Spok Mobile 4+

Great idea instead of using pager, however does not work if phone is on low battery mode unless the app is open. Would be nice to read the page on your Apple Watch or in the banner versus having to open the app and click the message every time as Well.

We switched from physical pagers to Spok when I started residency in 2017. Fast forward to now, this app has remained essentially unchanged, getting updates to make sure it remains functional with iOS updates, but nothing more. It feels like an app that was designed before the original iPhone even came out. It is clunky, has a terrible UI, and seems to function worse now than when I first had to use it (e.g., you are supposed to be able to tap phone numbers within a page to easily call, but this either doesn’t work now or you have to tap multiple times for the call prompt to come up). It’s just an embarrassment and they likely have no real incentive to improve it because huge healthcare systems often don’t want to switch to a new system.

Everyone I work with are required to use this app. Unfortunately, all of those same people experience bugs on a consistent basis. One person has delayed page reception, another won’t receive any pages whatsoever, some will be notified of a page and aren’t able to see it due the app crashing immediately upon opening. Sometimes the app will even update when you open a page and there’s nothing you can do. It takes up to 10-20 minutes for it to “update”. Closing the app doesn’t work. Uninstalling and reinstalling is more trouble than it’s worth. Any organization looking to use this app should reconsider.