Tech Forum Archive

(LDS) Tools Calendar vs Gospel Living app Calendar

7 postsstarted by thattoe 5,848 viewsoriginal topic

thattoe
New Member
#1
There is a serious disconnect between the (LDS) Tools app and the Gospel Living app. 1. The calendars don't sync with each other. The Tools app was exportable to Google calendar, Outlook, and more. You could make reoccurring events and reserve space at the stake, and give permissions to appropriate persons to maintain the calendar too.

The Gospel Living app lacks all of this. It doesn't sync with any calendar systems, and doesn't have any customizable functions. Can we please just merge the LDS tools functionality with the intent of the Gospel Living app?

In order for people to know an event is going on, for my ward, we have to put it into the the Tools calendar, to reserve a room at the stake level (How our stake did it for many years). Then i have to go create an event in Gospel Living, post it on the ward Facebook page, and then send out an email. That's for 1 event, and it isn't possible to cause it to reoccur.

If the Gospel Living app synced with the Tools app, it would make it so i could pull the info and create an rss feed or .ical event. Then I could ITFT it over to Facebook. With no web interface for the Gospel Living app, it's much more difficult to pull the info from.

Am i missing something, or is there an easier way? It honestly feels like the church apps are like Google's products- developed independent of each other, then feel clunky when they should be seamless. And right now, members don't know where to look for event details.
dtavres
New Member
#2
As I have been asking friends around the Country, their Wards mostly don't even KNOW about the Gospel Living app.

I totally agree that they should sync - BUT - I think I'd rather see the Gospel Living app broken up anyway.

The "Today" (Calendar) 'tool' in the GLA should really just be a shortcut to the LDS Tools Calendar.
And the "Circles" 'tool' *needs* to be it's own app. If we want people/Wards to adopt it - and use it - it should be a stand-alone item. I have shown so many people the "Circles" app, and they are surprised to learn about it.

Sadly, it looks like no one is monitoring the GLA - or - it's just not a priority. There are A LOT of messages on the Forum about Circles, and not much action. :(
Desert Breeze Ward | Lakes Stake | Las Vegas, NV | dave@tavres.com | http://www.Tavres.com
sbradshaw
Community Moderators
#3
This is a user-to-user forum, so the best way to send feedback to the Gospel Living team is to use the in-app Send Feedback option, under Profile.

I tend to agree that some of the functionality of Gospel Living could/should be consolidated into or connected with Member Tools, which already has a calendar, options for contacting ward members, and creation of custom lists. I'm guessing it's mainly a question of audience (the main audience for Gospel Living is intended to be youth).
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
JamesWebb
New Member
#4
Given people being blocked from some social media apps our ward is encouraging all members to use the Gospel Living app.

At the end of the months we are closing our Ward's Facebook site.

I would like to see the GL app calendar as a personal calendar that you can choose to sync the Tools Calendar to.

Yes, I will suggest this through the GL app.
dtavres
New Member
#5
JamesWebb wrote:I would like to see the GL app calendar as a personal calendar that you can choose to sync the Tools Calendar to.
You can sync the Ward calendars with your phone/email:

Sync the Ward and Stake Calendars
You can sync the Ward / Stake calendars to your personal Google, Apple, and Microsoft calendar by following these instructions:

1. On your computer, go to www.LDS.org.
2. At the top-right corner, click the “My Account and Ward” link, then under the “My Ward” section, click on “Calendar.” (You’ll likely have to sign in with your LDS.org account.)
3. In the left-navigation, click the ‘eye’ icons to show or hide the calendars you want to see/sync. (Anything visible here, will be what syncs to your personal calendar.)
4. At the top-right area, click the ‘gear’ icon, then click “Sync.” The “Auto-synced Calendars from Your List” will show which calendars will sync to your calendar.
5. At the bottom-left area, click the “Synced Calendar URL” link, then click the blue “Copy URL” button.
6. Follow the instructions under the blue “Copy URL” button to use the copied calendar URL to sync/subscribe for Google, Apple, and Microsoft calendars.

https://www.desertbreeze.org/links/
Desert Breeze Ward | Lakes Stake | Las Vegas, NV | dave@tavres.com | http://www.Tavres.com
adamyaksich
New Member
#6
thattoe wrote: Sat Feb 06, 2021 1:22 am There is a serious disconnect between the (LDS) Tools app and the Gospel Living app. 1. The calendars don't sync with each other. The Tools app was exportable to Google calendar, Outlook, and more. You could make reoccurring events and reserve space at the stake, and give permissions to appropriate persons to maintain the calendar too.

The Gospel Living app lacks all of this. It doesn't sync with any calendar systems, and doesn't have any customizable functions. Can we please just merge the LDS tools functionality with the intent of the Gospel Living app?

In order for people to know an event is going on, for my ward, we have to put it into the the Tools calendar, to reserve a room at the stake level (How our stake did it for many years). Then i have to go create an event in Gospel Living, post it on the ward Facebook page, and then send out an email. That's for 1 event, and it isn't possible to cause it to reoccur.

If the Gospel Living app synced with the Tools app, it would make it so i could pull the info and create an rss feed or .ical event. Then I could ITFT it over to Facebook. With no web interface for the Gospel Living app, it's much more difficult to pull the info from.

Am i missing something, or is there an easier way? It honestly feels like the church apps are like Google's products- developed independent of each other, then feel clunky when they should be seamless. And right now, members don't know where to look for event details.
Bump! This is an excellent idea.
lynnber
New Member
#7
What I would like to see and what would be helpful to the leadership groups is a shared calendar option similar to microsoft teams so that we can have a unified way of communicating meetings, interviews and appointments.