Popular Calendar App 'Fantastical 2' Now Available for Apple Watch

[MacRumors]

As promised, Flexibits today updated Fantastical 2 for the iPhone to version 2.3, adding support for the Apple Watch. Fantastical 2's new Apple Watch app includes a list of all upcoming meetings and appointments, a list of Reminders, a Glance with quick access to a daily schedule, and the ability to add events directly on your wrist.

Flexibits' co-founder Michael Simmons told MacRumors that the company waited until the Apple Watch was released to begin developing Fantastical 2 for the wrist, in order to design an app with the best possible user experience. "I'm not going to make an Apple Watch app when I've never used one," he said. "I need to see it. You can't solve a problem if you don't know what the problem is."

After experimenting with the existing Calendar app on Apple Watch and brainstorming on how best to translate Fantastical's feature set to the wrist, the Flexibits team came up with a simple but useful solution that distills Fantastical's core functions into a form suitable for wrist-based interactions that last just seconds.

The key feature in Fantastical 2 for Apple Watch is the Glance, which shows all of a day's events arranged in a timeline. With the Glance, you get a quick overview of what's going on in a day, along with information on the next upcoming meeting or appointment.

Tapping on the timeline within the Glance opens the full Fantastical 2 app, where you can get a list of all the events happening for the next two weeks. This improves upon the default Calendar app somewhat, as Apple's own app only shows a week of events. More detailed information on each event can be accessed with a tap, and scrolling through events in a list can be done with a finger or with the Digital Crown.

If you use Fantastical's Reminders feature, tapping "Reminders" at the top of the Apple Watch app will open a list of Reminders you've created, where they can be checked off. A force press within the Reminders list will let you add a new to-do task, while a force press in the main view of the app will let you add a new event. Events and Reminders are entered using the Apple Watch's dictation capabilities.

The Fantastical 2 Apple Watch app can be customized through the iPhone. Users can choose whether to display events and reminders, how many days to display within the app, and what the Glance opens -- next event or a list of all events.

Since Fantastical 2 for Apple Watch is bundled into an iPhone update, it's free for all existing Fantastical 2 users. If you own the iPhone app, you own the Apple Watch app.

Fantastical 2 can be downloaded from the App Store for $4.99. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Popular Calendar App 'Fantastical 2' Now Available for Apple Watch

 

[dannyboi104]

Update not showing in the Canadian App Store yet. Looking forward to it ^.^

 

[Benjamin Frost]

If iPad apps are free for iPhone users, and Apple Watch apps free for iPhone users, how long until Mac apps are free for iPad users?

 

[Yujenisis]

I'm glad Flexibits waited until they had a solid release instead of rushing to be on the Apple Watch on day one. I can't tell you how many terrible apps I removed in the first week because they totally got "it" wrong.

Fantastical is one of the best productivity apps I have ever used and I proudly own a copy on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. My only complaint would be that I can't import my Today items from Things as Reminders...but maybe some day that feature will come!

 

[jwm]

Nothing here in the UK yet!

 

[DustinLH00]

Is Fantastical 2 like Sunrise in the fact that you can create an account and sync your calendars across devices?

For example, I can login to Sunrise on one device and add my calendars, then login to Sunrise on another device and all my calendars are already there.

 

[BillyTrimble]

If iPad apps are free for iPhone users, and Apple Watch apps free for iPhone users, how long until Mac apps are free for iPad users?

I believe this will be announced at the wwdc next week.

 

[luke lau]

The scroll bar (? Thing? Pop up?) overlaps with the wee calendar colour lines on the right hand side of events

 

[BillyTrimble]

I love Fantastical on the Mac and iPhone. It's one of my favorite apps. Can't wait for the Watch version, which isn't available quite yet, presumably later today.
But meanwhile, I'm curious as to who will be the first person to dismiss the watch version because it isn't native. You know it will happen. It always does. And who will be the first person to say they would love to use the app if they only had their watch. It always happens.

 

[Shawn Parr]

Is Fantastical 2 like Sunrise in the fact that you can create an account and sync your calendars across devices?

Fantastical works with your existing Calendars on the phone. So in my case I can use it with my personal iCloud calendars (my own and Shared), and my work Exchange calendars in Office 365.

 

[palev]

Update ready in Canada!

 

[SpamJunkie]

I can't figure out how to grant access to my calendar, so the watch app just shows a lock.

 

[psylence2k]

If iPad apps are free for iPhone users, and Apple Watch apps free for iPhone users, how long until Mac apps are free for iPad users?

I may be wrong but I think that's a choice of the developer's since not all Ipad apps automatically come free with the Iphone version and some even have different pricing.

Also at the end of the day Iphone and Ipad versions run on IOS while MAC versions run on OSX, two separate app stores. I think Apple will possibly allow in the future the option for developers to offer the Mac version complimentary or vice versa but I dont know how many developers will go along with this since alot of them already charge anywhere from 2 to 8 times more for the Mac version.

 

[ck2875]

I can't figure out how to grant access to my calendar, so the watch app just shows a lock.

For me, all I had to do was open up the iPhone app, then reopen the Watch App.

I haven't been able to figure out how to see the view like in the first screenshot though.

 

[psylence2k]

Are third party apps still working slow for the Apple Watch ?

I remember alot of people saying they were so slow that they were virtually unusable.

 

[paul00]

Are third party apps still working slow for the Apple Watch ?

I remember alot of people saying they were so slow that they were virtually unusable.

Fantastical may be the fastest non-apple app Ive ever used on my watch. It's fast. Switching from Glances to the app is great. Functionally wise - excellent. And you can use native siri reminders which is awesome!

 

[DustinLH00]

Fantastical works with your existing Calendars on the phone. So in my case I can use it with my personal iCloud calendars (my own and Shared), and my work Exchange calendars in Office 365.

That isn't what I am asking. Can I install Fantastical on my iPhone, setup multiple calendars, and have them synced in the cloud. Then, I install Fantastical on my iPad and login and all of my calendars are already there and setup.

Sunrise allows you to do this. Many other calendar apps require you to configure and add your calendars to the app on each device separately.

I have a specific reason for asking. If your employer requires you to be on VPN to access your calendar, Sunrise will allow you to configure your calendar on your work device and then login and access your calendars from your personal devices.

 

[Shawn Parr]

That isn't what I am asking. Can I install Fantastical on my iPhone, setup multiple calendars, and have them synced in the cloud. Then, I install Fantastical on my iPad and login and all of my calendars are already there and setup.

Sunrise allows you to do this. Many other calendar apps require you to configure and add your calendars to the app on each device separately.

I have a specific reason for asking. If your employer requires you to be on VPN to access your calendar, Sunrise will allow you to configure your calendar on your work device and then login and access your calendars from your personal devices.

Fantastical doesn't do any storage of the calendars on their own servers. On each device (IIR, I set it up a while back) you give it permission to your calendars, then in the app you can turn on/off which ones you want to see. All the calendar item syncing is dependent on the type of calendar it is. So in your case it won't give you non-VPN access to a calendar that requires the VPN. When off network you will only see the events that already sync'ed before leaving the network. If you connect to the VPN it will update.

 

[Fuchal]

Can't say I was terribly impressed with the Apple Watch app. Didn't seem to do anything more than the stock calendar app in general. The glance was pretty nice, but it'd really be ideal as a complication. If I have the meeting complication I don't need to check a glance for meeting info.

 

[briankeith513]

Is there a way to see a view of the full month with Fantastical for the Apple Watch? I haven't seen that option, and I know you can do this with the stock calendar app.

 

[jagooch]

Is there a way to type the name of a contact for the meeting location and have Fantastical use that address as the location for a meeting like EL Capitan calendar does?