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Which Calendar Do You Use?

A

Artmov

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 27, 2020
6
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Looking to switch from from Google calendar.
I'm fairly new to the Apple ecosystem and looking to see which calendar most Apple users use...

I tried Fantastical, to be honest it's great, but I find it a bit overpriced at $40 per year or $5 per month.
Is there a cheaper or free alternative? What do you guys use? Preferably one with natural language input.
 
I use Google calendar. Not sure how others stack up now. I chose it, way back when, because it was the most widely supported across calendar apps on different platforms. I haven't seen a reason to change. As I don't care about the web interface. It just needs to easily and reliably sync on my preferred calendar programs.
 
I like One Calendar by Code Spark. I mostly use it on my iPhone but it's also on Mac. I like calendars that show a month view with boxes for the date and show what I have scheduled inside. This allows me to mentally prepare for what is coming up this month. With some calendars that only show a dot for the date you have to click into that day or look at a list view.
 
I actually found a good deal on Fantastical through a shared family plan. I think I'll just go for it as it's only $18CAD per year which is $14USD per year or $1.15 per month.

In the meantime I'll keep looking for a free alternative that has all the features I'm looking for...
 
I'm surprised how weak I find Apple's Calendar app for finding availability for setting a meeting with other participants. Seems like something Apple could have come up with a more Apple-like solution for. Outlook seems ok for that, but still cumbersome.
 
dwfaust said:
Calendar 366. Every bit as good as Fantastical (was a user for years before they got greedy with the subscription model)... and a one-time pay model.
Click to expand...
+ 1 for Calendar 366. My primary calendar is Fantastical. I also use Calendar 366 as a backup.

OP, the latter is full featured and also has good natural language support, unlike the stock app.
 
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Yeah I have fantastical, though I’m a legacy user that has some residual benefits that you have to subscribe to get now. No compelling interest in wanting to subscribe.

Honestly, fantastical works better then the default calendar app, but I don’t know how necessary it is. I mostly use Siri or clicking dates to add events. Sometimes I remember to use fantastical but generally: I just like that the Apple Watch complication shows color coded events.

I should look at calendar 366.
 
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Calendar 366 does look promising, I'll be giving it a try.

For now I already the Fantastical subscription through a family plan group buy.
If anyone is interested, at $14 for the year is a steal, there are still a few spots left.
I'm not sure if I'm allowed post links on here, it's on a Canadian savings forum called red flag deals, PM me and I can send you the link...
 
srbNYC said:
I'm surprised how weak I find Apple's Calendar app for finding availability for setting a meeting with other participants. Seems like something Apple could have come up with a more Apple-like solution for. Outlook seems ok for that, but still cumbersome.
Click to expand...
I use Apple Calendar as well on my Mac.

For sharing availabilities and setting a meeting with other participants, check out Vyte (disclaimer: I'm the co-founder). You can connect your iCloud (or Google, or Outlook, etc) calendar and have a page that shares your live availabilities.
Or for group meetings you can suggest a few times from a view of your calendar and let invitees vote on them.
Let me know if you have any questions.
 
Cool, will definitely check it out. Mostly I'd love something that integrates with O365-based groups, which "New" Outlook doesn't do—and Mac's Calendar & Contacts does clumsily (including all email addresses for each member, rather than just the one I need for each).
 
I use BusyCal. I use it to maintain my iCloud calendar; I find it less awkward than Apple's calendar, mainly because of the right-side info panel.

If I were a heavy calendar user, I'd take a closer look at Fantastical. But, for my current usage I can't justify Fantastical's price.
 
Apple_Robert said:
Vyte, which the co founder suggested, is $96 a year, which is way out of touch with the end user, in my opinion. $50 a year (BusyCal) is also a lot especially when there is no watch app.
Click to expand...
BusyCal is just $50. You can use it forever. But, I agree it's a lot if you only use it for a couple of years.
 
I would suggest giving the built in calendar app a try. It's the one I use daily & I find it to be good enough for my 'normal' uses. It's free, pretty much guaranteed to have continuing developer support and to work with other Mac Programs (like how you can copy an event into your calendar from text in an email, etc).

If it doesn't meet your needs, then check out alternatives, but I'd choose the alternative based on the specific issues you have with the built-in app, as each of the third party apps have individual strengths & weaknesses. People on these forums have a lot of experience & can point you in the right direction as to which app best handles whatever limitations you might come across.
 
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Just to wrap up my input on BusyCal pricing: I bought it originally in 2015. I then upgraded in 2020. They charged me $30 for the upgrade.
 
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I wish there was a Calendar app and service, other than google, that worked with all platforms :( iOS and Android.
 
The Calendar application provided by Apple on macOS and across the iOS devices is good enough for me.
I recognize that there are individuals that require much more control in their newly created events. Some would like Zoom and such integration so that they become aware of a Zoom call or whatnot.

Of alternative calendar application I'm aware of BusyCal and Fantastical(also not a fan of subscribing to this) or this one I stumbled across on the Mac App Store first, this is their website.
FirstSeed Calendar

There's too many calendar apps to go around. Some live in the menubar and some have a pop calendar like Calendarique on the Mac App Store

"Dato" by Sindre Sorhus lives in the menubar - and so does "iStat Menus" by Bjango (has options to enable calendar overview and such)

I personally use the built-in Calendar app and then proceed to use a menubar app for fancy and quick glances of which get-togethers I can avoid.

It's been quite some time since I've used Google Calendar. I can't think of a thing to use that for. When I'm on Windows I let their calendar program import my iCloud calendars(by adding in iCloud credentials for e-mail too) and such have them in sync that way.
 
Apple_Robert said:
Vyte, which the co founder suggested, is $96 a year, which is way out of touch with the end user, in my opinion. $50 a year (BusyCal) is also a lot especially when there is no watch app.
Click to expand...

Out of touch and apparently not updated for a while now…

1621336876023.png
 
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Artmov said:
Looking to switch from from Google calendar.
I'm fairly new to the Apple ecosystem and looking to see which calendar most Apple users use...
Click to expand...
Well, what do you need your Calendar app to do for you? What others use might not be relevant if needs differ.
 
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