Can you recommend a decent Calendar app you've been using?

[Marty_Macfly]

Hi All,



Mr trying to get organised here, start of a new year and all that!

Another crucial app wanted

Can you recommend a decent Calendar app you've been using?




What I'm after:


Important:

1. Across iPad, iPhone, MacBook.

2. Good resizing, showing title clearly
- Outlook 365 does an annoying "0900 - 1000: ....." so on a small screen, you can't read the actual appointment title!


3. Good calendar basic functions:
- Apple Calendar is pretty limited as well - for example setting appointment dates. (No "1st saturday of the Month" options etc.)



Optional:

4. Can pull in easily OUTLOOK diary data, so I don't need to manually type in

5. Easy click categories and creation - adjustable to my own metrics would be cool.




Recommendations appreciated!

Regards
Martin

 

[mk313]

I like the built in app calendar app. You are able to set up recurring appts on the first of every month (if that's what you meant by #3) but only from the Mac, not from a phone or iPad. Choose repeat, the Custom, then monthly & it's right at the bottom.

 

[petvas]

I can recommend Fantastical. It is a great app, supports Exchange (Office 365 accounts) and looks very good.

 

[4bs]

Hi All,



Mr trying to get organised here, start of a new year and all that!

Another crucial app wanted

Can you recommend a decent Calendar app you've been using?




What I'm after:


Important:

1. Across iPad, iPhone, MacBook.

2. Good resizing, showing title clearly
- Outlook 265 does an annoying "0900 - 1000: ....." so on a small screen, you can't read the actual appointment title!


3. Good calendar basic functions:
- Apple Calendar is pretty limited as well - for example setting appointment dates. (No "1st saturday of the Month" options etc.)



Optional:

4. Can pull in easily OUTLOOK diary data, so I don't need to manually type in

5. Easy click categories and creation - adjustable to my own metrics would be cool.




Recommendations appreciated!

Regards
Martin

fantastical.

 

[krome]

Another for Fantastical

 

[Marty_Macfly]

I like the built in app calendar app. You are able to set up recurring appts on the first of every month (if that's what you meant by #3) but only from the Mac, not from a phone or iPad. Choose repeat, the Custom, then monthly & it's right at the bottom.

Awesome, I've just used the Custom feature one the Mac now! Thanks MK!


Its a bit annoying all the different apple gadgets have different calendar options to them, I had them all lined up to try and figure out how to get custom dates, alerts, repeating alerts etc. I found out one of the other reasons why options differ, was if the category was a outlook imported repeating event etc..


At one point yesterday, to get all the birthdays entered into the Apple eco system, I had lined up, opened on calendar:
1. The Windows laptop
2. The iPad
3. The iPhone
4. The MacBook
5. The Filofax.

Doh!


Regards
Martin

 

[mk313]

Awesome, I've just used the Custom feature one the Mac now! Thanks MK!


Its a bit annoying all the different apple gadgets have different calendar options to them, I had them all lined up to try and figure out how to get custom dates, alerts, repeating alerts etc. I found out one of the other reasons why options differ, was if the category was a outlook imported repeating event etc..


At one point yesterday, to get all the birthdays entered into the Apple eco system, I had lined up, opened on calendar:
1. The Windows laptop
2. The iPad
3. The iPhone
4. The MacBook
5. The Filofax.

Doh!


Regards
Martin

If you haven't yet entered the birthdays, I'd strongly recommend doing it through the contacts app and then enabling the Birthdays calendar in the calendar settings. I like it better this was for 2 reasons: 1. It keeps everything together, so you don't have some contact info in the calendar & other info in the contact app & 2. If you've entered a birth year, it will show what birthday this is, so this year it will say Marty McFly's 32nd Birthday, then next year Marty McFly's 33rd birthday, etc which saves having to do the mental math every time.

 

[macsimcon]

I would avoid Fantastical. I have been using it for years, and it has always been buggy. The application hangs, so I have to force quit it. It routinely fails to update calendars, so I have to restart it. And I'll get a spinning beachball cursor when I add a new appointment if I haven't restarted the application in a few days. The spinning beachball doesn't go away after a few minutes like a normal wait cursor does, I have to force-quit the application.

 

[AZhappyjack]

I would avoid Fantastical. I have been using it for years, and it has always been buggy. The application hangs, so I have to force quit it. It routinely fails to update calendars, so I have to restart it. And I'll get a spinning beachball cursor when I add a new appointment if I haven't restarted the application in a few days. The spinning beachball doesn't go away after a few minutes like a normal wait cursor does, I have to force-quit the application.

And you get to continue paying monthly/annually for the grief. Just say "NO!" to subscription apps.

 

[OlliFlamme]

Me:
WeekCal on iPhone / iPad
Stock Calendar app on Mac
Using iCloud for private / own business + Outlook 356 from main business client.
All works amazingly well.

shared calendars on both eco systems, birthdays using stock Contacts app across all Apple devices.

weekcal is a gem, with a load of built in features, like:
- custom app colour schemes
- automatic icons for e.g. flights, sports activities, etc. - all according to your settings (tennis gives a 🎾, horse riding gives 🐴, flight info based on the letters of carriers lead to ✈️, car maintenance gets 🚘... you get it)
- one calendar appointment can be instantly saved to multiple calendars
- excellent view options: week view, mini month view (my favourite)

etc.

weekcal exists for mac too, but haven’t dived into it yet.

check it out?!

 

[Apple_Robert]

I have been using Fantastical with no problems for several years. Calendar 366 also does an excellent app. Take a look at Calendar 366 first. If it doesn't meet with your liking, look at Fantastical. The later is a small one time fee. The former is $40 a year.

 

[njvm]

I am very happy with BusyCal (https://www.busymac.com) on my Mac and phone - never had any problems with it.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Since you have the M1, Martin, try and stick with apps that are native or universal. They will run much better (usually have better support when needed) versus an Intel app that needs Rosetta and may be slower depending on the app. You want an app that is regularly updates with good developer communication.

 

[Easttime]

After trying many calendar apps over the years, including Outlook on Windows and Mac, I reverted to to the stock Apple app when Fantastical went subscription. I‘m not anti-subscription, I was just was so pleasantly pleased with the simplicity and Apple integration of the stock app for home and work that I stuck with it. I also prefer the security of iCloud over some 3rd party server integration. I used to look for integrated todo and calendar functions, but Things 3 works so well for my todos that I’m good now with a separate app for that. And Things also shows entries from the Apple calendar app, which is handy.

 

[ssmed]

I use Outlook for work, Apple's calendar for home, but thought I would post as I have added Agenda recently and this appears to be working well.

 

[petvas]

After trying many calendar apps over the years, including Outlook on Windows and Mac, I reverted to to the stock Apple app when Fantastical went subscription. I‘m not anti-subscription, I was just was so pleasantly pleased with the simplicity and Apple integration of the stock app for home and work that I stuck with it. I also prefer the security of iCloud over some 3rd party server integration. I used to look for integrated todo and calendar functions, but Things 3 works so well for my todos that I’m good now with a separate app for that. And Things also shows entries from the Apple calendar app, which is handy.

Fantastical can be used with iCloud accounts. It works much better than the default apps, especially its support for O365 is great.

 

[AppleSmurf]

I like outlook, works great between my apple devices.

 

[petvas]

I like outlook, works great between my apple devices.

The problem with Outlook is its lack of integration with macOS and iOS. Especially on macOS there are no extensions and no support for OS based calendar notifications. Also no support for features that the Mail.app has, to detect dates and appointments.
On iOS Outlook doesn't support notifications for subfolders (when receiving mails). Its calendar app is good but is not integrated in any way with the Apple ecosystem. The Apple Watch app is also not as good as from other apps..

 

[thefourthpope]

I can recommend Fantastical. It is a great app, supports Exchange (Office 365 accounts) and looks very good.

Another vote for Fantastical. I know people hate the subscription model, but the updates they’ve rolled out this year alone are worth the cost to me. It does things I quite literally never expected I wanted in a calendar: shows the weather, detects videoconferencing links, integrates task lists, multiple calendar “sets.”

I’ve been using it since March (COVID disrupted my usual work enough that it was time for a big step back and reconsideration of my overall approach) and will not go back.

 

[Don_Con]

As much as it pains me to recommend a "subscription app", Fantastical still continues to out perform what is out there to date IMHO. The updates lately have made its super stable (at least on high sierra), the mini calendar, the ability to one-click joining team/zoom/webex meetings from the status bar, it has really changed my work flow.

But the integration of google tasks to fantastical has really pushed it over the edge.

 

[Big Bad D]

I am very happy with BusyCal (https://www.busymac.com) on my Mac and phone - never had any problems with it.

+1 from another very satisfied Busycal user.

 

[coolajami]

I don't see any point using a paid app for calendar, especially for non-professional use, as the macOS one is perfectly sufficient for most everyday tasks and as discussed above you can do all the things you describe in your post. Also pulls info from your contacts (birthdays/anniversaries) Reminders (tasks with end dates etc) and Mail app (invites, travel itineraries etc).

Outlook is also good and free, and if you're an enterprise user you may have to use it because some exchange servers are set to collaborate only with the Outlook app. In that case you cannot sync the exchange server with any other app. I like outlook because the new MS To-Do is powerful and I love it (I used to use Wunderlist and it felt just natural transiting to MS To-Do).

Fantastical and Busymac are quite good, I used their free trials, but I didn't find any reason to pay subscription for only minor enhancements and except if you really really really need a feature I wouldn't cave into the hype. IMHO, that applies to all of these office applications (to-do apps, note keeping apps etc) as they really do not offer something that will be a game changer for a professional.

 

[Erehy Dobon]

If you haven't yet entered the birthdays, I'd strongly recommend doing it through the contacts app and then enabling the Birthdays calendar in the calendar settings. I like it better this was for 2 reasons: 1. It keeps everything together, so you don't have some contact info in the calendar & other info in the contact app & 2. If you've entered a birth year, it will show what birthday this is, so this year it will say Marty McFly's 32nd Birthday, then next year Marty McFly's 33rd birthday, etc which saves having to do the mental math every time.

This is by far the better way of handling birthday dates in Apple's Calendar apps.

If notifications are turned on, by default you will receive a notification of a person's birthday the day before at 9am local time.

Also, this gives you the ability to turn off birthdays in a particular calendar.

 

[posguy99]

I use Fastmail's web app. Works great, works anywhere. Bog-standard CalDAV service so it talks to everything. I would never allow Apple's services to be authoritative.

 

[Yorkshire Lad]

I've started using Calendar 366 Lite, which also has a paid-for version and a Mac version. The free version works for me, and it's one of the few that has a layout that I like on both iPad and iPhone. I used to enjoy Tempo (and still have it on an old iPad Mini), but that was closed down years ago when they were bought out.