I love the fact that i get notifications on my phone about bookings, cancellations, short notices, and 15 minute until class starts reminders. I manage pretty much all of my bookings and slot availability from my phone. The only thing that would make this app a 5 star is if it had the capability to connect or sync with my apple watch. Then i could really manage my schedule and get notifications even when I’m away from my phone. If i was in the middle of teaching, i would get a short notice notification immediately rather than find out until the end of the class.
I know teaching English is at our core but this most recent app update feels like a classic example of a situation where an American might say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." I have been using the VIPKID teacher app for well over a year now and in the past it has served me well. In fact, I really loved the app and used it more often than the online Teacher Portal. However, this update feels like a step backwards - not forward. Ever since it updated on my phone, the app has been buggy with pages not opening right when buttons are clicked. It is not as responsive. The main tab where you could see the booked lessons has been moved and replaced with a less useful workshop page that now uses prime screen-real estate. I have noticed a substantial increase in battery drain even just having this app just running in the background since the last update. I much preferred the orange-color branding on the old app layout. It felt more like classic "VIPKID" whereas this new white app design feels less brand-like to me. In my personal opinion, it somehow disconnects me from the very company I am proud to work with. I want to see Orange again- not white. I liked the old appearance and layout better. I would much prefer to see the previous app make a comeback. I only wrote this review because the change was just made and I suspect others may feel similarly. I want only the best for VIPKID.
Absolutely no support for teachers: I got nothing out of it
I started working with VIP kid and I was extremely excited to join. During my application, they send you tons of emails and phone calls to push you to complete the application quickly, which is fair because everything is online and I could see people slacking. However, after I had passed my mock class and submitted all my documents INCLUDING MY SOCIAL SECURITY INFO, VIPkid deactivated my account because they claimed that I hadn’t finished all my documents in time. However, I’m certain I did, because I double checked. I tried to contact them, but you can’t actually respond to the email address they use to spam you, and the only way to reach them is to write them a ticket through your account (which I’m locked out of). So I try reaching out on Instagram and Facebook, but I’m ignored. Then I create another account to try to write a ticket. I got an email that someone responded, which seemed promising at first, except every time I attempt to open it, it shuts me out. When I try to see my tickets, none shows up. I’m also mysteriously no longer allowed to send them tickets in that “category” anymore. So I’m absolutely stunned. I did EVERYTHING they asked me for in a timely manner, and after they got my super confidential info, they essentially block me?? Is this even legal???
I’ve been teaching with VIPKID for 2 years and have loved all the updates to the app. It is so convenient to review your classes in the palm of your hand while putting your kids to bed the night before but recently there have been issues. First, the interactive slides were off center and enlarged which cut off important views of the slides and impaired the ability to read TD. I sent in a ticket and they made me feel as though it was on my end but I noticed that other teachers complained as well. Recently, this has been remedied. Now, I have an issue viewing trial slides. This has been ongoing for about a month. No matter what trial I am scheduled for I only see Level 2/Unit 1 with no way to change this (and I’m not even certified for L2 anymore). Again, after sending a ticket I am being led to assume this issue is on my end. I have restarted my phone, uninstalled/ reinstalled the app. Nothing seems to help. I know this is, once again, on their end. Hopefully, this is fixed soon as well.
I really like being able to see how many class I had for the full day especially after the frenzy. Now, I have to see I have 3 classes and click to see and count the rest of them. This is very frustrating and does anyone really have time for that? Also, I loved the fact that the class I was in (along with some of the following classes) use to show on the home screen. This location was VERY beneficial when needed to instruct a student on how to drag/drop and click. I could easily see the class I was in , click it, easily find the slideshow, and go to that slide. Now, I have to see the 3 classes, click "all classes", navigate to the student and the slides, and finally get to the slide I'm on. It wastes a lot of unnecessary time and sometimes this is the only way the student (and even the parent) understands what to do. Please bring back the true class number and a way to click to the current class to the home screen!
I used to love this app. Today’s updates have made it nearly useless. I can’t see all my classes for the day without multiple screens. I hate that it always only shows my next 3 classes. The alarm did not work properly. I thought the new “booking” screen would finally show all my booked classes for the week on the same page, but no such luck. It still only shows day by day. I like that the last 8 hours is always visible at the top of the page now. That is nice. Please keep that. My only complaint about that is I have to scroll up to see it when the app opens. We can get rid of the scrolling ad banner. That is useless, distracting, and takes up space. I’d rather have that out of sight at the top than the last 8 hours activity, which is the most useful part of the app. I also do not like the pull-up “To Do” list. It’s much nicer when it’s clearly visible on the start screen. Please go back :(
Horrible update to add Alarm made app frustrating to have
I have always enjoyed using this app to check my classes and write reviews for students but the latest update to their alarm has made it one of the most frustrating apps I have ever used. First of all this app already reminded you 15 minutes before your next class by sending you a single notification. Now, it floods your iPhone with 15 minute notifications until you open the app and turn off their alarm. When I mean flood, I don’t mean 3 notifications. I mean non stop notifications to infinity until you shut it down by opening the app. Also, it comes with an annoying sound. So when I am teaching multiple classes right at the 15 minute mark my phone makes all kind of noises and since I am in class I can not attend to it. I hope they add an option to turn off this feature because I am about to delete this off my phone.
Great app except for the fact that I wasn’t notified about a short notice booking on April 21, 2020 and again April 27, 2020. I also have an Apple Watch and it didn’t come through my watch either. I noticed your recent update said it fixed some alarm issues and other issues as well. My alarm never worked at night, but did each morning. This also caused me to miss a class on April 9th as I was working on my masters and lost track of time. Can you show that there have been issues with the app or is there a way you can gather data on those particular dates that might reveal there was a glitch within the app? I have contacted Apple and they said to contact the developer of the app through the app support. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Overall, the app can be useful; however, the most important features — notifications for short notice classes and the alarm 15 minutes before a class begins do not consistently work. This month, the notifications and alarm have failed multiple times, and I’ve needed to proactively check my schedule on both desktop and mobile to ensure I don’t miss a class. I received more than 1 teacher no-show due to no sounds/ alerts even though the phone was not on silent, the volume was at 100%, and I have the most updated version of the app. Losing this time and money (VIPKid charges you $10 for a no-show) is rather frustrating, especially since the technical difficulties are not my fault.
I love this app! The ability to send the students cards is great! I love being able to check my bookings, add/close time slots, review material, etc. Please add the date back into the booked classes notifications. Currently it just had the lesson, student, and time. And, it would also be great if we could see the student that cancels the bookings. It’s only shown in the lock screen notification and then goes away. It does not show in the cancellations tab on the home screen. I am tracking my new students to see a pattern of bookings to maintain the right quantity of open slots. This would be helpful.
It gives so many alerts, but not one alert is to say, “remember your feedback.” We should be able to choose alert times on the app to notify us on the phone (not just a silly email that doesn’t get looked at) so we have every opportunity to do our feedback in the right 12 hour time frame provided. Also, we should be able to submit ALL feedback from the app, not just the older, antique lessons. These added inconveniences means less money in teachers’ pockets. It seems there is an alert for parents to cancel prior to the 24 cancellation period because I often get cancelled 25hrs in advanced on the dot. 🤔 VIPKID, please help teachers earn money rather than taking it from them. Thank you for your ongoing help and support.
VIPKid has obviously put more into developing the phone app than the computer app. You can only send cards, answer surveys from the company, and participate in promotional deals from the app on the phone. It works well, but I wish you could turn the phone sideways to see a small version of your schedule like it appears on the computer with the name of the child and the whole week shown. This week view gives me a better idea of how many classes I have to prepare for than how it is currently in the app.
Up until about 2 weeks ago, I would receive my notifications with sound. Now, I do not have any sound alerts for notifications. Very frustrating. I like to get alerts for new bookings/15min before class time starts/cancellations, etc. Maybe your most recent update took that away?? Please fix it!
I had to log back into my app yesterday. I NEVER log out of it! After that, I have not been getting notices of new bookings and had a TNS last night because of this. I rechecked bookings using the portal and found 7 bookings I never received notices for. It's not even registering classes booked, cancelled - just found another new booking made in the past 5 hours, but "classes booked" says 0. Also, the alarm function (15 minutes until class) is hit or miss. It almost NEVER sounds for a class at 12:00 AM and 12:30 AM. I also find the new format on time slots confusing, but I figured it out.
2017 November Update: love that we can offer make up classes for great students if we have to cancel. This is really nice. We love our students. So, I am honestly impressed how many updates you guy put out. The last update with the PPT pdfs so teacher's can review the lesson on mobile before the class is really going to help new teachers. I recommended this last year to your staff, and frankly I am surprised to see it implemented 6 months later. Also, the ability to do class reviews, or just check the To DO list on your phone really is a benefit to the teachers. If your goal was to make our lives easier, then mission accomplished. I expect that this reduction of friction in preparing and finishing classes will lead to better work experiences, happier teachers, happier students, and a win-win for everyone.
This app was awesome until about a month ago. Since then I haven’t been able to log in consistently or review materials for my classes. I can’t open or close slots. I just deleted and redownloaded the app to see if that would fix things and now I can’t log in. I downloaded it on my husband’s phone too and it says the same thing, “network error” though everything else on the phone and network is fine. Please fix! I want to be able to use the app again. It made my life so much easier and because it was easier to prep for classes I was a better teacher. Will definitely change this review to a 5 star if you fix the existing issues.
I spend WAY too much time on this app! It is so helpful! I really like the most recent updates too where you can see your level certifications. I like to use the app to check during class to see if a class finish type gets changed when we are having IT issues or a student doesn’t show up. I love the update feature (what happened in the last 8 hrs). Thank you for such a streamlined app for us!
This app seems to have tons of issues yet it’s recommended by Dave Ramsey as something earn extra money, but this is false, the app eont even load completely, you cant go to desktop because it wants you to download the app that doesn’t work and this us a waste of time if this is how it will be working with this app, wifi or cellular network same issue but all if the other apps are fine. I will be submitting this in writing to dave ramsey admin so they can remove this information or be aware of the technical issues and instability of this app, so they are not promoting poor information.
For me this was a really terrible experience. Probably one of the worst methods of interviewing I’ve ever encountered. The hours and hours of prep time including finding props to use during ‘ mock demonstrations’ of my ‘potential ability as an ESL teacher were a waste of precious time, energy and added unnecessary stress during an already stressful situation. The ‘judges’ for the demos had different measures to rate candidates! I did not get an offer. And yet I have done similar work and have maintained exceptional student feedback ‘ consistently’. Once this ordeal was over, I thanked karma I was not depending on this employer for my livelihood.
Sadly, the newest update (August 25, 2019) removed the ability to see my historical feedback for 10-15 lessons. It only shows the last class. Please return this feature ASAP. I use my old feedback to see (1) if I’ve used a certain secondary reward for my student before, and (2) which secondary reward system I used for another student when they were in the same unit. The mobile app says to look on the desktop app for additional feedback, but the desktop app only keeps 4 lessons’ worth per student, so it is likewise limited. In fact, the mobile app was better for showing my older feedback to parents than the desktop app, plus I could plan my lessons and rewards from anywhere. Please restore this important feature. I’d like to not have to maintain a separate record on every student as to which secondary reward I used, when the data is available and easily provided by VIPKid. Thanks!
Here’s a recap of my troubles with VIPKid: after a month of preparation to become a teacher with the program, VIPKid mistakenly locked my account and said they lacked the technical ability to reopen it. Two months later, a representative called me and asked why I stopped my application (I was apparently a good candidate) and I explained that they locked me out. It’s been two more months since I followed the representatives instructions to reopen my account, and no response from VIPKid. In short: they are very poorly run and other programs offer better teacher support as well as better pay/perks
I love the app! Recently problems with random alarms going off, but there is an on/off switch to stop getting alarms. My favorite tool is viewing most everything on the VipKid website from my phone. Fast, easy, and stress free! I LOVE the option to send e-cards to students! This is done only from the app! It gives a second chance to contact the firemen.
The new update is awful. Where did the student tab go?? I can’t see how many students have made me their teacher anymore, and I can’t send cards. I am a consistently booked teacher and part of that was because of my relationship building with new kiddos. I ALWAYS send a card after class. It is now a feature that I can’t find anywhere. The user face looks 10 steps backwards and the app blends in on my phone now that it is not bright orange. Not impressed.
Please make a way to search student by name! Just add a search bar. I don’t like to have to scroll through pages of students to find one I’m looking for. It’s too time consuming. Also, please add a higher character limit for the notes space on our students. Or no limit at all! I like to add a lot of information and all my previous rewards I have used with them and after seeing them five times or so, I ran out of space to write anymore info.
I’m annoyed that the last update made the bookings in the last 8 hours appear in order of when the class is to be taught, not when it was booked. I add them to my calendar from this list and now I have no idea which ones are the new bookings at times because I’m doing 10 other things when I’m adding the bookings to my calendar and not really paying attention to the name of the student or the date. It’s annoying.
I received an email stating if I jumped through certain hoops (certifying for a couple class types, opening slots, etc) I would get paid $9.50 per class in October 2024 for any classes I taught. I completed everything, but now VIPKid is saying I wasn’t accepted for the promotion and won’t get paid the additional amount. This is, of course, after students have booked classes on my schedule. Please don’t fall for these lies yourself. Stay away from VIPKid since they’re the same old shady company they were before.
This is an awesome app for VIPkid teachers… It is a must have really. I don’t know that I could do the job without the app. They are continually making it better and better, too! Be sure to update the app whenever there is an option to do so. Each time I update there is a new feature that makes it even cooler! VIPkid is the best!
Love the app! The only thing I wish it had was a louder alarm for upcoming classes. My phone shows that I have a class in 15 minutes, but there is no vibration or noise. Maybe I’m doing something wrong..? On my apple watch, the vibration is there so for now I’m wearing my apple watch to sleep in case I get a short notice booking.
Recently, the sound has not been working on the app. I am getting the notifications, but there is no related sound. I have checked the settings on my phone and the app, and nothing has changed. Has something been changed on the app?
After the latest update, I can no longer add classes to my calendar. When I click on the calendar to select which one to add it to the app shuts down. I deleted the app and reinstalled it but that did not work. This is the first time I have had any difficulty with this app. Hopefully the developer will see this and squish that nasty bug!!
I don’t like that you can read only one of your past Teacher to Teacher comments!! It’s a hassle to have to use your laptop for this every time you want to read them. I use these all the time. It was very useful having access to them anywhere!! Please return!! I would be so thankful!!
The app used to function great. Now, there are so many bugs and issues. You can’t view cards/gifts from students. If you try to go to send a student a card, it logs you out. You can’t use stored passwords to log into the app; it immediately logs you back out. It’s so frustrating. Two stars because it lets me open bookings, shows me my class schedule, and sometimes shows my payment.
It logs me out if I click on the 3 dots to see e-card history
Rating 4 to bring attention. App crashes every time I try to open the 3 dots. It always worked fine before. Love this app, it makes teaching much easier. Hope this issue gets fixed soon!
I downloaded the app ever since I started teaching and I love it. The only thing I think its missing is a track your payment each month. Otherwise it makes it easy to track my weekly bookings and review slides before class.
Latest Version Didn’t Respresh Upcoming Classes-TNS!
The page to open and close spots in the new version is confusing to me. It wasn’t broke, so why fix it? The upcoming classes page didn’t refresh the very first day after I downloaded it. Stupidly I didn’t double check my schedule on the PC app and ending up with a TNS. 😩 The E-cards still can’t be personalized so they’re not that helpful. Students that booked at some point but I never ended up teaching because they canceled and didn’t rebook show up in my students.
The “class feedback” page needs fixing. Lately about 75% of the time I get stuck on a loading screen that doesn’t go away. Even after closing and re-opening the app, I can’t get past the loading screen to leave class feedback. Please fix this!!
Please add a way to view lessons in a group by student taught
One change that would make a BIG difference would be if I could click on a student and view a list of my teaching history with them i.e. - a drop down list of lessons I have taught them & parent reviews- that would help me track my teaching history without having to piece it all together via another app/spreadsheets.
Please fix the 15-minute alarm. It goes off for every class even when I am already in a classroom. It won’t stop unless I open the app which takes my attention away from my student. I tried to give this feedback through the app itself but it wouldn’t submit. That’s another thing you can fix. Thanks for all your hard work!
Overall, this is a great app. It does everything I need, but teach the class for me. I do not like the new gift box update. Personally, I think gifts are a bit much, but more importantly it blocks the year (date) so I do not know the child’s age. I have go to my classroom to get this info now.
I don’t think this new version is an upgrade. It is less user friendly. The most relevant information is not readily available. It gets stuck and has more bugs than the previous version. I prefer the older version much more, please consider bringing it back. I think things should only change if they will improve not just to change them every so often.
I don’t know what they did with this new update, but it seems like they got rid of very important information. When a new class is booked you can no longer see what date the class is booked for unless you really look into the class details. It is no longer convenient. This is something that should be addressed in the next update.
Where is the DATE of classes booked? The “Classes Booked” tab indicated I had some classes booked in last 8 hours. When I clicked on it, the dates of the classes weren’t there, only times. I didn’t know the date the class was booked until I clicked on the calendar icon.
I installed the latest update on August 2, 2019 and I now cannot access the class info or student info. It says I am offline but I am not. Other teachers are having this issue as well but are able to repeatedly click the refresh button to get the app to work. That does not work for me. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the app, turned my phone off and back on, logged out and back in, and nothing works. PLEASE FIX THIS!
I love that I can review schedules and bookings on the go. I can also preview the course material and see my Teacher Feedback. I wish the Teacher Moments videos were shown in reverse order so I wouldn’t have to scroll down to find an update.
The app is great. Both for my phone and iPad. The ONLY thing I would love to see changed is to somehow incorporate the week calendar in one screen. I *still* use the website just so I can see the full weeks view.
I want to be an effective teacher and keep up to date but I cannot get notifications and I cannot open certain links on the app. I get notifications late or not at all. All I get is error error and error. Or bad link. It looks nice and seems like it will be a good app once all the kinks are fixed.
I’d like to be able to see the order my classes are booked when you swipe down to see activity of last 8 hours. I don’t like that you can only see the past 8 hours and then it resets. Sometimes I don’t get to check it before it’s back to zero and I don’t know if anyone booked because there are no notifications. We need notifications!
Very helpful! The notifications are great and help me get to class on time. You can see how many times you have taught students now, which is great! They are constantly adding new features. A must have if you’re a VIPKID teacher.
VIPKID emphasizes opening PPT slots but there’s no way to track how many you’ve done other than count them. If your payment is dependent on them (like the Gold Rush Incentive) it would be nice to have some sort of track ability.
Three days ago I applied and download the app, only to find out that you have no openings at present. However, what annoys me is that I still get daily notifications about completing some videos. I cannot do this if the app is frozen in the same spot for the past couple of days.
Check your bookings, cancel classes, update time slots, prepare for classes, and view payments, all from your phone. App Features Manage Your Schedule on the Go Get alerts for new bookings and cancellations Check your bookings and class status Open and close time slots, cancel classes, or set availability Stay organized with the automatic To-Do List Teaching Resources Prepare for classes by reviewing teaching materials on the app Contact tech support regarding classroom issues or cancellations Access the library of support resources Submit after-class feedback to parents Manage Your Account Update your personal information Add or update your profile picture Create and edit your bio to add a personal touch Upload featured photos and/or a greeting video Track your earnings Keep track of how long you’ve been with VIPKid and how many students you’ve taught Stay Connected Review parent feedback Send e-cards and gemstones to students (only available on the mobile app) Participate in special incentives and promotions View special announcements and updates Share your experience by inviting referrals Daily rewards check-in Who We Are VIPKid provides an international learning experience to children globally between the ages of 4-12. Headquartered in Beijing and San Francisco, with teachers all over the U.S. and Canada, the company offers fully immersive one-on-one English language instruction provided online by highly qualified teachers. The curriculum uses a flipped-classroom approach to foster creativity and critical thinking skills. This app is available for VIPKid teachers. Looking to become a teacher? Sign up at vipkid.com/teach
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