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Fantastical 2 Debuts on iPhone With Reminders and Improved Event Parser

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Apr 12, 2001
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Flexibits today released Fantastical 2, a fully reworked version of the popular iOS calendar app.

The new app, which is a separate purchase for existing Fantastical owners, includes reminders support, an improved sentence parser -- perhaps the most unique and valuable feature in Fantastical -- background app refresh, and more.

Fantastical 2 now includes the ability to create and manage reminders directly from the event parser. Users can create reminders as well as calendar events using plain english. The parser allows users to type in full sentences like "Meeting with Eric Slivka at Ken & Sue's on Tuesday at 7", or to use geofencing when creating reminders: "remind me to pick up the dry cleaning when I leave work".
"We wanted to make an iOS 7 iPhone calendar app worthy of the name Fantastical," said Michael Simmons, Co-Founder of Flexibits. "With its beautiful iOS 7 design and functionality, we're confident users are going to love Fantastical 2 for iPhone."

With Fantastical 2 for iPhone, users will quickly and easily create, view, and search all of their events and reminders. The advanced natural language engine is extremely expressive, enabling users to enter event or reminder details in their own style. For example, users can enter sentences such as "Lunch with Elon at 123 Main Street on Tuesday" and Fantastical 2 for iPhone translates the sentence into an event and adds it to their calendar. And with support for reminders, users can enter sentences such as "todo Pick up dry cleaning" and the user will have a reminder, ready to check off.
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Fantastical 2 for iPhone is available on the App Store for $2.99 for a limited time -- the price will eventually rise to $4.99. It requires iOS 7 and is available now. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Fantastical 2 Debuts on iPhone With Reminders and Improved Event Parser
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/10/30/fantastical-2-debuts-on-iphone-with-reminders-and-improved-event-parser/
That sucks that existing users still have to pay.



Edit: Since people are reading into this way too much: This particular update isn't very expensive and may be well worth it. I hope they don't release a fantastical 2 on Mac and charge another $20 for it. I also hope they don't charge for an update frequently, because to me Fantastical is a pricey app (On Mac especially). If you are ok with the price and want to update right away, then do it. Why are you concerned on how I feel about the charge?
 
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Wow it looks pretty much identical to the old version, just slightly flatter. Doesn't capture the iOS 7 ethos at all. Lazy.

No real new features other than reminders either.


And I just bought the now defunct old version last month on the promise of an iOS 7 design coming soon in the description, which I miss out on anyway. Not that it would have made much difference looking at the end product.
 
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Great app and my calendar app of choice. A definite instant buy.

Federico's review @ http://www.macstories.net/reviews/fantastical-2-review/

After using this app for a while, I am wondering why this is a paid upgrade?

This seems more like an update than a redesign. To quote Federico "Fantastical 2 isn’t a dramatic redesign like Tweetbot 3"

I'm more than happy to support indie developers but rehashing a pre-iOS6 app and removing textures for iOS7 doesn't qualify a paid upgrade.

In my eyes, Fantastical adds very few features to justify the price.

Tweetbot justified their paid upgrade. Clear didn't.

And where's the promised iPad version?
 
Devs are using iOS 7 as an opportunity to charge for the same product with a different design set.
 
Looks OK to me.

Now if BusyCal would just create a iPhone/iPad version, all would be well.
 
Dang, I just paid for this app on two devices at full price 3 weeks ago (we don't share accounts). Looks like I'll be buying this one as well.
 
ammusk said:
Great app and my calendar app of choice. A definite instant buy.

Federico's review @ http://www.macstories.net/reviews/fantastical-2-review/

After using this app for a while, I am wondering why this is a paid upgrade?

This seems more like an update than a redesign. To quote Federico "Fantastical 2 isn’t a dramatic redesign like Tweetbot 3"

I'm more than happy to support indie developers but rehashing a pre-iOS6 app and removing textures for iOS7 doesn't qualify a paid upgrade.

In my eyes, Fantastical adds very few features to justify the price.

Tweetbot justified their paid upgrade. Clear didn't.

And where's the promised iPad version?
Click to expand...

well, Clear justified the update to me thanks to Universal support.
Here, the app won't be universal (I asked them, they are working on a separate iPad app). If they also release a new Mac app that will be three separate apps to buy.
Fo now, I think I'll shell out the three bucks after all.

P.S. Hi guys, first post!
 
cmChimera said:
That sucks that existing users still have to pay.
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But you are not an "existing user," it's a new app. You are free to continue using your v.1 app. Nothing has changed. As consumers we have no right to expect free feature updates unless promised @ purchase. It's nice when we get them but devs have families and other expenses too. We only pay for the product we buy when we buy it, be it software, hardware or a box of cereal.
 
gibbz said:
I'm honestly not being a jerk - I wonder how many updates you feel $3-$5 should buy a person? It doesn't seem sustainable to give away software for life when prices are so low.
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Although I do not think the comparison is fair, I'm just pointing out that Apple recently decided to make updates to its most popular apps and OS free.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1662780/

Apple has other revenue streams (iTunes, hardware sales, etc.), not to mention business interests, that allow them to develop software and distribute it for free in a sustainable fashion. However, most independent app developers don't have this situation. $3 seems like a good bargain. Remember, most software costs many times this (hello Adobe!). :)
 
japanime said:
That's actually fantastic! I wish the default on-screen keyboard had a row of numbers at the top.
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I wasn't aware that devs could add their own keyboard... or is it an API that calls for that keyboard if the dev chooses to use it. If so... why wouldn't it be an option system wide?
 
1080p said:
I wasn't aware that devs could add their own keyboard... or is it an API that calls for that keyboard if the dev chooses to use it. If so... why wouldn't it be an option system wide?
Click to expand...

Devs can add a row of buttons on top of the keyboard. Many apps have this already.
 
tgara said:
Thanks, did not know this. Fantastical 1 does not have this on my iPhone.
Click to expand...

Off the top of my head these are some apps which have this functionality:
1. Byword
2. Tweetbot
3. Google Chrome
4. Evernote
5. Day One
6. 1Writer
 
cmChimera said:
That sucks that existing users still have to pay.
Click to expand...

Why? It's a good update. And it's all of $3. I love this program and fully support the developer whom I'm sure is putting lots of effort into this program.

No one is forcing you to upgrade. It's a new version that you don't have to have. Just continue to use your current version and be happy if that's what you want.
 
If you create a reminder/event that consists of one word only and is starting with lower caps (e.g. "shopping"), the caption disappears and you get a blank reminder/event. Nice bug :rolleyes:
 
Bought it, absolutely love it.

1) Reminders integration is perfect (including natural text parsing and time-based reminding)
2) Fantastical now supports native alarms rather than setting off the iOS reminders/calendar alarms...that alone is worth the $3
3) Background app refresh is supported
4) The new keyboard makes for better/quicker text entry
5) Landscape week view is very nice
6) Ability to open locations in Google Maps directly
7) Location-based reminders with customizable radius that then goes off within fantastical rather than the native reminders

I didn't have major problems with the iOS 7 calendar but this is much, much more functional and useful. Well worth the extra few bucks. It's cheaper than a latte. For people who need this kind of calendar, it'll be worth it. If you're questioning the additional cost, V1 still works fine.
 
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