Flexibits Teases 'Fantastical 2 for Mac,' App Coming on March 25

[MacRumors]

Flexibits, the developers behind the popular line of Fantastical calendar apps for iOS and Mac, today posted a teaser revealing the launch date of Fantastical 2 for Mac, which is going to be released on March 25.

Fantastical 2 for the iPhone and the iPad have been available since 2013, but Fantastical for Mac, first released in 2011, has yet to receive a major 2.0 update. Flexibits has not shared information on the release aside from a launch date, but the logo shared on the website points towards a Yosemite-style redesign.

On May 17, 2011, we reinvented calendaring. On March 25, 2015, we'll reinvent Fantastical itself.

Fantastical is one of the more popular calendar options, due to its cross-platform availability and its incorporation of natural language for scheduling events. It's possible, for example, to write something as simple as "Meeting with Eric at 4 p.m. tomorrow" and have the event properly scheduled within the app.

Fantastical integrates with both the iOS Calendar app and the iOS Reminders app, putting event details and to-do lists in one easily accessible spot. It also works with iCal, BusyCal, Outlook, and Entourage, and it includes CalDAV support for use with Google Calendar and Yahoo Calendar. Other features include geofencing, built-in maps, and reminders.

Users can sign up to be notified when Fantastical 2 for Mac launches by entering their email addresses on the Flexibits website.

Article Link: Flexibits Teases 'Fantastical 2 for Mac,' App Coming on March 25

 

[Chrjy]

I love Fantastical...it's probably my most used app on my iPhone, there are some apps that are incredibly well developed...this is one of them.

 

[Trik]

I really do enjoy Fantastical, especially things like "Dinner with Joe next Tuesday" and it knows to schedule it around dinner time. It's quite intelligent. My only problem is they definitely ask a premium price for their software. Hopefully they have some upgrade pricing.

 

[rekhyt]

I really do enjoy Fantastical, especially things like "Dinner with Joe next Tuesday" and it knows to schedule it around dinner time. It's quite intelligent. My only problem is they definitely ask a premium price for their software. Hopefully they have some upgrade pricing.

Is it a... problem though?

 

[Jessica Lares]

I love how they have a button to save the date to your calendar. (I did!)

Excited. Upgrade path? Whatever. It was only $20 to begin with.

 

[FieldingMellish]

I bought Fantastical on recommendation. I'm not astounded by it. What are the killer featured I should of be looking out for?

 

[Marauder23]

Article says it was released in 2012 but the tease clearly states it was May 2011. Did they even watch it?

----------

For ios the today widget alone. And actionable notifications. Also for me it's the reminders integration. And it's by far original and best natural language parser. But the killer feature is the speed in and out of the app to create anything. It's for fast movers. Other calendars have more features but this is a standout amazing app for me.

 

[Westside guy]

The best thing about Fantastical is it uses the native Apple Calendars and Reminders for its back end.

The worst thing about Fantastical is it uses the native Apple Calendars and Reminders for its back end.

I bought Fantastical 2 for my phone, and used it for a while. It was nice, but in the end it just didn't work for me any better than using the native apps directly does. I also felt like (for me, anyway) it wasn't flexible enough in letting you control how things are displayed.

But, then, I've yet to find a "to do" app that really works the way I want it to. And I've tried a whole bunch of them...

 

[andrea81]

I really do enjoy Fantastical, especially things like "Dinner with Joe next Tuesday" and it knows to schedule it around dinner time. It's quite intelligent. My only problem is they definitely ask a premium price for their software. Hopefully they have some upgrade pricing.

I think I remember having read somewhere that flexibits does not believe in upgrade pricing... how much is fantastical though, 20 bucks? It's easily worth it for me for an app that I use every day.

 

[John.B]

I like the OSX app and really like the iPhone app, but the native Apple/iCloud calendar data store has supported Travel Time since the iOS 8 betas. Is it too much to ask the Fantastical team to add that to their apps?

 

[6836838]

Calendars 5 is the best app on iOS in my opinion. But I love Fantastical on the desktop.

I hope they have an upgrade option for those who splashed out on the desktop version. It was about £15 if I recall. I'm doubtful.

 

[ck2875]

I guess everyone can get their wallets ready as they say it's a new app and not an update.

"If you’re thinking about purchasing Fantastical 1 and you use OS X Yosemite, please wait until next week. Fantastical 2 will be a completely separate app from Fantastical 1, so please don’t buy Fantastical 1."

http://flexibits.com/blog/

 

[zorinlynx]

I love how they have a button to save the date to your calendar. (I did!)

Excited. Upgrade path? Whatever. It was only $20 to begin with.

It's $20 for Mac, $10 on the iPad and $5 on the iPhone.

So if you want Fantastical on all your devices, you end up paying $35. For calendar software. Sorry, but that's too much!

They should have at LEAST made it universal on iOS at $10.

I have the iPhone version only, simply because the built in iPhone Calendar app sucks SO MUCH. iPad and Mac built in Calendar app is much better.

 

[rekhyt]

The best thing about Fantastical is it uses the native Apple Calendars and Reminders for its back end.

The worst thing about Fantastical is it uses the native Apple Calendars and Reminders for its back end.

I bought Fantastical 2 for my phone, and used it for a while. It was nice, but in the end it just didn't work for me any better than using the native apps directly does. I also felt like (for me, anyway) it wasn't flexible enough in letting you control how things are displayed.

But, then, I've yet to find a "to do" app that really works the way I want it to. And I've tried a whole bunch of them...

Tried OmniFocus 2 yet?

 

[andrea81]

It's $20 for Mac, $10 on the iPad and $5 on the iPhone.

So if you want Fantastical on all your devices, you end up paying $35. For calendar software. Sorry, but that's too much!

They should have at LEAST made it universal on iOS at $10.

I have the iPhone version only, simply because the built in iPhone Calendar app sucks SO MUCH. iPad and Mac built in Calendar app is much better.

The thing is, using standard protocols as backhand, you don't have to buy all versions if you don't want to.
I have bought the iOS versions but I think I could easily live with the stock apps should I decide not to upgrade in the future. Especially on iPad, since I don't check my calendar over there so much.
20$ for the Mac version (which did not have paid upgrades for years now) is a no-brainer for me.

 

[iDento]

I like the OSX app and really like the iPhone app, but the native Apple/iCloud calendar data store has supported Travel Time since the iOS 8 betas. Is it too much to ask the Fantastical team to add that to their apps?

I won't pay for Fantastical again before they support Travel Time. Period.

 

[bsmr]

Nice app. But under iOS 2 important things are missing:
- check an appointment as 'private'
- inbox messages for cal invitations/updates which you can check/uncheck

Both points are working with the native app. Why not with fantastical???

 

[Trahearne]

I guess everyone can get their wallets ready as they say it's a new app and not an update.

"If you’re thinking about purchasing Fantastical 1 and you use OS X Yosemite, please wait until next week. Fantastical 2 will be a completely separate app from Fantastical 1, so please don’t buy Fantastical 1."

http://flexibits.com/blog/

It sounds that Fantastical 2 would finally be something more than a menu bar app. Not sure though, but it sounds to be.

 

[nutmac]

I think I remember having read somewhere that flexibits does not believe in upgrade pricing... how much is fantastical though, 20 bucks? It's easily worth it for me for an app that I use every day.

Quite the opposite, Flexibits has offered many discounts in the past.

Fantastical for Mac fluctuates between $9.99 to $29.99 a couple of dozen times in the past.

iPad between $4.99 and $19.99.

iPhone between $1.99 and $4.99.

 

[jamesdmc]

True. I got all three versions on sale. $1.99 for the iPhone version. The Mac version came as part of a Macheist bundle. I don't remember how much I paid for the iPad version, but I remember it was a "hurry before you miss this sale" email that spurred me to get it. It was definitely closer to $5 (impulse buy) than $20 (do I really need this?).

In the end, I removed both the iOS versions from their respective devices because the stock apps worked fine for me. I'll keep an eye on the update, though. It might offer something to bring me back.

 

[John.B]

In the end, I removed both the iOS versions from their respective devices because the stock apps worked fine for me.

I'd ditch Fantastical entirely if Apple would just add support for duplicating existing events to the iPhone Calendar app.

 

[C DM]

I'd ditch Fantastical entirely if Apple would just add support for duplicating existing events to the iPhone Calendar app.

And displaying full day events in the calendar widget.

 

[Abazigal]

I love the iPhone app, but I find the iPad version too confusing. Like they just merged 4 different UIs together. Will be keeping an eye on what they announce next week.

 

[Trahearne]

I won't pay for Fantastical again before they support Travel Time. Period.

You probably needn't pay for it until Apple finally gives access to travel time through their Calendar API then, according to the developer.

 

[KenAFSPC]

Calendars 5 is the best app on iOS in my opinion. But I love Fantastical on the desktop.

I hope they have an upgrade option for those who splashed out on the desktop version. It was about £15 if I recall. I'm doubtful.

Agreed. Fantastical has a great name and an excellent marketing machine, but it's far from the best calendar app for IOS for the iPhone, IMO. There are several other iPhone calendar apps that are far, far better for business use, IMO.

More specifically, Calendar 5's "week view" is vastly superior to the views offered by Fantastical for iPhone. Weekcal would be the next on my list. Google Calendar for iPhone has the best list view, however, IMO.