Trakist

Trakist includes features such as an easy to use interface, a powerful scheduler, payment tracker, attendance keeper and much more. This app is rated 4+ on the iOS platform (apps in this category contain no objectionable material) and is free to download with full-featured content for up to two classes. Further classes can be purchased via a monthly subscription or a single payment for a year. Trakist is free from in-app adverts and the developer does not collect any of your data. Trakist is available on the iOS platform and is suitable for both mobile and tablet devices in portrait mode.

Once the user has entered the application there are encouraged to Add their first student or Class. The display uses a clean, easy to read font and an intuitive layout displaying the following options:

A Student Icon – Students can be added in this easy to use feature along with avatars, photos, student names, student details and more.

The Home Icon – Returns the user to the home page. Here the user can see today’s scheduled classes, attendance, next and previous classes.

The Classes Icon – Enables the user to access the classes that have been added with further options to add classes, link students. Arrange the students alphabetically and much more. 

The Settings Icon – There are several features listed here. These include a help feature, hide inactive students, hide finished classes, manual backup, save data to iCloud, restore data from iCloud, change the app icon, subscription details, terms and conditions and advanced options. The advanced options allow the user to export data as a CSV or JSON file which is an ideal feature for creating spreadsheets.

The Calendar Icon – The displays your classes in an easy to read format along with classes listed underneath.

The Display Icon – This feature enables the user to edit what they see on the Home page. Items that can be shown include active classes, next class, previous class, Upcoming schedule, payment information and attendance details.

Although this application could be used for business purposes we will review this application from an educational perspective as a classroom teacher. Adding a Student requires the user to enter the student name. An avatar or photo can be added here along with classes, student details (email, phone and address) and notes. There are options to modify and edit these entries accordingly. Once the students have been entered they can be arranged by sessions remaining, alphabetically or searched for. There is also an option to view the students as a gallery of images rather than a list.

Adding your first class requires the user to add the name of the class. Once this has been created students can be selected from those already entered in the application. The class can be scheduled by adding an appropriate session date and time slot. From here an attendance register can be taken along with notes and rescheduling of the class. A notification of the class can also be added using several different notification periods from 5 minutes before up to 2 days before. The class can be scheduled at different times on a weekly, 2 weekly or monthly basis by pressing the class name in the top left. The question mark icon in the top-right provides some excellent guidance on how to use this.

Once the student and class information has been entered the Home screen display will change to display the following:

Today’s schedule for the number of classes there are remaining including tomorrows schedule when the user’s swipes left. The current schedule can also display classes for yesterday, today, tomorrow, next week, and this month. Once again, this interface is easy to use and very easy to read. Attendance is displayed below the schedule. This can be displayed for this week, this month and last month. Details are shown for classes attended, cancelled, rescheduled and open. The next class is displayed at the top of the day. There are further options to reschedule this, cancel the class, take a register and view the class details. The Home screen can also be edited to display the following items: active classes, next class, previous class, Upcoming schedule, payment information and attendance details. Once the application is closed all data is retained enabling the user to pick up from where they left off.

Is the Trakist app easy to use?

The Trakist application is an in-depth, feature-rich app that has many uses. The application has a very clean look to the fonts and menus. At no point does the screen look over cluttered. Each of the menus can be easily accessed and the user interface is very intuitive. Sometimes applications, similar to Trakist are hugely complicated, the developers have done a great job in making this application intuitive and easy to use.

How will parents benefit?

Parents could use this application for business purposes, for tracking home tuition or for tracking their child’s school timetable. The only downside would be that the data would need to be entered by the parent. 

How will teachers benefit?

Teachers could use this application for class scheduling and monitoring attendance, student details, notes and possibly assignments. This application is ideal for teachers who are also private tutors.

How will the user benefit?

It is great for personal organisation! Our users found the application a delight to use with the scheduling of classes as well as adding students was a very quick process. Trakist helps you manage classes or events enabling you to focus on what you do without worrying about the time-consuming details.

What we love about the Trakist app

The Trakist app is an excellent application, here are just some of the features that we love.

The design and the layout of the app is very easy to navigate and read, even on a small device.

The small set of prompt instructions at the beginning of the application is much appreciated.

Entering students and classes is very straight forward and surprisingly fast.

The user interface for adding a scheduled class as a date and time slot has been very well thought out by the developers, making it very easy to apply.

The payment option is a great feature and although this may not be suitable for a classroom teacher it would be a welcomed feature for those who use the application as a business tool. Teachers could use the payment setting for payments of a school trip.

The ability to change to applications is a nice touch, especially for those who take specific classes. We hope the developers continue to add these changeable icons.

What the Trakist app could improve on

The Trakist app is an excellent application and there is a limited amount of improvements that can be made, however, we have suggested the following:

There may be some concerns regarding data protection and safeguarding. For a teacher, it may cause concerns if student photographs were on their mobile devices in any form even as a school photo.

As the application becomes more in-depth the menu systems can sometimes be confusing.

It would be ideal for the application to enable students to be allocated a seat number to be used for a classroom seating plan.

Not all teachers teach on a week to week timetable but often have Week A and Week B on a two-week rota. It would be could to be able to add this feature or make it more evident.

We were unsure whether classes could be colour coded within the scheduling.

Trakist needs to ensure their users that they are not in breach of safeguarding issues in regards to student photos and student details.

The ability to import student data from a CSV file into the application could save a vast amount of time when entering student details.

How much does the Trakist application cost?

This application is free to download with full-featured content for up to two classes. Further classes can be purchased via a monthly subscription or a single payment for a year.

Is Trakist safe to use?

Yes. The application does not require an account and email to start with. The developers have ensured everything you view is age-appropriate and secure. 

Overall Rating of the application

There are similar scheduling applications on the market but none of these applications handles the complex features, as well as Trakist, does. The clean, intuitive user interface is a delight to use and we can see Trakist being utilised in many different scenarios from private tutors to classroom teachers to those who run a small client-based business. Trakist comes highly recommended by The Educational App Store.

You can download Trakist on your iOS devices from the Apple App Store.