Fantastical 2 is a workhorse of a calendar app that can connect to your iCloud, Exchange, Google, Yahoo, fruux, and CalDAV accounts. It then imports all of your daily event information into one unified calendar, which can be displayed as a full month along with daily, weekly, or yearly options. You can also display a daily event list on the left side with detailed information on everything you've got going on today.
It’s a great app I use frequently to find out how much daylight I have left in a day, sunrise and sunset for my current location and other locations. It will tell you in real time what you have and what you will get today and now, and in the future.
Better still, Fantastical allows for custom calendar sets with specific accounts tagged in them, time zone support, and more. All these features mean it comes with a $50 price tag, but the extra money's worth it. Bottom line: Fantastical 2 is a robust, full-featured calendar with dozens of useful features for any and all productivity. One more thing: It comes with a mini-calendar that sits in your Menu bar for quick access.
Why Fantastical 2 is the best Does everything a calendar app should do! Fantastical 2 works exactly the way a calendar app should work on your desktop: It's got a beautiful interface with customizable options for viewing daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly events. You can even set up customized calendar sets that only show certain events. Those different sets can be toggled to activate at different locations, too: When you get to work and open your laptop, you'll only see your work calendar, but when you take it home, you will only see your personal one. When you select an event, you'll get the details, including a map for events with locations. You can also toggle between light or dark mode any time you like.
Fantastical's natural language event creation is where it shines. All you have to do is type out your phrasing as if you were talking, and Fantastical will automatically set dates, times, locations, and more for you. 'Have dinner at Morton's with mom tomorrow at 7' is transformed into an event, complete with location mapping. Fantastical 2 works with a number of different calendar services, including iCloud, Google, Yahoo, and more. It also syncs with your Mac's built-in Reminders app so you can keep track of daily tasks while making sure you aren't late to any appointments.
BusyCal 3 has a great setup feature: It automatically syncs up with the accounts you have stored in the Mail app on Mac. Any calendars you use with those email accounts will be updated in the BusyCal calendar. So, if you use Yahoo, iCloud, and Gmail, you'll be able to connect them all just by entering the account password when you open the app for the first time. My favorite feature of BusyCal is the Smart Filter, which makes it possible for you to create rules for what events are shown. For example, you could set a filter that will only show you birthdays or only events that repeat. You can create multiple filters and then switch between them. It is ideal for keeping your calendar events organized.
Bottom line: If you have a lot of different types of events, or multiple calendars, BusyCal 3 will help you filter out what you don't need to look at right now so you can stay focused on what is important. One more thing: There is a mini calendar that sits in your Menu bar so you can see a quick glance of the month ahead and current day's events without having to open the full app. Calendar 2 is a Menu bar widget. It stores all of your calendar information on the Menu bar so you can quickly access it.
All you have to do is connect your Mac's built-in calendar and you're ready to go. Then, when you want to check your schedule, just click on the icon. You'll see a monthly view with dots next to dates that have events, plus a sidebar with a list of events taking place.
If you want to see more details of an event, click on it to open your Mac Calendar app. Bottom line: If you are happy with the built-in Calendar app on your Mac, but just want a different way to see what's on your schedule, check out Calendar 2. One more thing: There is a premium upgrade that includes a lot more features, like the ability to connect your Google calendar and get cool looking backgrounds. Informant for the desktop is more than just a calendar app.
It's a task manager and note taker, all rolled into a clear and concise calendar. You can organize your calendar to see your to-do list on the same screen as your schedule and tasks are combined with daily events. You can keep your to-do list right on top of the screen with upcoming and completed tasks clearly identifiable. You can create tasks using either GTD, Franklin Covey, or Simple mode, making your lists work for you. Filters allow you to hide events from specific calendars.
You can have multiple filters saved in your favorites and switch between them at any time. It makes it easy to keep your work and home life separate. Bottom line: If having your to-do list and calendar grouped together are important and your daily schedule is the top priority, Informant for macOS is for you. One more thing: It features a tabbed interface so you can work in multiple task windows without making a mess on your screen. Conclusion: Fantastical 2 is the best When it comes to desktop support, Fantastical 2 wins the day.
It's a straightforward app with a beautiful interface and plenty of customizable features. The mini calendar, which sits in your Menu bar, is perfect for checking upcoming events at a glance and you can add appointments without having to open the full app. The natural language event creation makes it easy for you to simply jot down what you need to do and when. Fantastical takes care of the rest for you.
If you just lost Sunrise and are looking for a replacement, try Fantastical 2 for Mac. Updated July 2018: Updated pricing and links. This post may contain affiliate links. See our for more details.
It’s official, Microsoft is shutting down the Sunrise calendar app. While it’s not going to be pulled from the App Stores, the Sunrise team won’t be updating the standalone apps anymore. The on why Since we joined Microsoft at the beginning of the year, we’ve been working increasingly closer with the Outlook team and in particular with the Outlook Mobile team. A few months ago, they asked us to join them in making Outlook for iOS and Android the best productivity apps out there. This is bad news for all us Sunrise users, it really is/was the best free desktop and mobile Google Calendar app out there right now. Instead of complaining about how much this sucks, I’m gonna share with you my top 2 replacements to consider. The first one may shock you.
(Free) Yep, the good ‘ole native Apple Calendar. It’s free, it’s already on your Mac and if you havn’t opened it in a while you may be surprised that it has improved quite a bit over the years. It’s, and, perhaps the most compelling reason to give it a shot it’s free. As you will see, my next two recommendations are are a bit pricey. That’s why Sunrise was so great, it was a well-designed and full-feature app that all of their competitors, aside from Apple Calendar, are charging upwards of $40 for.
If you want a powerful Mac calendar app, aside from Apple Calendar, you’re gonna have to pay for it. My recommendation is to first give Apple Calendar a shot. If after a week you find yourself wishing for more features, integrations and better design, give my next two recommendations a try. Sidenote: Although I recommend Apple Calendar for Mac, I’m not a fan of the accompanying iPhone app. Recently I started using Google’s newly updated app and I’m loving it.
(Mac App, $39) (iPhone App, $4.99) Fantastical is a crazy powerful (but not crazy cheap) calendaring app. It blows all the competition out of the water in terms of features, functionality and design. A few of my favorite things about Fantastical:. They’ve really nailed natural language recognition. Creating events is as easy as typing a sentence. You can type “Dinner with Clay 8PM next Friday” and it will automagically add the event exactly where it should go. I love how it looks.
It has a flat, colorful, Yosemite-inspired design that makes me happy every time I open it. In addition to the app that sits in your dock, there’s menubar access so you can glance at your day without having to open the full application. I have a ton of calendars, some shared with others, some are synced with outside services like Facebook and task list apps. I can have no meetings all day but have a calendar packed with stuff.
Fantastical’s “calendar sets” feature saves the day by allowing me to group different calendars together and view them separately. If you go and on the Fantastical website, I promise you will fall in love with it immediately. But when the 21-day free trial is up, you’re gonna have to cough up $39.
I bet you will. ? More Fantastical Reviews: – The Sweet Setup – The Verge – Wired. The most important feature for me in a calendar app is the ability to select multiple dates/times for the recipient to choose from. In Sunrise, I would select several dates and times. This would generate a single link.
The recipient clicks the link and sees a list of times I’m available. They select the one that works, and it’s instantly added to my calendar. IMHO this was Sunrise’s killer feature.
Outlook on iOS has this feature, but I’m desperate for desktop. Do you know of any OSX solutions for desktop, Julia? I almost bought Fantastical 2, but they don’t offer this.