Realm Connect - For Our Church

I like this app overall because it is accessible to voice over users. However, it is a pain to log into every time because it does not seem to accept Face ID. There also does not seem to be a menu where I can access options, such as letting me stay signed into the app, using Face ID to login, etc. While I realize that security should be upmost for every app, don't make it so inconvenient that I won't want to use it. There should be an option to allow users to stay signed into the app. At least make it possible for Face ID to be used to login into the app.

Our parish uses this app and it has potential but there are so many things that don’t feel user-friendly or obvious. First is that everything is set up the most restrictive privacy and communication settings that you don’t realize you’re not getting access to conversations until it’s too late. I’m doing some training with a more experienced user but even so, not everyone in the parish will complete such intensive training to increase use—so again, so much here that’s not intuitive. In an age of Apple products, widespread Facebook and other social media use, I am frustrated by the difficulty navigating this app whether as a regular parishioner or an an authorized leader. Addition: Why can’t we post videos to the scrapbook or anywhere else. This makes the app less enjoyable to use.

One of the least intuitive apps I’ve ever used on desktop and mobile. Given that the audience of church members includes people who may not be comfortable with technology, this company should invest in product design. Right now, it’s not meeting the needs of its users, which really slows adoption and creates challenges for the customers who are forced to purchase it as one of the only solutions on the market. Product flows don’t make sense (just one example, why are photo posts different from regular posts?) and permissions are hard to understand or don’t make a lot of sense (e.g. you can’t leave a group yourself, you have to email the leader to be removed). The documentation is nearly un-googleable, not designed around user needs, and doesn’t include common information people need. Another area that is really important to invest in given the audience.