Where are with calendars these days?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
G

Galberras

Ars Centurion
386
Subscriptor
  • #1
    I just got the notice that I can't reply to a meeting invite on Fantastical unless I go fancy and pay for it. I am now busy trying to remember what it was about the default Apple calendar that drove me to Fantastical in the first place. I need to take better notes of what is grinding my gears!

    I know (think?) people still love Fantastical but I'm now back to reassessing what my needs are and what products are out there.

    I am not a power calendar person. I just need sync between multiple Apple devices. I use Things for tasks so I don't really need any of that functionality.

    Why does it bug me to pay like $5 / month for a calendar? It really shouldn't.
     
    jaberg

    jaberg

    Ars Praefectus
    3,660
    Subscriptor
  • #3
    I originally purchased Fantastical mostly because it provided natural language input. There are a few additional features that are nice, but I’ve resisted a subscription so far. No complaints about the change to sub, or subs in general. I understand the rationale. It’s just that I don’t need these features that badly And the stock app has improved steadily.
     
    FoO

    FoO

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    13,017
    Subscriptor++
  • #7
    Unhelpful post: Don't you mean WHEN are we with calendars? HYUCK HYUCK HYUCK (I'm a dad now, I have license to make jokes like this now)

    Helpful(ish) post: I used Fantastical because it gave me a drop down calendar from the menubar. Apple Cal still doesn't do that, but I gave up on it anyway and haven't used Fantastical in quite some time now.
     
    ImpossiblyStupid

    ImpossiblyStupid

    Smack-Fu Master, in training
    81
    Subscriptor
  • #9
    Well, as someone who wrote their own calendaring app, I can tell you it's a hard market to be in. It's a tough sell for even a one-time $5 price tag, never mind a monthly subscription. 90% of the people are going to be fine with whatever comes with the OS, and any innovative feature you can come up with will likely end up being implemented by those trillion dollar companies if enough people like it.
     
    • Like
    • Hug
    Reactions: Jeff3F, Honeybog and mklein
    U

    Unamuseumed

    Smack-Fu Master, in training
    46
    Subscriptor
  • #10
    Since we're on the topic of calendars...

    Any recs for a calendar application that's good across OSX and Windows? My wife stubbornly clings to Windows/Android (mostly Windows tho) but we could really use a good shared calendar that's platform agnostic. My work is Outlook, her work is Gmail, and whatever we go with personally needs to integrate both of those, plus be intuitive on Mac and Windows.
     
    Jonathon

    Jonathon

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    16,541
    Subscriptor
  • #11
    I'm mostly on Fantastical (as a paying subscriber) for the menu bar applet at this point-- I'll occasionally use their natural language stuff to add things, but mostly do that on Google Calendar on the web for the invitee/scheduling stuff.

    The full calendar app itself isn't that different from Apple's built-in calendar at this point (turn off Fantastical's sidebar and I'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference), but I use the menu bar app daily to keep track of upcoming meetings and stuff. It does a list view that's not really present anywhere in Calendar, and it shows stuff further out than Apple's calendar widgets will (useful for an at-a-glance view of the next few days).
     
    H

    Honeybog

    Ars Scholae Palatinae
    2,075
  • #12
    Unamuseumed said:
    Since we're on the topic of calendars...

    Any recs for a calendar application that's good across OSX and Windows? My wife stubbornly clings to Windows/Android (mostly Windows tho) but we could really use a good shared calendar that's platform agnostic. My work is Outlook, her work is Gmail, and whatever we go with personally needs to integrate both of those, plus be intuitive on Mac and Windows.
    Click to expand...

    Is it important that you both use the same calendar application, or just that you share a calendar? Personally, I’d just make a shared Google calendar and add it to the Calendar app on Mac/iOS, and your wife could just do the same with Outlook (shudder) or whatever is native on Android.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Louis XVI and Scotttheking
    B

    Bonusround

    Ars Scholae Palatinae
    1,060
    Subscriptor
  • #13
    Jonathon said:
    The full calendar app itself isn't that different from Apple's built-in calendar at this point (turn off Fantastical's sidebar and I'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference), but I use the menu bar app daily to keep track of upcoming meetings and stuff. It does a list view that's not really present anywhere in Calendar, and it shows stuff further out than Apple's calendar widgets will (useful for an at-a-glance view of the next few days).
    Click to expand...
    On the subject of menu bar apps, let me plug Itsycal as a clean and minimal menu bar calendar which includes the list view you mention. It’s strictly read-only and doesn’t share Fantastical’s input goodness, but the price can’t be beat.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: jaberg
    E

    Entegy

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    17,702
  • #14
    Unamuseumed said:
    Since we're on the topic of calendars...

    Any recs for a calendar application that's good across OSX and Windows? My wife stubbornly clings to Windows/Android (mostly Windows tho) but we could really use a good shared calendar that's platform agnostic. My work is Outlook, her work is Gmail, and whatever we go with personally needs to integrate both of those, plus be intuitive on Mac and Windows.
    Click to expand...
    Well, for starters, don't use your work accounts for personal calendaring.

    Outlook.com would be the easiest to integrate amongst all platforms. Share a calendar or create a family link between to your two Microsoft Accounts for an auto-family calendar.
    macOS and iOS: Native support in Apple Calendar. If you don't want email/contact/reminder/note sync from your Microsoft Account, just turn those switches off when setting up the account on your devices.
    Windows: Native support of course.
    Android: The Gmail app, Samsung Mail app, or whatever app du jour Google cooks up supports Outlook.com syncing. If you don't want email/contact/reminder sync from your Microsoft Account, just turn those switches off after setting up the account on her devices.
     
    goates

    goates

    Ars Tribunus Militum
    2,215
    Subscriptor++
  • #15
    Bonusround said:
    On the subject of menu bar apps, let me plug Itsycal as a clean and minimal menu bar calendar which includes the list view you mention. It’s strictly read-only and doesn’t share Fantastical’s input goodness, but the price can’t be beat.
    Click to expand...
    This thread prompted me to take a look for menu bar calendar apps as that's mostly what I use Fantastical for these days too. Another option I came across is Dato, which looks to have a lot of functionality for $13CAD.

    sindresorhus.com

    Dato

    Menu bar calendar and world clocks, plus fullscreen meeting notifications
    sindresorhus.com

    Any other recommendations for a menu bar calendar app to look at?
     
    G

    Galberras

    Ars Centurion
    386
    Subscriptor
  • #16
    goates said:
    Any other recommendations for a menu bar calendar app to look at?
    Click to expand...
    I found some thread on Reddit where they talked about Dato and this one. I haven't tried it out, yet, but it looks interesting.

    meetingbar.app

    MeetingBar

    Meetings at your fingertips. MeetingBar works on macOS with your calendar. Join and create meetings in one click.
    meetingbar.app meetingbar.app
     
    Last edited:
    • Like
    Reactions: goates
    I

    iljitsch

    Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
    8,474
    Subscriptor++
  • #18
    I've been using Apple's built-in calendar since I got my first Mac decades ago. It works well enough an through iCloud magic syncs between your devices.

    I've also used Google Calendar for a bit, but no more. I created a couple of mini web apps that generate ical feeds so you can subscribe to those in your calendar app, but I just can't get Google to consistently see my changes whatever I do.

    Does it make sense to use Apple's stuff for some things and Fantastical for other things and sync them up by publishing ical feeds?
     
    redtomato

    redtomato

    Ars Praefectus
    4,456
  • #21
    I was a paying user of fantastical for some time (years ago) then gave up because of the natural language recognition feature. I had a colleague called May, and everything related to her would get put into the month of May.

    Maybe it’s better now, it may not be. [Ding! Appointment created for May 02 2025!]

    Got by for a while with manual calendaring / iCal / Apple Mail then started a job recently where everyone used Outlook and O365. My first time ever on Outlook.

    Didn’t like it at first, but after time it’s grown on me. Tight integration between Outlook, Zoom, calendar and emails has been so helpful. In my previous job arranging meetings was a pain. Here, I can see my colleagues calendars, book meetings with them, Outlook emails them and books space in their calendars, Zoom informs me in outlook mail when people join my meetings. A lot of organisational things are much easier in Outlook than with Apple tools.

    The only pain point I have left is project / task tracking. O365 has tools for this but they’re not hitting my comfort point & I struggled with them then gave up. Trying to persuade my boss to let us use Trello. She thinks MS Planner is the same as Trello. No it’s not.
     
    Hap

    Hap

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    10,565
    Subscriptor++
  • #23
    I had BusyCal, Fantastical (and eventually caved with subscription), and the default calendar. Dropped Fantastical when they jacked the price up. The Busy Calendar is decent, but not a whole lot more than the built-in calendar these days. I do like Busy Contacts a lot if you have to frequently or mass update your contacts. I do miss some of the integrations they had before Apple blocked those features through sandboxing (like clicking on a contact and seeing all the emails from them, etc).
     
    mklein

    mklein

    Ars Tribunus Militum
    1,896
  • #24
    Mac Contacts feels like almost torture to use. Need to go into edit mode to make a change, zero helping automation, few default fields with tons of empty space, zero integration with any app other than birthdays... It's a bit surprising that there is little done to it.

    Calendar is slightly better but still lacking. For example, the search results are covered up by search suggestions. You can't attach a person contact info to an event without it emailing them. Smart event entry is not too smart and usually requires editing...
     
    Hap

    Hap

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    10,565
    Subscriptor++
  • #25
    mklein said:
    Mac Contacts feels like almost torture to use. Need to go into edit mode to make a change, zero helping automation, few default fields with tons of empty space, zero integration with any app other than birthdays... It's a bit surprising that there is little done to it.

    Calendar is slightly better but still lacking. For example, the search results are covered up by search suggestions. You can't attach a person contact info to an event without it emailing them. Smart event entry is not too smart and usually requires editing...
    Click to expand...

    Busy contacts has a lot of power behind it and it edits the Mac Contacts database. I find it extremely useful for editing or organizing.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Scotttheking
    G

    grahamb

    Ars Praefectus
    3,623
  • #26
    Galberras said:
    Also, I'm toying with both Dato and Calendar 366 II for quick menu actions. So far, I like them both for quick reference. Anyone use them or have experience?
    Click to expand...
    I was forced to migrate off of Fantastical after work moved to M365 from an on-prem exchange and blocked everything except Outlook and Apple Mail/Calendar. Dato has been scratching the menu bar itch for me. I especially like how it'll put an additional item in my menu bar a couple minutes before an online meeting starts; clicking the item will launch Teams/Zoom/whatever automagically.
     
    G

    grahamb

    Ars Praefectus
    3,623
  • #27
    And thanks to @Galberras post, I've been playing with Calendar 366 II as well, and I really like it! Going to keep the demo going for a while to see if it's worth buying. I'll probably keep running Dato as well with the icon hidden, just for the thing where it adds an additional item to the menu bar for online meetings; I came to rely on that feature in Fantastical.
     
    J

    Jeff3F

    Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
    6,826
    Subscriptor++
  • #28
    I have a complex setup but I think it works fine.

    I have a personal (gmail) calendar - I don’t remember what but something drove me over to that rather than iCloud. I have a work (Outlook) calendar. I have a side-hustle calendar (google). I use outlook on my iPhone and iPad to integrate all the calendars…so if I need to check availability Outlook is the final authority.

    Note that this setup should keep the firewalls in place between work and home, because Outlook is only accessing my other calendars on the Apple devices. When I access outlook at work, or on my home windows PC, then it’s purely the work account.

    I tried fantastical out in the past but it never stuck and I barely remember it. Probably a GTD phase I went through (though I retain the GTD filing system and it’s easy/effective).

    OP - please, post and let us know what you encounter/find!
     
    G

    Galberras

    Ars Centurion
    386
    Subscriptor
  • #29
    Jeff3F said:
    OP - please, post and let us know what you encounter/find!
    Click to expand...
    Okay, so I'm just using the vanilla calendar on my Macs now but also installed Calendar 366 for a menu bar option; it is amazing how conditioned I am to go there.

    But I am a wee bit frustrated. I was trying out different options on my iPhone and decided to spring for BusyCal. I was hoping it would be like some of the other iPhone calendars and just suck the credentials out from the iOS settings. Sadly, this does not appear to be the case. Also, it looks like my work has not blessed this app, which means I may not use it much (I'm one of those weird ones that want to see all my calendars at once). I get some page popping up that prompts me to ask my work IT people for authorization. Preeeeettttyyyy sure that ain't gonna happen.

    I keep hoping to find a workaround that would let BusyCal use my iPhone calendar accounts but so far I got nothin. Bummer.
     
    • Hug
    Reactions: Jeff3F
    Hap

    Hap

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    10,565
    Subscriptor++
  • #30
    Galberras said:
    Okay, so I'm just using the vanilla calendar on my Macs now but also installed Calendar 366 for a menu bar option; it is amazing how conditioned I am to go there.

    But I am a wee bit frustrated. I was trying out different options on my iPhone and decided to spring for BusyCal. I was hoping it would be like some of the other iPhone calendars and just suck the credentials out from the iOS settings. Sadly, this does not appear to be the case. Also, it looks like my work has not blessed this app, which means I may not use it much (I'm one of those weird ones that want to see all my calendars at once). I get some page popping up that prompts me to ask my work IT people for authorization. Preeeeettttyyyy sure that ain't gonna happen.

    I keep hoping to find a workaround that would let BusyCal use my iPhone calendar accounts but so far I got nothin. Bummer.
    Click to expand...
    You have to use app specific passwords for the Busy apps (and I used for fantastical too). Can't use the actual iCloud credentials unless something has changed and I'm using the app specific passwords from intertia.

    Although that article says "can" not "must", I thought it used to be "must"
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Galberras and RandyWalker
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    Jump to latest Follow Reply
    Jump to latest Follow Reply