I have a question for you, and I want you to be 100% honest. If you left your home for the day, headed to an office 30 minutes away, and got halfway there and realized you left your phone behind, would you go back and get it? Would you be able to last the whole day without your phone? Would you be able to live without it on a weekend or holiday?
I’d have to go back—even if it was a Saturday and I wasn’t expecting anything important to happen. I’m fairly connected to my smartphone, like most (or all) of you. But, I am especially connected to Sunrise Calendar. And, I am so flippin’ angry right now. As you may have heard, Sunrise Calendar was purchased by Outlook and they have been phasing out it for the last six months. As of September 1st, there is not further support for the calendar app, although if it is already installed on your mobile device it is still operational.
Since Sunrise made the announcement, I have been searching for a replacement. Here are some of the calendar apps that I have examined over the last six months. Which one do you use?
- Fantastical 2. This one is available only for Mac and iPhone to the best of my knowledge, and my issue with this one is that it is pretty darn pricey. The phone app costs $6.99 and the app for your Mac costs (get this) $39.99. Admittedly the computer app has lots of nice features and is easy on the eyes. I’m not as pleased with the iPhone app because the calendar shows appointments in such a way that they are tough to skim through quickly. All in all, very pricey and not as good as Sunrise Calendar.
- Calendars 5 by Readdle. This one is available for both iPhone and Android users. And, I would have liked this, BUT the syncing is a little bit strange. You can only sync one Internet calendar and the remaining calenders need to be synced locally. Since I still have stuff on my calendar from my pre-Gmail years, I’m not finding that this will work for me. Nevertheless, this is good for users that only have one calendar to sync.
- Google Calendar. Available for iPhone and Android Users. A good free choice for those with Gmail accounts. The look and feel is very interactive. Nevertheless, for anyone that has calendars still in use from those old pre-Gmail years, this one may not be an option.
If you are one of those folks that uses the calendar that is built into your mobile device, you may be losing out on some really awesome functionality. Some calendar apps sync your To Do Lists and Reminders so that everything is all in one place.
Long gone are the days of Sunrise, where even your Facebook birthdays could be synced with your calendar. As of now, I am still in search of something that works for me. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
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