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Project Management

7 Scheduling Mobile Apps Users Love

May 30, 2024

Take back control of your time with mobile scheduling apps.

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Saumya SrivastavaWriter
7 Scheduling Mobile Apps Users Love

What we'll cover

Imagine having a pocket-sized assistant that helps you create, edit, and manage client or customer schedules and appointments or team meetings and project tasks, all within the convenience of your mobile device. Mobile scheduling apps eliminate the constant scramble for small businesses to keep up with schedules using real-time changes and in-app notifications to stay updated at all times without having to stick to a desk.

To help you select the right scheduling app for mobile, we looked at 2M+ unique user reviews to see what real users had to say. We then highlighted the top seven mobile scheduling apps based on sentiment analysis of reviews, arranged in order of percentage of positive reviews.

We have grouped these mobile apps into appointment scheduling or employee scheduling software. Each product includes all the core scheduling features, such as calendar management, availability management, alerts, and notifications.

1. Goldie

Goldie’s mobile application lets businesses manage their team schedules and assign appointments using a calendar planner. It allows setting up recurring appointments or adding more clients to an appointment, visualized on the planner. The calendar items can be color-coded for different service bookings or staff members. There are a variety of message templates to send clients personalized automatic messages for booking confirmations, appointment reminders, and follow-ups. The app enables accepting secure payments for appointments through an integrated payments platform.

Customer support: Help center, chat, and knowledge base

Mobile app price: Available with free and paid plans, paid plans start at $19.99 per month

Billing cycle: Monthly 

Who should consider Goldie’s mobile app?

Businesses that rely upon on-the-go appointment scheduling and are looking for tools to personalize communication with clients can benefit from Goldie’s appointment scheduling app. They can use the message templates to edit the text based on the booked appointments, the client’s name, center details, and any other specific information to prepare the clients before their appointment. Additionally, they can save time with the color-coding in the calendar to get a quick overview of daily, weekly, or monthly appointments and the staff alignment. 

Review excerpt from a user of Goldie’s mobile app:

“Since I started using this app to schedule and manage my appointments, my professional life has become much more organized and efficient. What I liked the most was its ease of use and its ability to simplify the appointment scheduling process. Before I found this app, it was frustrating for me to manage my schedule and make sure my clients were on top of their appointments. But now I can schedule appointments with a few clicks and send automatic reminders to my clients. I feel that the online booking website customization option could be more flexible. Although I can customize some aspects, I would like more control over the design and overall appearance of the site.”

Read all Goldie reviews here.

2. Google Calendar

Scheduling capabilities on the Google Calendar mobile app allow making the calendar public for other team members or external stakeholders to view the shared calendar details on the app. Once public, the calendar can be embedded on the business website with offered services, durations, availability, and booking page links for people to view on a web browser. Visitors can book specific time slots on the shared calendar based on the provided details.

Customer support: Help center, email, call, and chat

Mobile app price: Available with the free paid Google Workspace plan, starts at $6 per user per month

Billing cycle: Annual

Who should consider Google Calendar’s mobile app?

Businesses needing on-the-go access and controls to share their availability with customers or clients, or schedule events and audio/video meetings can benefit from the Google Calendar mobile app. These include medical professionals, business consultants, health and wellness centers, and fitness centers. Customers or clients can book online appointments at their convenience, from any device. The app is also beneficial for teams with external collaboration requirements, such as project managers sharing deadlines and milestones with clients, sales teams scheduling meetings with customers, or real estate agents coordinating open houses. 

Review excerpt from a user of Google Calendar’s mobile app:

“It's a perfect app for scheduling, setting of to-do list and reminder, don't miss out 3-in-1 offer  The features of calendar, reminder and special international days celebration highlighted in it makes me love it more. When it reminds me of the reminder I set, I expected it to make sounds just like alarm to notify me.”

Read all Google Calendar reviews here.

Pro tip

Consider scheduling mobile apps for employees or work schedules that enable blocking time on the shared calendar for availability or unavailability based on personal schedules or work hours. This helps reduce scheduling conflicts with other events or outside working hours.

3. Vagaro

Vagaro’s scheduling app focuses on appointment scheduling for health, wellness, and beauty industries such as salons, spas, and fitness studios. It offers features tailored to their needs, including client management, inventory management, and online bookings management. The mobile application allows users to locate nearby health and wellness centers on the integrated map and check their availability, pricing, and services to make online bookings. Users can also collect and redeem points for the services they receive and search for offers in their local area.

Customer support: Help center, chat, and knowledge base

Mobile app price: Available with the paid plan, starts at $30 per month

Billing cycle: Monthly

Who should consider Vagaro’s mobile app?

Health, wellness, and beauty businesses looking to simplify on-the-go online bookings and payments for customers and clients can benefit from Vagaro’s scheduling mobile app. This eliminates the need for them to indulge in phone calls or chat assistance to schedule appointments, which take a lot of time and effort. Details, including reviews, pricing, services, and location are available on searchable business profiles so that customers can make an informed decision. Plus, customers can receive email, text, or in-app notifications reminding about the appointment to avoid no-shows. 

Review excerpt from a user of Vagaro’s mobile app:

“I wish every business would offer online appointment scheduling through Vagaro! It is so easy to book appointments, cancel or reschedule when needed without actually bothering the service provider. Seeing available appointments through the Vagaro app is extremely helpful. I do not have to call or message businesses and can book appointments even when they are not open because I am able to do it through the app. If prepaying for services, the app will mark your appointment as services complete and move the appointment to a past appointment. Be careful of this!”

Read all Vagaro reviews here.

4. Calendly

Calendly’s employee scheduling app allows adjusting working hours on the go and creating different schedules for meeting types. For example, users can have a dedicated schedule for short connects (audio calls) and another for longer-in-depth discussions (video meetings, webinars, and training). The time zone intelligence feature automatically detects the active working hours for team members working from different geographical locations to ensure everyone’s availability. The app enables blocking specific times on the integrated calendar to prevent surprise meetings when unavailable.

Customer support: Chat, user community, help center, and knowledge base

Mobile app price: Available with free and paid plans, paid plans start at $10 per user per month

Billing cycle: Annual

Who should consider Calendly’s mobile app?

Businesses with a hybrid work environment can benefit from Calendly’s scheduler app to manage time efficiently even with a packed schedule. Meeting organizers can make changes to the scheduled events and invitees can adjust their working hours and block time-offs in real time to ensure control of their availability and prevent scheduling conflicts. Creating dedicated schedules in the app is beneficial for conducting various meetings while automatic time zone detection helps users avoid scheduling out of the employee working hours. 

Review excerpt from a user of Calendly’s mobile app:

“Calendly is my favorite app in my tech stack. I love the high level of easy to implement customization in appointment types, availability calendars etc. In addition to inbound appointment setting, I have used the meeting polls feature to schedule group sessions and it simplifies everything creating an efficient and speedy process. I highly recommend Calendly.  Calendly is very clear and easy to use and customize. In the time I have been using it, they have improved clarity and increased the level of customization possible. I never get frustrated with Calendly because the way to accomplish what I want is either right in front of me or easily explained in the very accessible resources.  I would love to be able to add my brand colors and fonts to my scheduling interfaces. I am able to customize most messaging and add my logo to the pages but being able to carry the color scheme across would be *chef's kiss*”

Read all Calendly reviews here.

Pro tip

Opt for an application that enables adding event details to the calendar instead of just the title, date, and time. This helps avoid any last-minute surprises at the time of the event and allows attendees to prepare for the event beforehand.

5. QuickBooks Time

QuickBooks Time mobile app focuses on workforce management with its employee shift scheduling and management features. The app allows building employee schedules, assigning shifts, setting start and end times, and managing breaks. Users can adjust schedules with a drag-and-drop functionality to make changes to the blocked time or reassign tasks as required. The app also allows creating recurring schedules for employees by days, weeks, or months. The created schedules can be viewed on a centralized dashboard for an overview of the team’s bandwidth.

Customer support: Email, chat, call, and knowledge base

Mobile app price: Available with free and paid plans, paid plans price available upon request from the vendor

Billing cycle: Monthly

Who should consider QuickBooks Time’s mobile app?

Businesses with hourly, shift-based, or on-field employees can benefit from the workforce management capabilities of QuickBooks Time mobile app. Features, including drag-and-drop scheduling and recurring schedules, simplify creating and managing shift assignments in real time, even when on the move. This makes it easier for team or project managers to adapt to the changing business or client needs. Additionally, the overview of the team schedules in the dashboard allows for gaining a centralized view of the team’s workload and availability

Review excerpt from a user of QuickBooks Time’s mobile app:

“As a business owner, I'm really excited. QuickBooks Time has all the features an employer needs to manage their mobile workforce. The software has flexible timekeeping options, so employees can clock in and out, no matter where they are (home, worksite, ...). This allows managers and employees to track the progress of tasks and projects. I don't really have any negatives to list.”

Read all QuickBooks Time reviews here.

6. Findmyshift

Findmyshift’s mobile application allows creating detailed shift schedules with pay rates, dates, and work hours for job seekers to search and apply based on relevance. The app sends email alerts and in-app notifications for received applications to approve, reject, or leave the interests open based on profiles. Its built-in chat allows answering any shift-related questions from job seekers. The app also enables tracking who is assigned to each shift, their individual schedules, and contact information.

Customer support: Knowledge base, video guides, webinars, chat, call, and email

Mobile app price: Available with free and paid plans, paid plans start at $21 per team per month

Billing cycle: Annual

Who should consider Findmyshift’s mobile app?

Businesses needing to efficiently coordinate with temporary or part-time employees to meet work requirements other than their daily schedules can benefit from Findmyshift’s mobile application. They can directly create and publish schedules on the application for freelance job seekers to search and express their interests. This process saves the time and effort of team members with tight schedules without long-term commitments. 

Review excerpt from a user of Findmyshift’s mobile app:

“It has completely changed how we work with rotas and made the job so much easier. So simple to input staff shift days and times. Easily accessible from all devices. It would be nice to have a full screen mode in the app and not have to click on desktop view”

Read all Findmyshift reviews here.

Pro tip

Check if the mobile scheduling app allows personalizing automated reminders for customers or employees based on the scheduled event. The details can include their name, event location, time (for different geographical locations), and payment details (if required.)

7. Mindbody

Mindbody’s mobile app lets fitness, wellness, and beauty businesses manage staff schedules and client bookings. Clients can view schedules, book appointments, and manage their wellness activities. The appointment scheduler app’s calendar view allows switching between list, day, or week views to see upcoming bookings and assign staff to specific appointments based on availability. Clients can browse upcoming schedules with dates, times, instructors, and descriptions to book, cancel, reschedule appointments, or join waiting lists.

Customer support: Email, call, and knowledge base

Mobile app price: Available with free and paid plans, price available upon request from the vendor

Billing cycle: Monthly

Who should consider Mindbody’s mobile app?

Health and beauty businesses seeking efficient time management for their staff to elevate customer experience can benefit from Mindbody’s mobile application. They can use the app’s calendar views to visualize staff schedules at multiple centers remotely for a day, week, or month in advance from anywhere. This allows them to stay updated on cancelations or reschedules, avoid booking conflicts, and optimize staff allocation—all to ensure that clients receive the personalized attention they deserve.

Review excerpt from a user of Mindbody’s mobile app:

“It was very easy to use and made my freelance work easy to log. I was an independent contractor and traveled to work. I would log in every day, like a time sheet, and this is how the management tracked my work. If I was sick, I would log in that I wasn't working, so I didn't have to call someone or email to tell them. The app made it very easy to check in for work or notify my absence. Because the app does many things, it took just a bit of work to figure out what buttons I didn't need to click on. My purpose was simple, but the app was more powerful and could have been used in other ways. It had extra buttons for managers, which confused me because I didn't know why they were there if I didn't need them. It may have changed since I last used it. I do remember at some point an update happening that eased usability.”

Read all Mindbody reviews here.

Features of interest*

Here are some common features you can expect in mobile scheduling apps.

FeatureDescription
Calendar managementDisplay all tasks, appointments, meetings, or deadlines of daily, weekly, or monthly schedules. The feature allows adding new events to the calendar with date, time, duration, and location and attaching related notes or files. Users can also edit or reschedule existing events.
Availability managementSet working hours, unavailability periods (breaks, meetings, time offs, or personal commitments), and recurring limitations (no meeting on Monday). The calendar displays this availability when team members book an appointment or reserve a slot.
Alerts and notificationsSend automated alerts about upcoming events for a specific time before the due date. For example, get notified 30 minutes or 15 minutes beforehand. The feature also notifies any changes in the scheduled events. Invitees can reply to notifications to confirm changes or presence.
Booking managementCheck the service provider’s calendar and find available appointment slots. The feature enables users to schedule, reschedule, or cancel appointments in real time.

What are the benefits of mobile scheduling apps over desktop versions?

Mobile scheduling apps have become increasingly popular because of their quick information access and on-the-go collaboration capabilities. Here are reasons to consider a mobile app for your team’s needs.

BenefitDescription
Saves timeUsing a mobile app to schedule appointments saves time spent searching for the business website or navigating to the booking details. Administrators can schedule events and even make them public for employees or customers to access and find a suitable slot—without restricting them due to time, location, or device.
Reduces conflictsMobile scheduling apps come in handy for making changes to schedules in real time. Schedules are automatically updated on all devices and notified via in-app notifications. This prevents any availability or scheduling conflict that may occur if the administrators or invitees are not updated on the scheduling changes.
Instant paymentsThe application provides quick payment processing for paid bookings with a service provider. Its integrated payment platform enables customers or clients to make secure online payments using their preferred mode. This gives them the flexibility to select from multiple options (debit cards, credit cards, or online wallets) instead of restricting them to online banking.

Frequently asked questions when selecting mobile scheduling apps

Here are some common questions you can ask your vendors while looking for the best scheduling software for mobile.

  • Does the application cater to specific business requirements?

Scheduling is an umbrella term serving different purposes for different business operations, such as task, employee, or appointment scheduling. Buyers must first understand their scheduling requirements and then look for specific app features that match their needs. For example, task or employee scheduling may require a customizable calendar, and appointment scheduling may require integrated payment processing or public calendars. 

  • Does the application provide on-time syncing?

Businesses mostly use both desktop and mobile applications to switch between them based on their convenience and accessibility. This makes it important to understand the time taken by the mobile application to sync the scheduling changes with other devices. Some apps offer real-time sync while others may take a few minutes. In the case of offline calendars, the application syncs changes when the mobile device has a stable internet connection.

  • Does the application offer scheduling templates?

The best mobile scheduling app typically offers pre-defined templates for creating recurring work schedules, meetings, or appointments. Administrators can further customize these templates by adding titles, descriptions, and the number of attendees for the event. This can help save time by creating weekly and monthly schedules.

Methodology

To be considered for this list, products had to:

  1. Have at least 20 unique product reviews published within the past two years that mention mobile-specific capabilities (based on text analysis), with an average rating of 4.0 or higher as of May 20, 2024.

  2. Meet our definition for scheduling software: “Scheduling software automates the scheduling of events, employees, rooms, and other resources. Organizations use these applications to manage the planning of internal and external activities. Typically scheduling software provides tools such as a shared calendar, providing real-time project, task, employee and resource scheduling as well as a variety of forecasting, allocation and resource management features.”

  3. Have the highest percentage of positive sentiment (versus neutral or negative sentiment). We calculated the sentiment score by identifying the positive and negative user sentiment specifically around mobile app usage.

Review excerpts are passages extracted from longer reviews written by verified reviewers. We obtain these excerpts by applying an algorithm that considers factors including, but not limited to, length, topic coverage, and thematic relevance. Excerpts are evaluated for positive or negative sentiment and receive a sentiment score.

Excerpts represent user opinion and do not represent the views of, nor constitute, an endorsement by GetApp’s or its affiliates. Excerpts are not edited for clarity or grammar.

*Mobile features of interest were identified from vendor websites. Our research team selected the features considering what we know users expect or find important in a mobile experience.

Editorial independence: We select and rank products based on an objective methodology developed by our research team. While some vendors may pay us when they receive web traffic or leads, this has no influence on our methodology.

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About the author

Saumya Srivastava

Writer
Saumya Srivastava is a writer at GetApp. She provides insights to help small and midsize businesses identify the right software for their needs by analyzing over 550,000 GetApp user reviews and nearly 48,000 interactions between GetApp software advisors and buyers. Prior to GetApp, Saumya wrote content related to educational and advertising domains.
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