Beesy iPad App is A Complete Project Management Solution or Overly Complex?
I purposely started my review of Beesy iPad app with a question because right from the start one of the first things I noticed when using the app was THIS APP IS BIG! It’s complex and it takes time to learn. However it is also covers all the bases somebody who manages very large professional projects would need to cover. For those types of people a simple “to do” list won’t cut it. They need more. So for some this would be a great app. For others it’s overkill. Lets Discuss…
Functionality
Functionality was not a problem with Beesy iPad app. This app is well developed, well tested, and very very well thought out. Not only did they go for a bug free app but I think once they had that they had a meeting to see what they could improve and then tested that. And quite possibly repeated this process until they came up with Beesy! This was just a long winded way of saying this app is solid, there were no crashes, and no problems running it all.
Appearance
Beesy’s a project management app so it doesn’t need to be pretty. It needs to work well for it’s users. That being said it looked to me like the developers went with a honeycomb design theme when creating the screens for this app. The theory being that each of the honeycombs joins together on one side or another to form a complete management solution. Each piece doing it’s part to form a whole. Beesy has a two column approach. The left column contains the items you can do based on what part of the program you are in and the right section is the area you work in most of the time. Along the bottom of the screen is a menu bar that contains the following items: Dashboard, Notes, To Do, People, Projects, and Settings. These are the main functions of Beesy. Within each function are even more sub functions and those are contained within a tool bar that is above the menu bar at the bottom. Within this toolbar are 16 honeycomb shaped buttons. The buttons from left to right are: Task, Event, Comments, Draw, Web, Map, Call, Meeting, Document, Questions, Idea, Customer, Content, Audio, Photo, and Event. Each of these takes the user to another function within the app. Each of these functions joins together to form a complete project management solution. Like I said earlier this app is large and complex. Some may look at this and think it’s just what they need. Others may get overwhelmed completely and give up on it. I guess it’s a matter of need and how easy they can pick up Beesy’s functionality.
Usability
Beesy is probably one of the most useful project management apps I’ve ever seen. There is so much functionality in this app that it’s almost to the point where I think it might be too much. But that’s strictly based on the “laziness factor”. What I mean by that is I think someone who is not as inclined to spend time learning how to use this app might be turned off by the fact that they really do need to go through the tutorial and figure out how to use it properly. If someone is lazy they most likely won’t wan to take that time to go through it all. Someone who is really looking for a good management tool for the iPad and doesn’t mind a little challenge will truly enjoy using Beesy. Beesy allows users to Sync their tasks and to do lists with their calendars with the simple push of a button. This app also automates the note taking process, allows users to sync their notes with Evernote. Evernote can be used in a desktop browser so now users can seamlessly use their notes, to do lists, and task on their desktop without the need to buy some new desktop application. Users can also export their project information to .csv for even more reporting functionality. Beesy can also let managers assign people on their teams to tasks, create agendas, and insert smart notes into project notes such as video, audio drawings, sketches, and photos. One of the best features of Beesy is also the easiest to learn. Searching of actions, projects or contacts is not only helpful, with an app like this is crucial! Beesy does this with flying colors! Besides search their is also filtering by topic, people, type or project. Users can import all iPad contacts and follow up on activity by those contacts. Overall Beesy is a top notch project management tool for business professionals. It can be a bit overwhelming at first but once you start getting the hang of it you will most likely not want to switch to anything else. This app is outstanding!
Price
Beesy has an extremely reasonable price of $5.99. Normally a price like that would make me stop in my tracks but in this case it’s not only a reasonable price, it’s a steal! This app on a PC or Mac platform could easily go for 10 times the price. If you’re looking for a great project management app for the iPad get this app!
More Beesy Screenshots
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I purposely started my review of Beesy iPad app with a ques…
About John McNamara
John McNamara is the webmaster and owner of TheAppReviewZone.com formerly iPhoneAppReviewGuy.com. He runs this website and also owns a DJ business which he runs part time. John is married, a father of two, and a complete geek when it comes to technology and mobile apps.
Hi John,
I’m Christopher Mesquita, BeesApps co-founder.
Thanks for this great article.
If your readers want more informations about Beesy :
- Features : http://www.beesapps.com/beesy-ipad-to-do/
- FAQ : http://www.beesapps.com/beesy-faq-ipad-at-work/
Regards,
Christopher
Thanks Christopher! I enjoyed using your app and I’m sure any readers interested in the app will appreciate the help!
Just discovered your great site and this excellent review, John…
Thanks for your clear overview of what appears to be a very useful app….
Been looking for something like this to use on my iPad and iPhone at work…also, use a laptop in the office that runs Windows…so, hoping to find a solution that my IT dept will let me use on the laptop and be able keep my tasks synced between my devices, no matter which one I enter tasks on….
Have been testing out Wunderlist. Have you tested it? If so, what do think about it versus something like Beesy? I do understand they are different kinds of apps….
I manage a series of large construction projects, each with their own tasks. I don’t work for the general contractor, so, don’t have those kinds of tasks to manage. I work for the owner, so, responsible for making sure that the various projects get done on-time, hopefully on-budget, and have to make sure that the projects have the right design and features in the buildings for end users. So, lot of my tasks are things to coordinate internally at my company as well as externally with the contractor and architect/engineers, etc…
So, not sure if something Beesy or Wunderlist like is the way to go….
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Mark
Beesy is much more complex than Wunderlist. However once you get the hang of Beesy I think you would be better off. It does much more for you in the long run. Best of luck!
Thanks for your reply and input, John. Greatly appreciate it!
Mark
Hi,
SImplicity or complexity. I’ve started using Notability for meeting notes and exporting them into Evernote. I use Omnifocus/Clear for complex/simple prjects/tasks. Why would I be better off using Beesy and how do you take a number of pages of handwritten notes therein in one meeting?
Hi David -
I’ve used Evernote too and it’s a fine product. I haven’t tried Omnifocus/Clear yet. I would say that they are all probably good apps to take notes. However Beesy takes a variety of notes and puts them toegether into once project. So they are easily searched when needed. You can assign tasks to different team members straight from Beesy’s interface. I would say take the time to learn as much as you can about it if you intend to use it because there is a bit of a learning curve to it. However I’ve been told that once you understand it, it’s worth it. Best regards ~John
John McNamara would like you to read iFile Browser App Review