2025-07-06
New update
Crashes when using the message feature or clicking on certain links.
Updating
iPhone Screenshots
Description
Download the Blackboard App and stay seamlessly connected with your courses and elevate your learning experience. Whether you're a student or an instructor, this app integrates with your institution’s Blackboard platform to bring you essential tools and real-time updates on the go.
For Students:
- Stay Informed: Instantly view updates and changes to your courses.
- Real-Time Alerts: Receive notifications for due-dates, announcements, and more.
- Manage Coursework: Easily complete and submit assignments, take tests, and track your progress.
- Check Grades: Access grades for courses, assignments, and tests with just a few taps.
- Plus More: Explore additional features tailored to enhance your educational journey.
For Instructors:
- Efficient Course Management: Upload and organize course materials and assessments effortlessly.
- Timely Notifications: Set up custom alerts such as when submissions are ready for grading, messages from students, and more.
- Streamlined Grading: Grade assignments and provide feedback from your phone or tablet.
- Engage Students: Send course announcements, create and manage discussion threads, and interact with student comments.
- And Beyond: Utilize more tools designed to support your teaching and engagement.
Please Note: The Blackboard App functions in conjunction with your institution’s Blackboard server. Access and features may vary based on your institution's settings and software updates.
By using this app, you agree to our terms and privacy information - https://www.anthology.com/trust-center/terms-of-use
What's New in Version 10.4.0
We've made the following improvements and addressed the following issues:
Bug fixes:
Specific URLs would not open correctly in Blackboard App.
Users were prevented from downloading .xlsx files from Blackboard App.
Users are unable to access a course if course availability is extended or closed and reopened.
Information
Developer
Categories
Version
10.4.0
Size
175.4 MB
Game Center
No
VPP Device Licensing
Yes
Rating
Rated: 4+
Compatibility
iOS 13.0 or later
Devices
iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone SE (3rd generation), iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16e, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro, iPad Pro (Cellular), iPad Pro (9.7-inch), iPad Pro (9.7-inch) (Cellular), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (10.5-inch), iPad Pro (10.5-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (11-inch), iPad Pro (11-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air, iPad Air (Cellular), iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 (Cellular), iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad Air (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini Retina, iPad mini Retina (Cellular), iPad mini 3, iPad mini 3 (Cellular), iPad mini 4, iPad mini 4 (Cellular), iPad mini (5th Generation), iPad mini (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (7th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi), iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi + Cellular), iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (9th Generation), iPad (9th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (6th Generation), iPad mini (6th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Air (5th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (10th generation), iPad (10th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 11-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (A17 Pro) Wi-Fi, iPad mini (A17 Pro) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (A16) Wi-Fi, iPad (A16) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 11-inch (M3) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 11-inch (M3) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 13-inch (M3) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M3) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPod touch (6th Generation), iPod touch (7th generation)
Languages
English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Maori, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese, Welsh
App Store: Customer Ratings
Ratings & Reviews
4.6 of 5 (427,854 Ratings)
App Store: Customer Reviews
2025-07-01
Randomly stopped working
Randomly stopped working made me think I got kicked out of school.
2025-06-30
LET ME IN LET ME IN
App hangs and crashes whenever I try booting it.
2025-06-30
Bad
Just doesn’t work. Can’t use the back button, can’t go view any details on any assignment further than the title because the app glitches anytime I try to do something. The entire format of the app doesn’t make sense, horribly complicated user interface. Useless app. Should probably speak to the engineers at Canvas for some tips.
2025-06-29
Not the best
This app needs some serious revamping. First, the formatting changes from what is supposed to be the required formatting APA 7th addition but does not keep it that way. Causing my grades to go down. Second, can’t open the digital book to read ii for some reason goes back to the beginning. It is very frustrating and not user friendly at all.
2025-06-27
Dark MODE PLEASE
I just wish y’all would get with the dark mode trend it truly burns my eyes to see how bright the screen is
2025-06-25
Laggg
Lagggg
2025-06-24
Blackboard why?
Pls fix your activity tab, if assignments of the same class are due at the same time pls show them both, not only one of them.
2025-06-17
School
Easy to Navigate
2025-06-09
Sign in
I love the app but once I sign in it keep logging me out and it’s becoming irritating. There has to be a way that keeps me signed in cause I’m tired of sign in every time I don’t use the app
2025-06-08
Blackboard
Easy to use. Great to have the app to check things when a computer is not available.
2025-06-02
Bad
Videos do not load images do not load told by school its a known issue on iphone yet nobody fixes it or cares!
2025-06-01
Mid
Great when it works… which is about 20% of the time. Otherwise it’s constant “error on our end” or “can’t load this content right now.” Kind of ridiculous. Honestly better off using the web browser on your phone.
2025-05-29
make it where you do not have to sign in all the time
I just dislike signing in every time I open the app.
2025-05-27
Weak App
You have to sign in too often and I often get errors signing in anyways. Overall a glitchy app that really struggles with basic things like loading. I’ve used other platforms like Canvas and Blackboard is horrible by comparison.
2025-05-27
Mid
After seeing the reviews from others here. It doesn’t seem like the developers of this app are very proactive. The app still has its bugs and the constant requirements to sign in almost makes it not worth the download. Starting to debate whether or not just using sarfari would be better. :/
2025-05-22
Garbage
Complete garbage app. Will not “remember” you on your own device no matter how many times you two-step verify. I’ve had to verify multiple times within an hour. Viewing syllabus fails about half the time. Can’t view PDFs in app/browser but instead must individually download each one. Monumentally slow upload times. Using the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) version. Has been garbage for years. Canvas is way way way better.
2025-05-13
Limited functions
Incredibly limited functions. Why even make an app? It’s one step away from those people that called themselves programmers that used to make an app that just redirected you to their homepage URL.
2025-05-12
Useless App
I am baffled by the high rating of this app. The intentional design choice to make my account auto logout is not sustainable for a mobile app, and I would love to know the developers’ rationale behind it. The app also doesn’t support Face ID for some reason. This wouldn’t be nearly as obnoxious if the app would save my login info or if my institution didn’t require MFA with every login. But if I am expected to re-authenticate every time I use the app, it’s got zero utility. Use a web browser instead, at least that will save my login info and free some limited space on my device. Absolutely worthless app.
2025-05-12
So glitchy on iPad!!
I think blackboard is a good app overall, but I’m not sure why it gives me so much trouble when I use it on my iPad. It crashes, glitches, doesn’t ever load, and kicks me out of classes for no reason. I’m not sure why it does this just on my iPad, because on my phone it works fine. Besides the issues on iPad, it’s a great app
2025-05-12
.
asks you to log in every time you open the app
2025-05-12
Won’t stay logged in for more than a couple minutes
Outside of getting notifications (and even this isn’t foolproof), there is no point to this app when it won’t let you stay logged in for more than a couple minutes.
2025-05-10
Broken
Never works
2025-05-08
submitting assignments
The mobile version of Blackboard never lets me submit my assignments there’s always an error when lever i try to, and it previously cost me my grade. Worst of the worst. 👎
2025-05-07
The app lags
The app is a bit slow but besides that
2025-05-04
Good when it works
When the app is functioning, it’s very helpful and easy to navigate. It is a very, very regular issue to get an error message, “We’re having a problem on our end”. Very frustrating.
2025-05-04
absolutely horrible
cant do anything on the app. submission is somehow almost always blocked even when i allow 3rd party things, need to re-log in every time i open it despite always clicking that it’s my device. super laggy too,never updating my grades or syncing with computer. better off using the website on a computer.
2025-05-01
Part time student
Excellent platform!
Easy use!
Great Tech Support!
2025-04-30
Horrible
You can’t access your emails on this whatsoever. It is such a horrible flawed system not meant for phones.
2025-04-30
Not horrible but not good
Genuinely has so much work needed to be done. The constant need to sign in every 5 minutes even though you ask it not to continue asking. The updates being seemingly every week yet 0 changes. The calendar just not being able to see past the current month. The constant bugs when uploading school work. And the issues with loading videos. It’s just a lot that you’d expect to work but pretty much doesn’t. But hey at least it makes online classes more simple.
2025-04-30
Barely functional
They might as well down grade this to just a grade book. You cannot complete quiz’s in the actual black board from the app. After the most recent update, no schools are listed so it’s completely unusable.
Please do better.
2025-04-30
“There’s an issue on our end, try again later”
The app keeps crashing with a “try again later” message. Please fix this.
2025-04-30
Broken 99% of the time.
No matter how many updates this app has it is always breaking or under maintenance. Nothing shows up correctly or updated in a timely manner. Unless you absolutely need this for school, just use the version on your laptop.
2025-04-30
Crashes everytime i try to open a message
Everytime I try to open a message, it crashes
2025-04-30
From bad to worse
Used to make me log in every 10 minutes of idle time out of the app. Now, after the most recent update, I can’t even log in. Just get the “there’s a problem on your end. Try again later” message.
2025-04-30
Probably the worst school app I’ve used
Blackboard never works when I need it to and has so many problems as well as just being an ugly app to use. If your college uses it try to start a petition to switch to canvas
2025-04-28
blackboard app does not send notifications
the app has suddenly decided that it will not send push notifications to users anymore. the only options for notifications for IOS users is sounds and badges, no banner notifications which are the most useful. it doesn't help for your phone to vibrate or make a noise when there isn't a visible notification. you have to enter the app to see what your phone vibrated for.
2025-04-25
Buggy
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO ASK ME IF I LIKE THE APP WHEN I HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED USING IT? I can't log in because it keeps saying, "we're having trouble on our end, please try again later." Based on what I've heard from others, I recommend sticking to the web browser on your laptop or whatever device for a much smoother, hassle-free experience.
2025-04-24
Horrible/glitches
I am so so so so fed up with this app. I’d love to be able to access blackboard without opening my computer at times. However I have to do the whole log in process over every single time despite clicking remeber this device. Please get it together and fix the app.
2025-04-23
Buggy
The app used to work fine but now it freezes, it constantly logs me out, doesn’t reload, and a bunch of other problems. Hopefully they fix this soon.
2025-04-23
Blackboard gives me stress dreams
I absolutely despise this app, I’ve been using it for five years now and I still absolutely hate it. I can never get to what I want, the back and gray with white background is a depressing color scheme, and as a graduate student not being able to access the material that I need to access is extremely infuriating. I remember using blackboard back when I was in k-12 in the 2000s-2012 and somehow I feel like it was more accessible back then than it is now. In undergrad I used canvas and I thought at times that it could be frustrating, when I started graduate school and had to start using this garbage I immediately regretted my criticisms of canvas. At least canvas lets you change colors and DOWNLOAD MATERIAL FROM YOUR PHONE WITHOUT HAVING TO FIGHT IT JUST TO WORK! I hate blackboard and its infuriating system, wastes my time trying at the login screen waiting for it to connect to my university, then it has the audacity to ask if I want to enable the option to remember to stay logged in which it never does. Every time I have to log into the app, my stress hormones spike.
2025-04-23
Buggy login issues and incomplete functionality
Some videos do not play, some discussion boards I cannot access, and every few months the app makes me sign in 10 times in a row before it finally lets me in. I cannot access some of the content INTERNALLY without logging in again. When I attempt to do so, the app sends me back and forth to my authenticator in an endless loop eerily reminiscent of my childhood spent bouncing between parents so determined not to contradict each other that they could only ever say, "go ask your mother," or "go ask your father." This would not be an issue if the blackboard website was functional and efficient, but it is lamentably neither of those things. Especially on IOS. Blackboard: please fix your platform. I'd recommend starting with the outdated and glitchy format of the discussion boards/forums. You can modernize from there.
2025-04-21
Crashes
The app crashes every time I try to open messages.
2025-04-21
Worst app ever
Having to sign in EVERY TIME I use the app costs me so much time. And you can’t even read the text content of assignments in the app? I have an assignment due tomorrow, hm, what is it? I guess I’ll never know, because I can’t even read it!
2025-04-20
StudentGMU
I don’t know if it’s an issue with my university or something, but Blackboard is horrible. It’s terrible with log in, at remembering you, and as an app itself. It’s bot showing my calendar information on my phone but it’s working fine on web. I’m so glad GMU is changing to Canvas because it works so smoothly. I haven’t used an app as consistently awful as Blackboard!
2025-04-20
0% RELIABLE
Incredibly underwhelming experience navigating through the app. Better off using safari.
2025-04-17
Please let us see our wrong answers!!
My school recently switched to a new blackboard system and it no longer tells us what answers are wrong on a quiz//hw//etc. Is it user error on their part or did you disable this ability? CAN YOU BRING IT BACK PRETTY PLZ or tell me how to fix it :)
2025-04-17
Not working
I dont even open the app unless I really need to because there’s constantly problems with it , and even when I need to open it because I’m trying to quickly access my classes my sign in won’t load or it will load and once I click on a class it’ll ask me to sign in again. And if I get lucky at opening a class it’ll then say I don’t have access to the course and it’ll say error code 🫠
2025-04-13
can’t open my courses
I can’t open my courses or view my grades in the app even after I updated the app. super frustrating, especially at the end of the semester.
2025-04-09
Worse app to study ever!!!
The application always hangs
2025-02-12
cannot download anything to files app or photo library
"Download" on this app doesn't actually download anything. Nothing is available in the Files app or Photos library or anywhere even when you "download" attachments or assignments. It only opens the content in plaintext form IN THE APP. The reason I need to download things is so I can zoom in on pdfs by pinching and move around the image easily, since for whatever reason the only way to zoom in on pdfs in this app is to tap a +/- button for unmodifiable jarring "jumps" in zoom level. Due to Blackboard not letting me actually download these attachments to view in a different app with more responsive zoom functionality, I'm forced to take screenshots of assignments and work from those screenshots.
This is like if the desktop website only let you open attachments in plaintext form in another tab, and did not have the function to actually download any files. It's ridiculous to even imagine and yet that's the current state of this app.
2024-12-08
WORST ACADEMIC APP EVER
On the desktop, it’s okay, gets the job done. On a mobile device however, AWFUL. Notifications are always delayed so when you get an assignment graded, it won’t actually let you know until a good time later. Also, I will randomly get spammed with all the notifications for an entire class for the entire semester all at once, my phone freaks out. Also, trying to open up anything in the app, whether that’s checking up on an assignment, a grade, or wanting to verify something in the syllabus on the fly is nearly impossible. It takes at least 2-3 attempts of closing and reopening the app and that’s if it eventually loads. This app is a complete joke and makes taking out my laptop it on, logging in, opening chrome, opening webassighn and logging in, 10x faster that clicking the app and attempting to see anything.
Update: Now all of my classes have disappeared all together on the app. I can’t access anything unless I go through my computer. I tried downloading blackboard on my iPad and all the buttons within the app are blank and won’t load. Very frustrating.
2024-10-23
Got worse after the recent update
This app has always had room for improvement, and I expected that with each version, it would get better. However, this recent version made the app practically useless. It used to be able to remember my credentials, but now, even though I was logged in and just exited the app to go do something else, each time I return to it, the screen goes black and the app automatically closes. I then have to reopen it, re-enter my credentials to log in. Then as of two days ago, I am not able to log in at all. I enter my credentials and hit sign in, but nothing happens. If I am using my cellular device and want to access Blackboard, I now have to open a browser and go to the website. Having the app on my phone when I can’t even log in to use it makes it useless and a waste of storage space. I’m probably going to delete it soon if this persists. There are a lot more features that can be improved with this app (an even the website version of Blackboard). But at the very least, the user should be able to log in.
2024-10-11
Recent updates
The app was just fine before but ever since these last two updates I can’t even open the app the first time I click on it, it just attempts to open then fails, and once I can finally get it open it makes me log in every single time despite always having selected the remember me option at sign in. It closes out on its own at random intervals, and I have to close and refresh the app at least 3 times before I’m able to click on the course I want to open- and if I open something in the course and try to exit out of it, I can’t and even after refreshing when I click on the course the screen still is on the same page I wanted off of. It’s extremely frustrating given I know how it was just a few weeks ago- it hardly ever gave me any trouble before. I’m not even sure what “upgrades” were made besides the icon for the app, it seems exactly the same but it just performs worse for seemingly no reason. Can’t help but feel like it’s one of those “fix something that isn’t broken” type scenarios :/
2024-08-27
Glitchy, Not User Friendly, Uncustomaizable
first, I will say that I appreciate Blackboard even having an app. additionally, it does work, it lets me check my grades, but that's about the only success I have with the app.
my first issue with the Blackboard app, and possibly the biggest, is how glitchy it is. Sometimes it doesn't load things, or it takes forever to load them, they load weird, etc.
next, it's not very user-friendly. It's hard to figure out where things are, especially since the layout is different compared to that of a computer. additionally, and this goes for on a computer as well, the upcoming assignments section is never correct. I have to make a whole tracker for my assignments, as I am not able to properly track them within blackboard
lastly, it's not customizable. I have heard that certain applications like canvas are customizable, which I would find very enjoyable, and it would make looking at the app in website much less daunting and repetitive.
all in all, it is nice that there is an app. It is usable, but it does about the bare minimum if I'm being honest.
I was hoping that many of these issues would be fixed with the update to Blackboard ultra, but they were not. I hope some of these are updated in the future.
2024-06-12
$1200 for an app that doesn’t work.
This is not a free app. For one class, completely accessed by blackboard, I’m paying $1,200. This app DOES NOT work. You must stay in the app or it will not work. You need to reference your textbook you have open in safari for an assignment? Too bad. You have the assignment pulled up in blackboard but once you click back from safari it’s completely refreshed. The loading bar is struggling. I can load a 3 hour movie in 5 seconds but it’ll take 5 minutes to load the one class I’m in. I cannot believe this is an app colleges CHOOSE to use. Professors hate it. Students hate it. I can only assume blackboard has someone forced colleges to you it. I would be absolutely embarrassed to have said I worked on this app. You don’t stay logged in. The replies would have you believe this is a college centric issues. It’s not. I can stay logged in on safari and on my computer, it ONLY happens on blackboard. I took classes in 2017 and had 0 issues with blackboard. Yet, almost 10 years later and the app is completely unusable. I get angry anytime I have to do work. Also, videos. Jesus. Who thought to put the debug tool RIGHT ON TOP OF the video settings. You can’t play a video faster or slower because you’ll click on that tool. If you somehow do get it, there’s a 50% chance it won’t even play at the speed you want it to. God I hate this app so much.
2024-02-05
Horrible app, horrible support
This app is so unstable. I spent most of fall term trying to get panoptos to work on my iPhone. Now, suddenly, I can’t even get the blackboard app to open on my iPad. I have made sure my iOS is up to date, as well as deleted and reinstalled the app multiple times. It still quits before opening. There is no tech support for blackboard that a student can access. It says to reach out to my school tech support but then nothing is listed for my college. Why must this be such an unstable LMS? Do better.
ETA: still unable to use the app on the iPad. Worst still, can’t even report problems. Users are students who depend on this tool for their very expensive education but have no recourse or even a way of reporting a problem to the developers. Especially over the weekend. Such a horrible product. If you are an institution considering using this product, please be kind to your student and don’t.
2024-02-04
Most recent version is a step back
This app used to be more functional, but the most recent update has introduced some unwelcome changes. Interface elements are no longer properly sized to my phone screen, courses are harder to find and navigate to, and the interface is overall more confusing with more “X”es that can even log you out entirely when you did not intend to. There seems to be a new focus on being able to quickly close out of things, which is just not what I care about. I’d rather have a better text interface and a better way to view discussion threads. You still can’t see the post you’re replying to when you’re responding in a discussion thread, which makes it difficult to quote or refresh yourself on what you’re addressing. It’s completely unnecessary to have the ability to slide the entire interface around the screen, especially since it just snaps back anyway. All I want is to be able to quickly access my courses and see the posts I’m responding to. Just rip a design from a social networking app - something like Reddit or Twitter has already solved all these problems and even though neither of those platforms have amazing apps, they nail the basics a lot better than this one.
2024-02-03
UI is a mess and broken
almost impossible to navigate courses and notifications. Buggy mess that freaks out anytime you switch between tabs and courses. Notifications do not bring you to what you click on, for example, grades posted. It brings you to the courses tabs which is actually the activity stream(?) which doesnt even bring you to the point where the grade was posted in the stream. If I want to look at my current courses I always have to manually select my actual current term (like spring 2024) and not the “current” choice because it thinks every class Ive taken so far is a current class and there is no way for me to manually fix that. And everytime I back out of that course, it brings me back to the “current” courses which is just annoying. And for some reason there are 2 UI for the courses tab that I have no idea why or when they switch but they exist I guess. Mildly frustrating software that I dont understand why schools constantly choose for their students to use
2023-09-19
Would prefer to stay logged in
An app is supposed to an easier way to access a website. I would prefer not to have to put in my school website, and my login every single time Most companies that would like to maintain privacy, still allow quick and easy login with either FaceTime or a quick four digit pin. This app does not allow you to do that at all. You have to type in your email address and password and go to your school website and jump through the hoops. Every time you wanna look at some thing that was updated. It is less of a hassle to go to Safari and go through my school because that allows me to login with FaceTime and it is much quicker when I want to just take a quick peek at some thing this app is not good if you’re on the go and you’re a busy person. Period or you’re trying to make dinner for your kids if you wanna look at something real quick… Don’t use this app
2023-06-08
I’d give it zero stars if I could.
It’s not just this app, either. It’s the whole website. It’s so clunky, it’s so irritating. Why can’t I check off assignments? Why do I get urgent reminders for things due soon that are a week away? Why can’t I watch an online presentation video on my phone? No picture. Just sound, and the phone screen goes to sleep and cuts it off after a minute. It’s absolutely agonizing to try and get anything done in 1 step with this program.
Why do I have to download my syllabus every time I want to glance at it? Why can’t I click on something in the grades screen and have it take me to the actual assignment page?
I just can’t believe it’s 2023 and this feels like a brand new program. Not only is it just not efficient, it’s actively difficult to complete things.
Don’t even get me started on how you can’t complete a quiz on an iPad. I had to leave class and go to the library.
Please. I’m begging you. Do better.
2023-05-17
Blackboard is making me go crazy
The app is very annoying and needs a lot of work. Why is it so difficult to navigate in the app and what’s the point of asking me if I want to stay logged in if it never keeps you logged in. Everything is all over the place and unorganized. Like other people have mentioned you have to do so many clicks just to navigate through the app. There should be a column on the bottom that has the list of grades for every class. Also why is there a calendar on the app if nothing is synced to it automatically? What’s the point of me manually adding homework on the calendar if it takes so long just to log in to the app. I can just go on my own calendar at this point. Also if we get homework synced to the calendar if we can be able to download the calendar as well or if we can sync it to our iCal and Google calendar that would be great. I go to see what’s my upcoming work I need to do and it just gives me what’s due and the date even though I have already completed that work. It should at least have it crossed out or something with the due date. Instead of having it say “due in the next 2 weeks” it should just say “due soon” or “upcoming homework” because I have it telling me that there’s homework due in the next 2 weeks but it’s literally due in a few days. How does that make sense? This app makes me go crazy. Please fix this🙏🏻
2023-03-09
Another error
Update: the service team for Blackboard is very responsive and helpful in fixing errors. I gave it time to make sure it remained functional. It provides me the ability to access coursework when I am away from my home so I can work on homework while waiting for appointments.
Once again I’m receiving an error that won’t allow me to access my courses following a recent update. I first gave it time hoping another update would resolve this issue. When it didn’t, I deleted the app and started over like I did the last time this happened. Now my school won’t even show up when attempting to reload my account. The school is still using Blackboard- I am able to access via the website. Why can I no longer find the school to log into the app? Super frustrating!
2023-02-22
Challenging interface and compatibility
As a second year student using black board in college and for one year in high school I regret to say but the app is of pretty low quality. I primarily use Apple products such as my iPhone and iPad when I am not on campus with a windows readily available. When using the app on my phone, links inside course content will not open, files, .docx, PDFS, etc. are unable to be saved to my files app, and lastly the app just seems to be very glitchy and sub par. Even after working with my IT department there was still no resolve for any of the issues with the app. In order to do the things listed above, I have to first sign into my institutions page on chrome, then open black board from our schools site, and finally the things I need to download can be found there. I was excited when I learned about the app because I thought it was going to minimize the run around I have to do. It did not.
2022-10-29
Good for Announcements, but not much else
The app opens and lets you select your class just fine, and it will show you the sections the course is categorized into but it won’t actually load the content of those categories. This is particularly bad with the homework and grade aspects.
There is a category for homework due this week, but it doesn’t actually load in homework that is coming up by itself. In order for it to be able to pull this information you have to individually load every section of the course. only then will display the upcoming assignments, otherwise it just says that there’s nothing to due.
Furthermore, if you miss homework, you won’t necessarily see it reflected in the grade at the top of the page. similar to the homework, it only counts the assignments if you load every single one individually and the due date has passed. This means that if you got a 100% on your first homework assignment, your grade will be a 100% at the top of the page, even if you’ve missed every single assignment afterwards until you reload every single thing from the class. Only then will the grade at the top of the page reflect what you actually have.
2022-09-22
Update has made things more difficult
I like what seems to be the improved speed and and streamlined appearance of the app but it has, but this update has created far worse issues.
The new update takes away all the taskbar functions and assigns only the ones that it believes are most important. This has made getting to the grades screen very cumbersome. There is no way to rearrange what is shown on the bottom task bar, as I would love to get rid of calendar and put grades there instead. In the grades screen there is also no way to favorite current classes to keep them up top. This is a problem because the current courses include any courses that professors have not closed to students view so they remain in the section forever. If you manually click the current semester you are enrolled it such as fall 2022 it always defaults back to current courses every time the screen is changes. The courses screen avoids this by allowing favorites.
2022-09-15
App is trash
The UI/UX of this app is abysmal, unpleasant to look at, extremely difficult to navigate. Previous school used Canvas which was amazing compared to BB. Fixing the user interface would be a great start. The courses tab always loads my “current” courses, but it’s actually a list of every course I’ve ever taken. If I accidentally tap on a course that has ended I have to wait forever for the app to tell me it can’t load the course. Menu items are buried in cumbersome sidebar that is easy to miss. Grades and assignments take way too many clicks and are stored in very different locations. Nothing is linked - I should be able to easily navigate to different course components without backing up to the main screen. There is no way to select any preferences, for instance, whenever I open the app I am dropped in the announcements page rather than courses - this should be a choice. The interface is absolutely hideous - it reminds me of a geocities webpage from the 90’s. Finally, many components of the app are cumbersome. It’s very difficult to access pdfs and some portions of the app open an in app browser without the open to open in a local browser. I find it exceedingly frustrating that BB hasn’t made a single attempt to improve this app in many years - hopefully major Universities will start taking their business to better platforms because this app shows a company that has no incentive to improve their product.
2022-09-01
The “big update” was a huge downgrade
Last year, this app was finally usable after 4 years of mediocrity. The most recent update took all that progress away. I’m also getting logged out despite telling it to keep me logged in. The default option for grades (which are in a separate tab now, requiring more steps to access) is the “current” period, which you’d think is the current semester, but it’s not. It shows that I’m not currently enrolled in any courses until I go to the drop down menu and select fall 2022 (yet another step to access). There’s no way to pin this, so I have to make that selection every time I check grades, and even when I try to hit the back button to check grades for a different class—instead of taking me back to the fall 2022 screen, it goes to current, so I have to select the semester from the menu again. Things don’t update or load even if I’ve just gotten an app notification about them, either. This is honestly worse than just accessing the (slightly less terrible) desktop site through a browser on my phone. I don’t know why this app is so hard for developers to figure out.
2022-08-28
Doesn’t keep me logged in/no longer get notifications
I used to love the blackboard app because it was a great way to keep up to date with assignments and announcements, but after an app update it hardly works. I updated my blackboard app and now it forced me to log in every single time I open the app. Not only that, but it no longer sends me notifications when there is a new announcement or when an assignment is added. I attempted to get support but it takes me directly to the blackboard site and tells me to contact my university. However, my university states that this is an in app issue and not something they can fix. There isn’t app support to submit a complaint so I’m taking to here to see if anyone else is having issues or to at least let it be known that this is happening. Hopefully it can be fixed because this was a great app prior to this issue. I’m just very frustrated now because it’s not functional at all anymore.
2022-08-17
Reinstalled, and it’s different
I uninstalled because I was getting a server connection error message that made me think I was probably not updated to the freshest version of the app. When I reinstalled, I definitely got a newer version, but now every time I log in, I have to “web login” and it just logs me into the website version, but I don’t have web navigation buttons within the Blackboard app. I can’t go “back” to a prior page, as needed. Rather I have to close out of the app, log back in again, and navigate to the other page. It’s time-consuming and extremely clumsy. The older version that had more of a mobile feel was MUCH preferred. I might as well uninstall the app and just use Safari, instead. Please fix this! (Missouri State University)
2022-08-11
Unmerge
Since the newest update/merging the “current” tab does not work and you took away the best part of the app; the quick grade view! The best part about quick grade view was being able to see all overall course grades at once and have them color coded based on the grade - without it I don’t see an advantage to using this over computer login.
Also the new calendar/due dates seems great for instructors, but I don’t want to have to scroll all the way down just to see I have something due at 11:59pm - the older version was better bc it listed all the due dates for that each day of the week in an easy vertical scroll and had the due dates for that particular day in a condensed column so you could see everything due for the week at a glance, which is much more efficient than scrolling down a timeline (esp if there’s only 1 thing due at midnight and you miss it bc you didn’t scroll ALL the way down) or having to click on each day of the week to see what’s due.
2022-06-24
Very Different From Computer App
I have so many issues with this app, I don’t even know where to begin. Majority of online college students need this app in order to do work, view grades, etc. but the mobile app never allows you to do these things. For example, my teacher has been posting for weeks and it has yet to show on the mobile app, saying the information is “coming” but never does. It doesn’t even allow you to click required links or folders. I have removed and reinstalled the app many times to see if that would do anything but it does nothing. On top of it not loading or being very user friendly (takes a while to understand), it’s like that for the teachers too. It’s a hassle honestly and not being able to do your work due to app issues can hurt your grades at no fault of your own. I hope these things are fixed in the future since it’s still a needed app when you’re in school.
2022-03-21
Can’t even log in
I have no problems with blackboard as an organization. I think really I just hate this app with a passion, because every time I try and open it it takes way to long for it to load, and sometimes it even fails and says try again to no avail. This is in contrast to me going online THRU MY PHONE, and getting to my grades that way much faster. The app is just bad in my opinion I hate it; the GUI does not utilize/take into account phone screen size very well; the load time is way too long; and has never a single time remembered my login info. I would rather just go to the website where I know it’ll sign me in within 5 seconds of me accessing the website.
This could be a result of my school, so I may be biased, but if you got this problem too you know what I mean. Just use your phone browser. It’s not worth wasting your time on this app. I’m not even sure if anyone will get anything out of this or if it’ll be read, but if developers are reading this please respond I would love to hear what you have to say for this.
2022-01-25
Buggy + Balky
I usually delete any app with this many bugs, but I have to use it for grad school.
Why it's buggy:
Too often when I re-open it (because you can't stay logged in, as others have noted), it either freezes or gives me a false error message. Once open, it's slow to update; 5 minutes can pass before new grades or other additions show up. And Discussion threads often fail to load, or it won't load my posts after I submit them. All of this is troublesome because "try again later" is not an option when you're on deadline.
Why it's balky:
The app doesn't allow split screen, one of the iPad's most useful features. The "Activity Stream" is pointless yet remains the mandatory default open page, while too many clicks are required to get to a page one actually cares about (and repeatedly visits). When writing a reply in Discussions, it's impossible to see the original post one is replying to. Pasting text into Discussion posts (unless in plain text?) eliminates kind-of-important elements like apostrophes. There's no way to tailor notifications. There's no way to modify and correct "overdue" notifications for assignments that aren't necessary or were turned in late.
What's needed:
Less freezing and faster uploads. More tailoring options, including a "Favorites" list. More control over notifications. A neater Discussion interface.
2021-09-27
It’s fine
In a word, I would describe this Ap as “Fine”. I don’t love anything about it and I don’t really think it does a great job at anything, or even a good job at anything. But it doesn’t do a bad job either. It allows one to see assignment due dates and grades and make submissions in a way that isn’t pleasant, but isn’t hard to figure out either. Some notes Give me a place to view my calendar regarding due dates, for all classes in one place. This would be huge and I cannot stress this enough. Similar vein, give me a place where I can see all of my grades at the same time. Less significant but would still be pretty good. Otherwise, maybe set it up so I can submit something from Google Drive/Notability/GoodNotes/Pages straight to an assignment, something that is possible with Canvas and Schoology. Set up the assignments so that I can see the rubric/goal of the assignment in the same spot that I submit the assignment. As is I have to go back and forth between the two and it’s annoying and adds steps. Could just be the way my professor has it setup, but if so all of my professors have done this so … Finally kinda buggy sometimes. File formats wont open, or not well within the app, and this is true with a lot of links as well.
2021-06-04
you had a good thing going...
a couple months I used to sign into this via my institution;I had a very enjoyable experience. My university required a password update, and so I did. When i come back to view my grades after some time away the app requires a sign in again. And , to my surprise the simple to access and vibrant colour coding interface for viewing my marks was gone. Instead lazily replaced ,with what I imagine , a more condensed browser “mobile “ version of the website. ,which looks jarring.
I’m disappointed.
To the argument for the redesign is accessible for creating viewing documents on the app is not good enough.
During these difficult times, it is a necessity to have a computer or some device with desktop capabilities. Blackboard app is what i assume to be primarily for students, and most students have these devices. Some institutions may prefer to use “classroom,” why the latter choose to pay for a subpar service on grades and content access alludes me.
The viewing of grades was so intuitive before this change.
if you wanted a document accessible entity just create another app sole purpose is to upload. or download documents- a university dropbox if you will.
call it I don’t know. “Spare sheet?” or “Archademia” or “ spare copy” or “ che-k manilla folder” since you like the classroom supply name game.
I could even draw the logo if you wanted to.
I can believe i’m this angry on this change , but here we are.
2021-05-17
This is not it!
I’ve had this app since I started college and though the design was poor I had very few complaints. Now at the beginning of my spring semester I’ve updated it and I’ve regretted it every time I had to use the app. First and foremost, as a college student having to always log in is annoying and time consuming. It would be appreciated if we can log in by Face ID, Touch ID, or even a 4 digit pin. Second, it’s annoying that you can accidentally log out of the app by hitting the wrong x. To add its also annoying that if you go look at a syllabus or any link you can not go back to BB you have to logout and log back in. It is frustrating and caused me to not even want to do my work because I’m scared I’ll get logged out in the middle of working and have to log back in. Third, the app does not let you see full assignments and then freezes when trying to scroll. It would be nice to be able to see all of the assignment being that I use this app on the go.
2021-05-13
Inconsistent with the website
The app is where I go to when I need to *briefly* check something, because it does NOT offer full functionality. Sometimes the site will crash, and I’m able to attend class on the app, which is nice.
HOWEVER, it fails to show a lot of the graded items in the gradebook, and I’m not able to interact with it to see the details, which is severely disappointing. So not only does it not show all of the assignments, but I can’t see what my teacher left as feedback to see what I got right or wrong!! It’s very annoying!!
Also, on the activity stream, it usually won’t update, as in it will show me notifications from a few weeks or months ago, but not the most available or recent notifications from recently. Not to mention that notifications will reappear after I’ve dismissed them. It’s very irritating.
Lastly: it doesn’t allow me to manually reload pages. I’ll try dragging the page down to update it, but it usually won’t work at all. If there is a change, I have to close out the app, reopen it, and recheck it, which takes a significantly longer amount of time than just simply refreshing the page.
So yeah. The app is technically functional, but it does a pretty bad job at it. This is a very large inconvenience for students who can’t access the desktop site and must rely on the app. Please fix the app.
2021-04-27
It’s not as functional
I have used this app for years. But there are many things a student would need this for and it won’t work. #1 being the virtual classroom it often signs you out and the way it connected and you having to dial in for sound and it automatically connecting your mic is annoying I wish that would change. Also it doesn’t give the option to view and watch past recording in the virtual classroom which students may need. The one thing about the app I like is how grades are easily displayed and how you get notifications each time your grade is updated. All great but they need to work on the classroom especially now that everything is virtual students will be relying on this app. I also don’t like that you have to log back in each time or that a notification alert doesn’t take you to the assignment or grade directly does make it ver accessible
2021-03-30
Feels Like It Should Work, Doesn’t
My two main problems with the app are these:
1) Empty assignments. The reason I got any blackboard apps is because the website won’t show any assignment content/description on mobile devices, but for some reason that isn’t a problem fixed on mobile. So if you’re without a computer, you just straight up cannot see most of your assignment descriptions or attachments.
2) Doesn’t stay updated, even when it tells you it is. If I had a dollar for everytime I missed a minor assignment or announcement because I checked the app for one before class and it told me there was nothing new, I’d be rich. It’s not even that it will kick you out of a session and then not load you back in (though it does that too), its that it will do the little refresh at the bottom and give you the green check when it really has ended the session and has no new updates since you timed out. and theres NO WAY of knowing that unless youre smarter than me and have a good sense of when blackboard times out. I really peeves me.
I almost gave it two stars because it looks nice and smooth and I felt like there were worse, but it literally just looks like it works. Like if had slightly worse graphic design (just graphic, because even functionally blackboard is an unorganized counterintuitive mess) then I would easily slam it into the ground. The website at least works, as dumb as it can be to use. The app doesn’t. Fix it, please.
2021-03-12
For Such A Time As This!
I would like to make a personal note to both Professor McGinniss and Professor V. Also, Thank you Liberty University for having Spirit -Filled, God loving followers of Christ Jesus! There were times when I was going through and pressing my way through, believing as it is written in Luke 1:45. In those times unknowingly, both my Professors would send the weekly assignments and inspirational note of scripture. Those scriptures and encouraging words would connect and reaffirm what the Spirit of the LORD had spoken to me during my early morning prayer and worship!
I am truly grateful for all the times I sought the LORD on leading and guiding me to fulfill the plans He predestined for me, and that I may sense His Blessed Assurance, Professor McGinnis and Professor V would continuously send the right scripture Affirming God’s Word! 🙌🏽🩸🙏🏽🔥⚓️
Blessings & Miracles!
Angela Moody
2021-01-27
Canvas is better.
I used canvas during my high school dual credit courses. I now use blackboard for my classes at university. Having used both, I would just like to say that blackboard should take notes from canvas. I find blackboard to be more complicated and confusing to navigate. I know that some of my problems have to do with my professors and their organization skills but some difficulties can be attributed to the app itself. I would like to see a more uniform template for each class. I would appreciate it if every class had the same basic tabs instead of the teachers picking a choosing. I think the teachers should be able to add tabs but be forced to use basic tabs like an assignment list. One feature that I really miss from canvas is being able to test out different grades in your classes. On canvas, you can test out different grades for assignments to gauge what your average might be if you were to make that particular grade. I hope that this feature will be added to blackboard soon because it is extremely useful.
2021-01-07
It won’t leave my logged in...
There was a recent update that caused problems for me. The biggest reason I am giving this a 3 star is because the app will not keep me logged in to my account. Every time I open the app, it makes me re login through my schools site. If I have to do this, I’ll just load my schools site and access it through there. The beauty of this app beforehand was that it kept you logged in and all you had to do was launch the app to view grades and courses instantly. Personally, I liked the old version much better as of now. I don’t like the way you view grades now either... just seems a little cluttered. I liked how the older version displayed your grades, just seemed easier to read. On a positive note for this new update, it does make accessing other aspects of blackboard easier through a mobile source.
2020-11-10
Why do I have to login a million times!?
I have been using blackboard for my college courses for a few years now, and have had the same problem since the beginning. The Blackboard app makes me login every single time I want to use it. It’s super annoying to have to go through the entire login process multiple times a day just to check on assignments or grades. Every single person that uses blackboard has the same issue. I have used other apps such as canvas and never had a single issue. I work full time so I use this app and the notifications as a way of keeping track of assignments and knowing when new assignments are posted, but this issue has caused me to miss assignments because I was logged out and didn’t get notified when they were posted. Like I mentioned this is not a new issue, it has been going on for years. Also the blackboard app is not very user friendly and hard to navigate. You guys need to take some tips from other apps like canvas.
2020-11-08
Blackboard is only popular because it reached the market in the first wave
While this app is the backbone of schools in my region, they have been responsible for every grade of mine below an 90% due to their service being slow, time-consuming to learn thoroughly, and ineffective at training teachers who are forced to rely on the blackboard service. This app specifically doesn’t have a half of the capabilities we have on the computer, won’t even show an entire page of an assignment, makes it nearly impossible to find modules, won’t allow you to test or quiz (which I need since I work on an iPad and the mobile site is just as horrendous), and doesn’t support many basic functions we have come to expect. At times, it will only show certain assignments on the app, so when you log in on the computer, you see that there are many more parts or sections due. The discussion boards are old fashioned. It would be great to give those more of a feed-like feeling, rather than an assignment. I would like to get a notification if someone responds to my discussion, so I could reply back if they are asking a question. Since we are all online, I miss the type of classroom connections that Blackboard does not offer but plenty of other services make an effort to provide. I will be pushing my SGA to pressure our college to make the move towards Google Classroom. It’s time.
2020-09-13
Good but....
I use this app everyday for my university courses. This app is great but there are a couple annoyances about it that I’ve had that really frustrate me when I’m particularly stressed. The first one being that the app opens on the “Activity Stream” rather than my “Courses” tab and there is no setting to change this. I would like the ability to move the buttons in the left menu tab freely to the user’s liking, as well as, choose which tab the app opens on within settings.
The second annoyance being that upcoming due assignments are not marked as completed after submitting them. They remain in the upcoming assignments section. This can become rather stressful when there are over 15 assignments from various classes due throughout the week and you are unable to view which assignments you have or have not completed yet.
Overall this app seems to be user friendly but there are major adjustments that can be done such as incorporating a dark mode as well.
2020-04-12
2 years to fix annoying bug.
My comments don’t mean much in the sea of reviews, and BlackBoard already has its thousands of school contracts, so not like the reviews affect anything either. But the “Fixed a bug that frequently logged out users” fix took TWO YEARS to be solved. I’ve reported this issue several times since I began college. I am graduating and just now seeing it having been fixed. As someone who’s had to use the app several thousand times over the last couple years, typing in my 39-character email (yes, 39 characters) and 30 character password nearly every time has assuredly added up to dozens of hours of annoyance and wasted time, and time is of the essence as a college student with assignments due. Of course, there are at least 50 other minor issues I can think of, which add up to a major headache. I’ve also never met a classmate who hasn’t made comments about how abysmal the BlackBoard web platform and mobile app is. You seriously need to overhaul pretty much everything. Thank you, BlackBoard, for making my several-year college experience all the more painful.
2020-03-29
Aggressively mediocre
An unreliable and poorly-designed platform makes for an equally mediocre iOS app. In the era of intuitive, streamlined and visually appealing technology to assist in every work task under the sun, it’s disappointing that students are stuck with Blackboard. I find it to be fairly well-organized, but the iOS app is irritatingly glitchy— often, PDFs or embedded videos will glitch if I switch tasks while working, necessitating that I close and reopen my original task or sometimes even the whole app, which often loses my place. The text editor is as reviewed by others; fortunately I can usually submit my assignments as Word documents. In general, this platform has the potential to be perfectly decent and deserves the streamlining and design update it would take to make it a good tool for students. It does not feel as though any of the designers have used this app to actually attend college and considered what features are and are not used by a student. In general I feel that the app version is about equal to logging on through a browser, and both are better than nothing, I guess.
2020-02-13
Annoying
I am giving this app a one-star review because even though the app is useful in many ways, there’s still a lot that can be worked on or fixed.
One of the most annoying things about this app (and everyone agrees with me on this) is the fact that you have to keep logging in every single time I open and try to access the app, which is about 7-8 times a day. This is so inconvenient because as a student I do not want to keep logging in and entering all my information when I’m trying to do homework, study, and look at my grades. I have tested it out and I’ve found out that if I close the app and open it back up about 10-15 minutes later I find myself logged out. I have also asked around and I am not the only one who has to deal with and every single person can agree with me about the fact that it is, indeed, annoying. This is an issue that needs to be fixed because its inconvenience is tremendous.
Another feature that could be worked on is the design of the app itself. I believe that it does not go well with current apps that are in the market. Its design is still blocky and the transitions between sections are grotesque. I believe more friendly, rounded and somewhat colorful sections within the app will help its aesthetic design.
2019-04-06
What is happening?
I use blackboard multiple times a day, and I carry my phone more than I do my laptop so, i thought I’d be easy to access my grades and homework much quicker. I was wrong. I always have issues with keeping my writing studios in frame to work peacefully and I, too, find it frustrating I can’t type journals or blogs directly in the app when it’s NOT IN FRAME, I rather use my browser than this app. Then it is common for the app to GLITCH and go back and forth between the login page to the one I was looking at...four or five times before 50% of the time telling me to log in again. It happens a lot it’s annoying. Finally, it does not resemble in content the browser version- it OMITS uploads my professors have put up and are seen in the browser and unexpectedly not found in the app. My Chemistry professor, for instance, uploaded a list of homework guides and due dates and I couldn’t see it anywhere on the app- I searched all the content files and NADA...I gave up.
2019-03-29
super frustrating?
The only complaint I have for this app is the fact that I constantly am required to log in every 10-15 minutes after I’m not actively using the app. As a student I find this annoying and irritating. This app is nice, because it’s easier to navigate compared to when I log onto Blackboard on a browser on my phone.
Please acknowledge this issue and maybe make plans to fix/update for us students. Maybe have a Touch ID option? That would be amazing. It’d be great if we could easily access Blackboard without having to log in every time we open the app. As a student, I am busy and always studying. Plus, I like to have this Blackboard app open when I take notes on my iPad in class. I can quickly get to my recourses on Blackboard, but I don’t do that anymore. I have to log in EVERY TIME and I do not have time to type in my email and password when a lecture is going on. Accessibility is significant.
2019-01-14
Can’t find University of Houston
I always used the app, instead of having to log into my laptop, to check for quick assignment due dates or be notified of a new announcement from my professor. Now when I’m trying to log back in, after break, my school doesn’t even show up so I looked up the help link and Blb suggests to contact your university IT desk. Well it turns out my university doesn’t even know about the mobile app, not even knowing it existed, so looks like this is another disappointment. I can’t use the app and I don’t know who could help. The downtown and Clearlake campus show up but not main campus. Please fix the glitch!!!!
UPDATE: It’s finally working:) This app is so helpful in notifying me for updates on assignments or announcements I rely on it a lot.
2018-09-13
Why use The app when I can access more on the website through my mobile browser
Honestly, this app is only good for reading updates from professors and even that is sometimes not great. Easier to read them from my email sometimes. My main problem with this app is I can’t view all content that would show up on the website while doing modules, I can’t take quizzes which doesn’t make sense because it is just clicking a multiple choice or typing an answer, and when looking at grades I can’t view the item that was graded nor see what a professor has commented about my work. I am better off using the safari browser to do work on my iPad than using this app. And my ultimate problem is I have to log in EVERY TIME I want to access the app. No option to remember log in information yet it can send me updates ? Doesn’t make sense, it’s my device and no one else is using it, I should have the option of being able to stay logged in.
2018-05-01
Good, but needs work.
If all you want to use it for is to check your grades, then this app is spot on. Very user friendly interface, allowing for easy navigation through courses. Excellent grades interface giving true mobile format. These little things are great and I give respect where it is due.
My issues lie in further use of the app to do things like: Read/Write Course Messages, access the content bar that is on the left when in web GUI, use landscape mode, receive alerts for messages, and a few others I can’t think of at the moment.
The issues clearly reside in the apps lack of true mobile interfaces for each aspect of B.B. The only issues I have had are when the app just opens the web GUI, and now you can’t access areas on the page like the content bar on the left, or even the header portion of the page where the account icon is. I would rate this 5 stars EASILY if the web-vs-mobile app issue is resolved.
2018-03-02
A must for online or students on the go.
I have used blackboard in both my junior college and now my upper level school (ASU), and the app has been a tremendous help. It all depends on what course you are taking and how much the instructor utilizes things such as discussion boards. With that said I work full time, and I have been able to participate in many group discussions required for class, and see important announcements and assignments all while on my phone. This has eliminated the need to be tethered down to a computer. In fact I even did a whole months assignment while on vacation with my family using this app.
I took one star away because there are some interactions such as email and formatting differences between the app and the web version that lead to not having the ability to do all I can do from the web.
TL:DR this is a great app to have on your smart phone if your school uses blackboard.
2018-01-19
Simplifies my life!!
The app is very user friendly and easy to navigate. I solely used blackboard on my laptop but had discovered my laptop broke the literal morning I started class, so I decided to download the app so I wouldn’t have to navigate blackboard on my phones browser and could more easily access my instructor’s pages. This definitely does the trick for that. The only issue I have is that the due dates tab is not fully accurate, at least for me. I have 3/4 of my classes online, so it really helps me to just click the “due dates” tap and be able to access each assignment that’s due soon. It may be due to the instructor, I have no idea, but I can see where my grades would become horrid after missing a few assignments every week. This was my first week of class and there were about 3 assignments that weren’t displayed, but I was aware of because of a syllabus or class discussion. Please make sure you’re paying attention and don’t rely solely on the app for that!! Otherwise, you may find yourself in a rut of 0 in the grade book. Aside from that, the app completely simplifies my experience with blackboard and I can’t believe I went 3 semesters without it.
2018-01-12
Blackboard’s Text Editor Still Clunky, Ineffective
Just when I thought Blackboard’s clunky, awkward, and ineffective text editor couldn’t get any worse, the mobile app appears. While the mobile version of BB is very slightly more navigable than using Safari on the BB site, it is still such a clunky and non-intuitive interface! But nothing is worse than the 30-year-old look and feel of the ever-frustrating text editor. This editor barely qualifies as a WYSIWYG (Google it).
Due to the instability of the text editor, it has always been necessary to compose my assignments in Word before pasting them into BB. This new app is the worst yet, however, for correctly displaying my writing. Cases is point, footnote numbers are bracketed rather than superscripted, paragraph spacing is greatly exaggerated, indentation is lost in translation, italics and bolding are removed from the text, font faces are substituted, font sizes are adjusted, etc.—the result, my Discussion Board posts look like a fifth grader trying to do graduate work.
I have petitioned my institution to find a solution other than Blackboard for coursework submission, now I am imploring Blackboard to enter into the 21st century of computer programming. Please. I could live with all of the other oddities and quirks, if only BB had a decent text editor.
2017-09-13
App is finally working great again!
**UPDATE: The app was working great until the second day of school this semester. It stopped working completely and after two days I deleted the app and re-downloaded it. Now it is telling me my school is not even on the list so I am unable to even login. When it works, it works great. Often times, it does not work at all! :( wish the developer would just fix it and leave it alone!
UPDATE: blackboard has fixed the issue and the app is working great again so I revised my review to four stars! I would have gave them five but it did take over three weeks to fix the issue and I was unable to login during that time!
Oh my, there seems to be an issue on our side. After I put my login information in it redirects me to the statement above wearing it says there's an issue. I reported it to the developer who then told me to contact my general IT helpdesk at school. The school has now put a ticket in with the problem. It's still not working after three weeks and I have been unable to use the app at all. When I first started using this app, it was great. I could post my discussions, assignments and take quizzes on here. But I now have been unable to access the app at all for three weeks. Please fix this issue and I will update my rating.