tech support figured it out for me and responded to me within minutes, although they say they’ll respond within an hour during business hours. Thanks God bless.

I love PlanningCenterServices and how organized it helps us be with the services and with everything going. What I would suggest, and I know I’m not the only one, is for us who work at two or more different churches have those as tabs that we can cycle through so that we don’t have to create a new profile every time we work at a different church. That would help tremendously!! Right now i use it on my phone but PlanningCenterServices only lets me access one church and for the other one i have to login on safari. Please help with this ASAP, it would mean a lot to a lot of us!!

PlanningCenterServices has truly changed our teams for the better and has helped us grow in our organization and planning. Can’t say enough good things about PlanningCenterServices if you haven’t tried a tool to get you services organized, this is it! The next few things are just a few suggestions I’d like to see available for PlanningCenterServices as they are for the desktop version. I would love to be able to access the matrix view on my iPad when planing services. I would also like to see an improvement for uploading files because I have to try a couple times before it fully uploads. Sometimes it starts to upload and then it will crash.

Seems like a great app! I just started serving at my church and it's very helpful to see when and who I'm working with. There are some things that seem to confuse me. The set up of it is a bit confusing but I can get a hold of it.
I think you should be able to add friends on here, if you have someone specific to talk to about the plans (if they don't use email)
I think that that would be a great addition because there's a person I've been wanting to contact about my schedules.

But overall this is a great app (sorry if my English was bad)