Substitute Notification

As I mentioned last post, the TDE is now also a substitute teacher. There is an online system that posts jobs, but this system does not include any notifications. Without a separate notification app, I would have to just keep refreshing the website to see if there are new jobs posted. In today's post I'm going to do a quick comparison of 3 common apps that are available for substitute teachers.

First, a quick list of things to consider:
1) How notifications are sent: email, text, or in-app. In-app notifications require the app to be open and running on your device.
2) Where the app "lives." If the app is stored and running from your device, it will either require you to have your computer running constantly (not in sleep mode) at home OR it will run on your mobile device and drain the battery. Those that live in the cloud do not require this power drain.
3) Can I accept the job within the app (easy one click to accept) or do I need to go log into the actual sub job system separately to accept the job?
4) Legality issues. When you sign up for the online sub system you have to agree to a user agreement. I didn't read through all the details of this when I signed up, but my online investigations have led me to understand that the user agreement prevents the use of certain 3rd party notification apps. This is because the company also created a separate notification program that they want you to use (Jobulator) so they prevent the use of some others. I tried to find the actual user agreement so I could quote it directly, but was unfortunately unable to find it. From what I've found online, as long as the app doesn't refresh more than once every 60 seconds and/or does not allow subs to accept jobs within the app then it is OK. However, because I was unable to find the actual user agreement, I am not sure that this is correct.
5) Cost

Second, a quick shout out to this previous comparison which helped me understand some of the differences between the apps.

Third, I am only including apps that work with the Aesop online system as that is the system I am using to find out about jobs in my area.

So, what did I find? There are pros and cons to all of them. Here's a summary table:

CORRECTION: Per Sub Sidekick's comment, it runs in the cloud, not on your computer.

SubSidekick:

Lives on the computer and therefore requires the computer to be running constantly. It is also the most expensive of the apps and has the shortest free trial period. One unique positive feature is that it is the only app that offers additional filters. Maybe you never want to sub for a history class. This app would be able to exclude history jobs from the notifications it sends you. For me, that wasn't a big enough positive to outweigh the cost and the power consumption.

Jobulator:

The official Aesop companion app so there are no concerns about legality or violating the user agreement. This is also the cheapest of the three but requires a full year payment/commitment upfront. It includes easy in-app job acceptance which is nice. The app installs onto your mobile device meaning that you don't have to leave your computer running constantly, but it does run down the battery of your mobile device. It doesn't seem to have the option of sending alerts other than the in-app alerts meaning you HAVE to have it running (and using your battery life) for it to work. Because it has to be running constantly in the background on my phone for it to work, it doesn't seem like the app for me.

SubAssistant:

This on runs on the cloud and then sends notifications to email, text, or the Android app. This one also has in-app job acceptance but this *might* be a violation of the user agreement. Cost-wise this one is in the middle but still pretty high at $8 per month. I'm not interested in violating my user agreement or paying that much so this one is out too.

So yes, I just eliminated ALL of them. 

Plan B was to download the free trial of one of them, and when it expires, download a different free trial, and then the third free trial. That would at least get me through this school year and would help me decide if they are worth the money. 

But, I didn't do that either.

Plan C, which became Plan A: The ITH took it upon himself to write me my own app in Python. It's a bit simpler than the others, but my hubby wrote me an app that will email me when there are new jobs, which is pretty darn cool. It also sends a screen shot so I can see all the job details. Finally, my notification app is FREE. No monthly or yearly charge when you DIY!

So, here's that table again, including the ITH app:

**Right now it doesn't send the link, but I've already put in a request to update the app to include this feature.

UPDATE: It took the ITH about 3 minutes to make the update. Now my emails have links!

*As long as we don't set the refresh time to more frequently than once every 60 seconds.

The app is running on the BeagleBone Black that the ITH bought a few months ago (for no reason other than it's cool and he'd find a use for it eventually, which he did.) So yes, technically if you don't have a BeagleBone Black or Raspberry Pi or something similar this app would have to be run on a computer and would require that the computer be running constantly. However, the ITH is smart and installed it on the little BeagleBone so that the power consumption would be lower.

So there you have it folks. If you don't like the options available to you, make your own!

PS: Dishwasher soap experiment is going well so far. 1 trial of each soap is complete. 2 more trials of each to go (except for soap D because I'm pretty sure I used up the last of it on trial 1....)