Switching to Square Appointments VS Other Appointment App (Fresha)

[HCSalon]

We've used Fresha as salon booking App, and Square POS for card processing for 4 yrs (as Square Appointments was not available in Canada when we started). Now 1-week into trying Square Appointments to have booking & payment processing in one place, but I'm surprised to notice the lack of features / usability with Square Appointments. Listing them below for discussion or for others considering switching from Fresha.

(Note: We access apps at business using Android tablet and mobile devices)

Square Appointments App VS Fresha App - Android (as of Aug-21)

1. Payments Processing:
a) Settings > Payment Types: You cannot customize payment type names. For example after Contactless (card), common payment types include Cash, or Other Payment Type. We would like to record e-Transfer, however cannot create or rename payment types to accommodate.
b) Recording "Tips": You are only prompted for Tip when processing cards, therefore cannot record tip on Cash or Other Payment Types sales.

Our solution: We created an Item called Tip (we named it "+Tip" so it remains at top of alphabetically organised items list). However this does NOT record transaction in actual Tip category as are card tips, therefore is not included in Tips line of Reports.

2. Calendar Font Size:
When viewing in Calendar View > Day or Week, the font size of calendar appointments is very small, and NOT customizable no matter if you are using Tablet and have sufficient screen size to accommodate larger font.

3. Organization of Items & Services:
a) Items and Services > Categories: You can create Categories however titles are listed in alphabetical order, and mix both Items and Services, making it difficult to distinguish the two (an issue when going Checkout > and Library option lists "All Items & Services" without option to filter only Items, or only Services).

Our solution: Write Category titles in this format to achieve some organization and distinguish between the two "Item - xxxx" "Service - xxxx".
b) Categories on Online Booking Page: Your clients will NOT see the Categories your services are listed under, making it difficult for them to pick out the services they came looking for.

Our solution: Write a category name at the beginning of each service title "Cut | Men's Haircut" or "Colour | Balayage".

4. Inventory Management:
a) Items & Services > All Items >: So many missing features, Fresha allows you to record Brand, Product Category, Supplier, Supply Price, ect. You can create Custom Attributes in Square to record this info, however you cannot view them from mobile app, or mobile site (must use full Desktop site). So for example, if I want to give a client a discount on a product sale but need to know what my actual product cost was, even though I created and recorded a Custom Attribute called "Supply Price", I cannot view this info when using App.

Also Fresha allows you to generate reports comparing item supply $ to sales $, showing profit per item.

5. Square Messages:
Messages allows clients to reply to the SMS messages from Square appointment booking, and allows a conversation between business and client from same SMS # / conversation. Great! No more clients trying to reply to a No-Reply SMS #.
a) Message Notification does NOT display in Square Appointments App (android, as of Aug-21), but does display in Square POS App. Push-Notification not working for us with Square Messages.
b) Clicking on notification (in Square POS App) brings you to web link, takes a VERY long time to open link.
c) No option to TURN-OFF Square Messages feature. Between Google My Business msg, Facebook Business page msg, business phone/sms/email, and now Square Messages, how does a small business keep up and continue working! If a business does not want this feature, it should be able to turn it off so customers can contact the business the way the owner prefers.
Messages review summary: Messages is new feature which I hope will be improved quickly. Having client reply to same SMS # they received appointment confirmation from is optimal, but the chat feature should be in-app for the business, and able to receive Push-Notifications.

6. Slow to Load Square Appointments App:
Waiting for app to open to process client payment is stressful. I'm having this issue on Android tablets, not on Android smartphones. I don't experience lag when using app, just when opening. I've optimized tablets to run minimal background apps, firmware & apps updated.
Tried the following tablets:
a) Samsung Galaxy Tab A6 (1.3GHz quad-core processor, 1.5GB RAM, 8GB Storage), takes *13 seconds* to open Square Appointments app.
b) Bought new (2021) Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 (2.3GHz octa-core processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB Storage) hoping for better performance, takes *9 seconds* to open Square Appointments app.
c) My 3 year old cell phone instantly opens Square Appointments app.

Can the Square Apps be optimized to reduce delay when opening? Or provide an option to start on tablet boot-up, so it's always running and won't delay to open?

SUMMARY OF SWITCHING TO SQUARE APPOINTMENTS:

At this point I am wondering if switching to Square Appointments was a good idea. The need to do so many "work-arounds" because of limited app features or restrictions is troublesome i.e. record e-Transfer as Other Payment Type, record Tip as an item when processing Cash or Other Payment Type transaction, difficulty with Items & Services organization, Inventory management lack of features in App, etc.

Square having a 25% marketshare in POS-system, and revenue of $4.68 billion in latest Quarter, I expected more from their apps.

Overall I'm hoping posting in Seller Community will help me discover new solutions to these issues, or encourage Square to implement changes.

[PoppedCork]

I’ve been seeing a lot of this as well. I would really like to be able to customize more stuff. Square needs to step it up some and not just in appointments app but retail and online website.