ESS Mobile vs Valid Shifts
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ESS Mobile
This app offers flexible time tracking for employees, allowing them to punch in/out, review hours worked, check schedules, and manage benefit balances. It facilitates communication with supervisors for attendance-related matters and supports various time entry methods.
- Flexible time tracking
- Review hours worked
- Check schedules and benefit balances
- Request time off
- Enter tips and mileage
- Communicate with supervisor
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ESS Mobile is a smart, adaptive app that, when used with your employer's Attendance on Demand system, provides employees with flexible time tracking options. You have access to the information needed to track your hours worked and review schedules or benefit balances. Notifications can be sent when your time card needs action, such as the addition of a missing punch. Messages can be exchanged with your supervisor to record attendance-related activities like an absence or if you will be late for your shift. Using ESS Mobile hourly employees may be able to punch in and out, request time off, or enter tips. For employees that simply report total hours worked multiple time sheet views are available. Additional operations such as entering mileage, expenses, or tips are also available. Contact your payroll administrator or Attendance on Demand service provider for additional details. Note: ESS Mobile uses location services to obtain your location during app usage. Continued use of the app or background GPS tracking can dramatically decrease battery life.
Valid Shifts
This app provides a scheduling solution specifically designed for the long-term care industry. It helps manage staff and patient schedules efficiently.
- Long-term care industry focus
- Staff scheduling
- Patient scheduling
- Efficient management
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Scheduling solution for the long term care industry.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Valid Shifts at 4.3 against ESS Mobile's 1.7. Valid Shifts also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.6). ESS Mobile's advantage is ratings volume (343 vs 23). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Valid Shifts holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ESS Mobile has 343 ratings behind it against 23, so its average is the more settled of the two.
ESS Mobile ships an update every 3 months, Valid Shifts monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ESS Mobile | Valid Shifts |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.7 (343 ratings) | 4.3 (23 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 2.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 343 — better | 23 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 33 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Attendance on Demand, Inc. | Valid Shifts, LLC |
Customer experience
ESS Mobile
Valid Shifts
Bugs and requests
ESS Mobile
Reported bugs
17 issues- Connect button treats input as editable text field
- App fails to load or shows blank white screen
- Location services report incorrect location
- Login credentials rejected despite correct information
- Clock-in button disappears or becomes non-functional
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- App freezes when entering information
- Cannot proceed past login screen
- App crashes on latest iOS versions
- Automatic logout without user action
- Cannot clock in to new job within one minute of clock out
- Punch functionality only works on second attempt
- Controls render off-screen on certain devices
- App incompatible with iOS 15
- Timesheet data fails to load
- Notifications sent to wrong phone numbers
- Pay stubs missing tip percentage and hourly information
- Redundant navigation buttons on same page
Requested features
12 requests- Face ID or biometric authentication
- Remember me/stay logged in functionality
- Current time display on home screen
- Manager approval system for early out/late in requests
- Ability to view all punch times and historical data
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- Support for multiple employers without app reinstallation
- Landscape mode support
- Easy password reset functionality
- Loading indicators for better UX
- Visible phone number management (primary/secondary)
- Better accessibility and menu navigation
- Improved pay stub formatting and clarity
Valid Shifts
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
ESS Mobile
No in-app purchases
Valid Shifts
No in-app purchases
