# SmartTeach — user reviews

> 25 indexed App Store user reviews of SmartTeach by Teaching Strategies, LLC, rated 4.80/5 from 1,184 ratings.

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smartteach/id1663286926/reviews
- App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smartteach/id1663286926.md
- Rating breakdown: 5★ 1,053 · 4★ 77 · 3★ 19 · 2★ 14 · 1★ 21

## What do users think of SmartTeach?

Overall sentiment: negative

**Pros**

- 🚀 Easy and awesome app to track notes and submit to Teaching Strategies Gold
- 👍 Brings together curriculum and assessment
- 👍 Convenient and easy to use

**Cons**

- 🐛 Frequent technical glitches and bugs
- 🐛 Performance issues
- 🐛 Login issues
- 🐛 Messaging and communication problems
- 🐛 Delayed or failed uploads
- 🔧 Not user-friendly, lacks consideration for daily users
- 🔧 Limited photo/video management features

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Screener not working when clicking plus sign
- Inability to log in through app, but able to log in on website
- Delayed or failed message delivery
- Uploaded documentation still showing in app, causing confusion

**Most requested features**

- Add ability to select and apply objectives to multiple pieces of documentation at once
- Add ability to select and delete multiple photos/videos at once
- Add ability to change date on add documentation page
- Add landscape mode support for easier typing
- Improve translation and communication features for ESL families

## Newest reviews (6 of 25)

### 2/5 — please fix login issues

*2025-04-25, version 3.2.3*

does not let me login at all

### 2/5 — To many issue

*2025-03-06*

The app sometimes won’t let me sign in or it says something went wrong

**Developer response:** Hi, thank you for your comment. We are sorry to hear you are unable to log in. This issue should not be happening but we would need more details to help you troubleshoot. Please contact our support team ASAP at techsupport@teachingstrategies.com or 1-866-736-5913 if you are still not able to log in. Thank you.

### 2/5 — Documentation

*2024-10-06*

How do we add data now? I can’t seem to figure it out after the update.

**Developer response:** Thank you for your comment. Please see the following support guide to adding and submitting documentation to the TS teacher app: https://teachingstrategies.my.site.com/phttps://teachingstrategies.my.site.com/portal/s/article/Getting-Started-with-the-Developmental-Screener-in-the-Teaching-Strategies-Teacher-Apportal/s/article/Adding-Documentation-on-the-Teaching-Strategies-Teacher-App
https://teachingstrategies.my.site.com/portal/s/article/Getting-Started-with-the-Developmental-Screener-in-the-Teaching-Strategies-Teacher-AppAdditionally, you can review this guide to developmental screeners, which may be something you can access depending on your license and the age range of your classroom: 
https://teachingstrategies.my.site.com/portal/s/article/Getting-Started-with-the-Developmental-Screener-in-the-Teaching-Strategies-Teacher-App
Please also ensure that you have downloaded the latest version of the app. Don't hesitate to reach out to our support team support@teachingstrategies.com or +1 800-637-3652 (Option 4)
Thank you.

### 2/5 — Too Many Kinks

*2024-09-07*

This app has so much potential… My district made the teachers switch from dojo to this and no one is happy. First off on dojo, esl families can translate messages and vice versa. This app gives no translation support. You can’t even copy and paste messages to put into Google Translate. You have to click “use as documentation” and open that- only then can you highlight it to copy. Second, you can’t see which families have viewed your messages like you could with dojo. This makes it harder to know if a family has seen what you posted or not. Third, you can’t delete messages in the app. Not only that it is so visually unappealing and boring. Whoever designed this tried to quickly get it made and took in no user friendly consideration. I wish we could use dojo again.

**Developer response:** Hello, thank you for sharing your thoughts. We are sorry to hear how frustrated you are with messaging in the app. Please know that in-app translation is high on our list of priorities for future improvements. In the meantime, if you copy a message prior to sending it, you could then paste it into a translation service. We had not enabled copy and paste once a message is sent due to privacy concerns. We have made a note of your other suggestions and will take them into consideration, as we are constantly looking for ways to improve the experience for our users. If you have any further issues, please contact our support team.

### 2/5 — Portrait View only

*2023-10-14*

It is frustrating that this app works in portrait view only. I wish it would turn to landscape so I could use my Magic Keyboard for my iPad to type notes into my documentation. This would make documentation much faster than having to type with the onscreen keyboard. I hope this is changed in future updates.

**Developer response:** Hi Lis. Thanks for your comments. You'll be happy to hear that Landscape View for tablets is now available (version 1.1.0)!  We suggest setting TS Teacher to automatically update on your device to ensure you are always using the latest version. We hope you'll give it a try and let us know what you think.

### 2/5 — Might be okay once it actually works

*2023-09-19*

Update:
I can now tag children, but after assigning objectives it sits in “uploading to Ts gold” for a few days. Depending on what tab you’re on, you can’t tell if you already used a photo and it’s in the “waiting” phase

This app doesn’t work yet. The surface features are there, but you can’t actually tag a child to a photo or upload yet.

**Developer response:** Thank you for your comment. We are sorry to hear you are having these problems. We have identified and resolved this bug in version 1.0.8. Please ensure you have the latest version of TS Teacher installed. If you continue to encounter issues, contact us at techsupport@teachingstrategies.com or 1-866-736-5913. Thank you.

## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated)

### 1/5 — Screener

*2026-01-26*

Why I don’t see the screener when I click the plus sign. What do I need to do to get the updated smart teach.

### 1/5 — Disappointing

*2026-01-21*

This app could be great but the developers have ignored it for 3 months. It has so many bugs and performance issues it isn’t worth using at the moment.

### 1/5 — Not working need to do my job.  Please fix

*2025-04-24, version 3.2.3*

Please fix so I can do my job!

### 1/5 — Won’t let me log in

*2025-03-20, version 3.2.3*

I have my username and password stored, and I have uninstalled and reinstalled completely deleted and then reinstalled the app and it still says I’m unable to login and please check my username and password. I know it’s correct because it’s the same one I used to log into the website. I have sent messages requesting assistance and still have not received any answers. I’m unable to use the app and this has been going on since the beginning of the school year.

### 1/5 — Family contact lacking

*2024-12-18*

Many unresolved issues with the family communication part of the app.

**Developer response:** Hello, thank you for your comments. We are always working on ways to improve the experience for our customers. Please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team with questions or suggestions: support@teachingstrategies.com or +1 800-637-3652 (Option 4).

### 1/5 — Can’t log in

*2024-10-04*

Called technical support and didn’t help. I can log in on my computer but not through this app.

**Developer response:** Thank you for your comment. This issue should not be happening and should have been resolved in our most recent release. Please ensure you have the latest version of TS Teacher installed and please contact our support team ASAP at techsupport@teachingstrategies.com or 1-866-736-5913 if you are still not able to log in. Thank you.

### 1/5 — Too complicated

*2024-03-22*

Too complicated for “in the moment” needs.  When document is uploaded it still shows in app, adding to confusion and extra work.  Too much clicking.

**Developer response:** Thank you and we are very sorry to hear you are having this problem! Once documentation is uploaded to Gold it is removed from the TST app. Media items attached to documentation will still be visible in My Media, and documentation that you have saved but not uploaded is saved to the In Progress tab. For more about we recommend checking out our Quick Hits video which describes how documentation works on the app: https://teachingstrategies.my.site.com/portal/s/teaching-strategies-teacher Please contact our Support Team or join our upcoming "Transitioning to TS Teacher app" webinar if you continue to have questions.

### 1/5 — Very glitchy

*2024-03-20*

The app is very glitchy. Documentation can take over a week to upload. I will send messages to parents and they won’t receive them until many weeks after. I do not recommend using this for parent communication.

**Developer response:** Thank you for your comment. This issue should not be happening and should have been resolved in our most recent release. Ensure you have the latest version of TS Teacher installed and please contact our support team ASAP at techsupport@teachingstrategies.com or 1-866-736-5913. Thank you.

### 2/5 — Frustrated

*2025-09-30*

I wanted to love this app so much. After switching from Brightwheel, I was so excited to streamline everything. It’s just been one technical glitch after another. My teachers are frustrated, parents are frustrated, I’m frustrated. Any technical issues are met with a request to submit a tech ticket and it takes weeks to resolve, or they tell me to delete and reinstall the program. I can’t do that every single day!  Please don’t market this product until it’s ready and free of the amount of bugs it still has. We paid A LOT of money for this product and I honestly wish we hadn’t switched.

### 2/5 — Camera roll access

*2025-08-21*

No camera roll access this is very inefficient

**Developer response:** Hi, we are sorry to hear that you have encountered this issue. You should be able to access the camera roll within the SmartTeach app. In the My Media section, when you click on the 3 dots in the top right corner you will see 3 options: "Access Camera", "Import from Camera Roll" and "Import from My Files". Also when you go to send a message (if you have access to messaging, based on your Admin setting) you can import from camera roll. Lastly, when you start to add documentation, you can click on the empty Media thumbnail and again should see options to import from your camera file or from your files.
If none of these options are working for you, please contact our support team at support@teachingstrategies.com or by calling us at 1-866-736-5913. Thank you.

## Most praised reviews (9 highest-rated)

### 5/5 — Great app to submit Notes

*2025-10-06*

This is a easy and awesome app to track your notes and to submit them to teaching strategies gold,

### 5/5 — Love this app

*2025-10-02*

I love how this app brings together my curriculum and assessment!

### 5/5 — Great App

*2025-09-09*

There should be an easier way to upload photos and videos.

### 5/5 — Life changing!!!

*2023-09-12*

This app is everything I’ve ever dreamed of for GOLD documentation!! The convenience is LIFE CHANGING!

**Developer response:** Thank you! We are so happy that the app is helping with the important work you do!

### 4/5 — Almost perfect! Almost!

*2024-01-29*

If I could change the date on the add documentation page it would be perfect! I have to go back in on the website to change them to the date they actually took place which is such a hassle!

**Developer response:** Hi Kayla! Thank you for your comment. Having the ability to change the date on the add documentation screen is a commonly requested feature and is something we are working on. We suggest setting TS Teacher to automatically update on your device so that you can be sure to get access to the latest features as soon as they become available. Thanks!

### 4/5 — Amazing app

*2023-08-24, version 1.0.7*

This app has been really good. I am a teacher and I get to document everything in the moment take pictures and then send it to the original teachers tragedy it helps me keep track of my classroom better.

### 3/5 — Not user friendly

*2025-09-14*

Not super user friendly. I wish there was more consideration/input from actual daily users. You should be able to select more than one piece of documentation at a time and apply the same objectives. You should be able to select more than one photo from “my media” at a time and delete them. So many little things point to it being designed by someone who doesn’t actually use it.

**Developer response:** Hi there, thank you for taking the time to leave a review! 

We're sorry to hear you're encountering usability issues with the app. We're continually looking for ways to improve the experience, so I noted your suggestion for bulk-editing documentation on our backlog to explore further! 

In the meantime, it is possible to multi-select photos. In My Media, you can hold any of the images and it will open multi-select so you can select as many as you like. The action menu will also open so you can delete them, add them to documentation, etc.  

Let us know if you run into more issues, we're happy to help. Thanks again!

### 3/5 — plz fix messages

*2025-02-15*

for the love of god please fix the messages 😭 i will get a notification that i received a message from a family member. It’s been a few hours now and the message still hasn’t loaded on the app or the website. it takes a long time for the messages from families to come through. messaging is the biggest part for why i use this app. plz fix

**Developer response:** Hello, thank you for your comment. We apologize for the issues you are seeing receiving in app messages from families. There are a few different reasons why this could be happening, either related to issues on the family device or on the device you are using. In order to help you get to the bottom of this and resolve the issue, please reach out to our support team and share details of what you are seeing: support@teachingstrategies.com or +1 800-637-3652 (Option 4).

### 3/5 — Almost convenient

*2024-01-21*

I would really like to be able to import more than one photo at a time. Other than that, the app is convenient and easy to use.

**Developer response:** Hi Liza! Thank you for your comment. The ability to import multiple photos at one time is an existing feature which can be accessed via the ellipsis menu (...) on the My Media screen.  Go to My Media. Tap the ... on the top right then select "Import from Camera Roll".  From there you can select one or multiple photos or videos to upload. Keep the great feedback coming! Thanks!

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-24.*