Attendance app for iPhone and iPad

4.6 ( 9756 ratings )

Productivity Education
Developer: David M. Reed Software

4.99 USD

Current version: 4.7.2, last update: 7 years ago
First release : 14 Jan 2009
App size: 1.9 Mb

This app was originally written for iOS 2 and maintained through iOS 6. Dropbox will stop working in June 2017 and a future version of iOS (likely iOS 11) will completely break the app. My Attendance2 app was written for iOS 5 and is still maintained today so I recommend you buy it instead. Attendance2 uses new internal data structures to support new features so the data format is not compatible. I recommend you start using Attendance2 at the beginning of a new term/quarter/semester. I will be pulling this app from the store soon. For over three years, the following paragraph has recommended people buy the new app.

Unless you are running iOS 6 or earlier I strongly recommend you buy my new Attendance2 app. It has all the features of this app (except for group texting which did not work reliably due to phone carrier restrictions) and more and runs on iOS 7.1 and higher. The changes Apple made in iOS 7 break some of the features of this original app (including getting photos from the photo library). See http;//www.dave256apps.com for more information about the new app.

Attendance is a universal iPhone/Touch/iPad app (runs on iOS 4.x and 5.x) that allows you to take and keep attendance records. Its main intended use is for teachers to keep track of records for their classes, but it can also be used for meetings and group gatherings. The attendance statuses are completely customizable. You can import names a number of ways including formatted CSV files that you store in your Dropbox account or send as email attachments. You can also import names from an Address Book group or you can enter the names by hand on your device. In response to a few of the reviews, I have updated the Attendance support web page with text describing the various import options and how to use the app. Links to the relevant videos are included along with the text descriptions.

For more information, see my website:
http://www.dave256apps.com/attendance/

Thanks to the following for code used in Attendance:
Gus Mueller of Flying Meat software for the fmdb library.
Jens Alfke for the MYNetwork library.
Matt Gemmell for the MGImageUtilities code.
Bert McDowell for the date range editor code.

Pros and cons of Attendance app for iPhone and iPad

Attendance app good for

This app delivers all I was looking for since I got my iPad. You students be impressed! :-)

1)Allow me to completely remove dropped student, and (2)make the late button record a timestamp so I can review just how late my student was. That would make this app 5 stars

I wish I could give this app 4.75 stars ; ) Its functionally really nice. Its exactly what I needed to take Attendance for my college classes. Having the photos there is ideal for the first weeks of class. The interface is okay. If it had Apple polish, this app would be a 5 star. Good work Mr Reed.

I teach in a program in which the students work on individualized study plans and, for various reasons, arrive at different points during two hour classes when I can be anywhere in the classroom. My Attendance recording methods --whether using a laptop or several paper and pencil methods -- always seemed flawed. The best previous method was a notebook in my pocket (and a constant search for the latest lost pencil). So far, this app is the easiest, most reliable and overall best method for me. I have tried enough apps to expect that the report function doesnt really do what is promised - This one, however, produces accurate and convenient reports with a choice of formats.

This app allows me to take Attendance, track details about each individual student via the note section and in short I can keep track of everything I need to with the many options. Great technical support of the app makes this the best Attendance tracker around and well worth the price.

One of the first apps I purchased after getting my iPad. Works very well. A bit of a learning curve to figure out how to import class lists. Once done, however, app is quite intuitive. Nice job.

Some bad moments

Though the app packs a decent set of features, they are packed in a very unintuitive manner. Even while performing simple functions, one can easily get lost in the various menus. The app is crying for a re-design.

Trying to get information from the author web page is a nightmare as well. He refers you to his blog for help, but there is nothing helpful there except a history of the various releases. He posts Flash videos where you can hardly see what you are supposed to, no instructions for basic functions, etc. Users shouldnt need to spend so much time trying to figure out how to use it. A waste of money and time.

I swear on everything that is holy and sacred that this app is not user friendly regarding importing names. Horrible! Perhaps, now that the names are loaded, I will enjoy it...but the last two hours have been hell. The instructions arent written well, importing a .csv file from dropbox is impossible, and emailing/pasting works just well enough for me not to throw this iPad out the window. Please make the language in the instructions more precise; perhaps hire someone else to write them. Also, you should develop a way to make the roster directly importable from Blackboard. Currently, the Blackboard roster URL isnt readable by your program. If I had it to do all over, I would spend the $5 on a coffee and use the energy to do something different. Sorry.

I have wasted a lot of time trying to get this app to work with what is provided on blackboard and on registrar lists, and it is impossible. Unless data is imported exactly the way this app is designed it is worthless and doesnt load at all. It is worse than typing each item in yourself, which Im sure it would ruin at some point, losing that data too. Do not buy this app unless you are looking for something to waste a Sunday afternoon on before you discover that there is no way to make it compatible with any standard export lists. The app store needs to design some sort of return and refund mechanism. The way it is now, anyone can design an app and there doesnt seem to be a way to get a refund when you encounter junk like this one.

Product was useless and directions even more so. Could not load CSV file or a cut and paste from my email. Video was so small you couldn’t see the examples. I hope dave enjoys the fiver.

This app is so complicated I cant figure it out and Im a doctor. Why cant I just input students names and be done with it or why is it so hard to download a roster? My stupid college requires hard copy Attendance records; is there an app for that? Ive got enough work to do without worrying about this too.

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