Approval Links vs. New Todo/Manual Task - Why the Change?

I am writing to express my concern regarding the recent changes impacting the Approval Links feature. This functionality has been quite helpful in our business approval processes, specifically for time-off requests and purchase orders. Its ability to facilitate approvals without mandatory user accounts was particularly valuable, given our seasonal workforce where not all individuals possess organizational accounts.

The transition to Manual Tasks/To-Do, which necessitates user account creation for task visibility and response, presents a significant challenge. This requirement disrupts our established workflow and creates the impression that the platform is steering users toward paid team features for essential approval processes.

Essentially, we need to know what’s happening with the Approval Links module, now that it’s labeled as legacy. Specifically, we’re asking:

  • Will the Approval Links continue to work as they do now?
  • Are there plans to retire or remove them?

I ask as I need to figure out if we’ll have to rework our workflows to fit the new system, or if we should look into other platforms that have these ephemeral workflows/links without account creation needed. The requirement for everyone to create accounts adds an extra, unnecessary step, and it really takes away from the streamlined process we had with the Approval Links.

*Edit: I do know that we could use something like webhooks and the like as a response, but again, this method was/is much simpler overall.

+1.

Would love to see a TODO feature to generate unique approval links (using URL parameters for each status option). This would allow us to integrate approvals with all the other connectors/systems that a business uses and that ActivePieces already supports.

It eliminates requiring people to access ActivePieces just for approvals when they have no other reason to be in the system. This approach better aligns with ActivePieces’ core purpose - streamlining operations and connecting systems without adding unnecessary complexity.

Hi @Stitched

Thank you for writing the feedback, there is no hidden reasons behind why it’s designed like that or to steer you into paid plan, we have also place to provide feedback at https://feedback.activepieces.com

The feature is still in beta as we are still learning how people used approvals, and approvals will continue for work but soon it will be removed from piece selector so people use TODOs, that will be done as soon as TODOs is no longer in beta and we have learnt the use cases.

The approval links is already working in progress and will be part of TODOs feature as mentioned here:
https://feedback.activepieces.com/p/add-approval-links-for-todos

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Hi @abuaboud

I’d like to apologize for my earlier message and the implication about pushing for paid Teams/Projects initially. It was a knee-jerk reaction on my part, influenced by past experiences with services that unexpectedly altered offerings without discussion. From my initial use of ToDo’s, it seemed that the only way to manage approval or denial permissions was through Teams/Projects rather than links, which led to my concern.

Thank you for clarifying the details and sharing the future roadmap for this feature. I truly appreciate the service you’re providing and the effort your team puts into developing and improving these tools. It’s great to see such transparency, and I will make sure to provide any feedback or feature suggestions through the appropriate channels moving forward.