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Calendar app Fantastical switches to a subscription for its Mac and iOS apps
Fantastical, one of the oldest and most loved calendar apps on Apple devices, just received its biggest update in years. The most significant change is that Fantastical is now a universal app you pay for through a subscription. As such, you don't need to purchase separate licenses to use the app on multiple devices. Developer Flexibits has also introduced a new tier that allows you to check out Fantastical's basic functionality for free.
Try macOS Mojave's Dark Mode on these apps
It's been a few weeks since Apple announced that macOS Mojave would launch today -- in that time, many app developers have been at work getting their creations ready for the new OS. Probably one of the changes Mac users want to see first and foremost is support for Dark Mode. While it doesn't make any functional difference, it's a nice visual redesign that a lot of users might prefer to the older Mac UI. But apps that aren't updated stick out like a sore thumb -- so the faster key apps get updated, the better.
Track your big events with Widget Countdown
There are big events in life. Some we can't wait for, others we dread. It's easy to put them on the calendar, but thats not as immediately clear as seeing just how many days or hours remain until something happens. Widget Countdown puts your big events front and center where it's easy to keep track of them. The app is US$0.99 and requires iOS 8.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5. When initially presented with Widget Countdown my first reaction was, "I don't need yet another calendar." I get by with the built in iOS and Mac OS Calendar, even though I'm not terribly excited with them. I do like and use Fantastical for fast access and creating events and reminders. But, Widget Countdown isn't a calendar. It's not even about counting widgets. This app about setting up and displaying future events. A most importantly, it can display these events within the Notification Center. The app itself is beautifully and thoughtfully designed. It's very easy to create new events directly from your existing calendar events or to manually create them within the app. You can give each event a name, specify a date and/or time, and select a background picture. The app lets you search online for pictures from 500px or Flickr with a keyword search. The result it very nice. It would make a great lock screen, if Apple permitted such a thing (it does not). I find that I don't often launch the app to review my upcoming events. Instead I pull the Notification Center down from the top of the screen and find them displayed there (after adding them by editing which apps to display there). That's the really useful feature of this app. It's just the text, that's enough and what makes this app terrific. I find that limiting the number of things that I include in the countdown to make it easier to think about upcoming events. Add 20 items and the list becomes unweildy. But limit yourself to just four or five events and it's much easier to deal with. When using the app itself you can flick up on the displayed days to reveal the hours remaining. You can also send the image of the event countdown via any of the system services, including Mail, Messages, social media apps, etc. Unfortunately the app adds a commercial message to your image as well, but you can delete that. I still find this practice annoying and tacky, especially for a paid app. Note to app developers and publishers: don't beg for positive reviews with popups in your apps and don't tack on advertisements in messages. If you want to keep track of the big upcoming events in your life, I do like Widget Countdown, especially for the Notification Center access. Don't let that next birthday or anniversary sneak up on you.
Fantastical 2 for iPhone, iPad goes iOS 8-only
iOS 8 is still fresh out of the oven, but one of the most popular calendar apps on the App Store is going all-in on the latest release. Fantastical 2 for iPhone and iPad scores a new update today, complete with widget functionality for the Notification Center and a new landscape layout option for iPhone 6 Plus users. Also included in the update is the ability to create events from within other extension-enabled apps using the Fantastical extension. It's not often you see a super popular app devote itself entirely to a new version of iOS within just a couple of months of release, and for an app that costs several dollars it's rarer still. Of course, since the majority of the update's new features are only possible thanks to iOS 8, anyone who refuses to update to the latest version of iOS can simply stick with their existing version of Fantastical 2 and continue using it as they would anyway. [via MacRumors]
Fantastical 2.1 for iOS adds new snooze, search and notification features
Flexibits' Fantastical 2.1 for iOS is available today with a host of new features, improvements and bug fixes. The calendar, reminders and to-dos app is a major hit with the TUAW team, so we're always pleased to see an update to this fantastic app! Check out our review of Fantastical 2.0 for iPhone, here. Highlights of the update include new snooze options for event or reminder notifications, the option to search and add contacts or locations when creating a new event, a setting to hide the event details location map (which can be a little annoying if you don't always use it), and new event invitation notifications. And if that isn't enough -- there's also a new app icon badge option, upcoming birthday notifications. keyboard shortcuts for those that use an external keyboard with their iOS device, and improvements to the calendar week-view, with updated colors and an improved appearance for timed events that span multiple days. To celebrate the update, Flexibits is putting Fantastical on sale. The iPhone and Mac version is 50% off at $4.99 and $9.99 respectively, and the iPad version is 33% off at $9.99.
Fantastical shines on the iPad's display
Fantastical from Flexibits has been my go-to calendar on the Mac and iPhone for a long time now. This week the company released an iPad version (US$9.99) that takes advantage of the device's big display. The app isn't simply larger on the iPad. The developers clearly sat down and considered how the additional room could affect Fantastical's functioning. The results are quite nice. The biggest "wow moment" is the dashboard. The iPhone version provides either a week view or a monthly view (the so-called "Day Ticker") plus a running list of upcoming events. It's tidy, handy and definitely mobile. On the iPad, the Dashboard is much more feature-rich. For starters, the Day Ticker displays three additional days. Also, you get month and daily view simultaneously, which is very handy. A reminders list appears on the list. Having all three on screen at once is something the iPhone app can't do and it's a very nice feature on the iPad. Similar to what you find on the iPhone and Mac apps, as you swipe through the Day Ticker, the corresponding events and appointments appear in a vertical list below. I like this quite a bit and it looks great on the iPad. But the Day Ticker has two more tricks up its sleeve! Pull down part way to reveal an expanded six-day view. Keep pulling and you'll get a full-screen weekly view. The best part is that you can move appointments around via drag-and-drop. Another change is that Flexibits decided to avoid popovers in Fantastical for iPad. Instead, these panels slide in from the side. It's a bit jarring at first, but they're quite legible and leave a bit of the background visible. You get used to them after a while and they start to make sense. Long-time Fantastical users will find that beloved features like natural language support and cute animations are intact. As I've said, Fantastical is my preferred calendar on the iPhone and Mac. It's very nice to see the iPad get in on the action, especially with such a nice iteration of the app.
Best Mac apps of 2013: Talkcast recap
On this Sunday's TUAW Talkcast, several Mac pundits picked out their favorite Mac apps of 2013. Our own Michael Rose convened the panel, including GeekBeat TV host Benjamin Roethig; TUAW TV Live host Shawn "Doc Rock" Boyd (who hates snow); longtime TUAW contributor, app developer and podcaster Brett Terpstra; and the managing editor of The Mac Observer, Jeff Gamet. The show will be available on iTunes momentarily (and streamable from Talkshoe), but in case you want to speed up your app sampling, we've recapped the app list here. To best highlight these apps, I will list them alphabetically with links and relevant quips contributed by the host and guests. All of these apps are compatible with OS X 10.8 and 10.9, and reasonably priced. Some of them work with older systems, also. Also, be sure to read Brett's own list of his favorite apps of 2013, over at brettterpstra.com. Best Mac Apps of 2013 1Password 4 from AgileBits Inc. (On numerous people's lists.) Jeff called it "magically awesome." Brett notes that it stores your passwords and personal information (including credit card numbers, software license keys and more) and "makes storing and generating [the items] just simple." The popup that used to only work in browsers now works anywhere on your Mac; that way, you don't have to open the main 1Password app nearly as often as before. AirServer 5 from App Dynamic. An AirPlay receiver for Mac and PC. Can mirror your display from iOS devices. "Great for demoing iOS apps, and a more professional feature set than Reflector" -- Mike Rose. Alfred v2 from Running With Crayons. A free, hotkey-based launch controller that also can initiate a quick web search and offers a number of other capabilities (offered by Doc Rock; he referred to it as one of his household servants). This one received a TUAW Best of 2011 for Mac Utility apps. Adobe Edge Code and Edge Inspect Combo. Doc Rock uses these programs with his Creative Cloud subscription. Edge Code is a HTML and CSS editing tool. Edge Inspect is an inline editor of code, which while working on a line, the meta key will open up accompanying files in a modal box, so they can be adjusted without leaving your main HTML file. "It's amazing," according to Doc. Bartender from Surtees Studios Ltd. (Offered up by Brett Terpstra and Jeff Gamet.) "Bartender is a lifesaver." It lets you control which menu items show up on your menu bar, and lets you rearrange them at will. Bartender was also written up on TUAW as a Friday Favorite while it was still in beta. BeamApp from BeamApp UG. Brett noted this Mac and iOS tool for quickly sending phone numbers, songs, maps and more between your devices and your Mac. Mike pointed out DeskConnect, which has some of the same functionality but also allows you to send files (PDFs, presentations, Word docs) between the Mac and your iOS device in a jiffy. BetterTouchTool by Andreas Hegenberg. A free utility for OS X 10.7 and above that lets you configure gestures for your mouse and trackpad. Brett says he uses two Magic Trackpads and can set them up to do just what he wants. CheatSheet from Media Atleier. This free utility uses the command key to show you all available shortcuts for an app. Not available in the Mac App Store because it cannot be sandboxed. See Media Atelier's blog for the explanation. Clarify 1.1.3 from Blue Mango Learning Systems. A great tool for quick and easy documentation. You can capture an image, edit it and add text, all on one place. You can read about Clarify's first iteration in TUAW's Daily Mac App feature from 2011. Clef and Waltz. Mike Rose pointed out this new take on password and authentication management; just point your iPhone at an animated barcode patch and it lets you into the target site, removing your need to remember passwords. Although relatively few sites work with Clef, the new, independently developed Chrome plugin Waltz expands it to work with Twitter, Facebook, Dropbox and more. Clyppan by Ole Morten Halvorsen. It stores all your clipboard clippings, letting you recall them with a quick keystroke. Not new, but very useful. Coffitivity from coffitivity.com. Both Jeff and Mike called out this menubar tool. A certain amount of ambient noise can help stimulate creativity, so folks who work in silence may benefit from running Coffitivity, which adds background and ambient noise from a coffee shop. Downie by Charlie Monroe. Web video and YouTube downloader "that actually works." Downie actually suports 120 different sites, and Mike noted that it's replaced older tools like Grappler and EVOM for him. Everpix. This made the list despite the photo storage service closing shop earlier this year. "It was a fantastic app while it lasted." You can read the story of Everpix's closure from Megan Lavey-Heaton on TUAW. Evernote from Evernote Corporation. It's a note taking app that can do many things and Michael notes that it "keeps getting more useful." Jeff Gamet also notes that the Jot Script Evernote Edition (US $75) is more like writing with a real pen as opposed to a stylus. It's got a hard tip and clicks on the iPad, which is his only complaint. Fantastical 2 from Flexibits Inc. This is billed as "calendars and reminders done right." Jeff notes that additional plain text entry options, multi time zone and dictation support have been added. You can read TUAW's review from Victor Agreda to learn more. Final Cut Pro X from Apple. Listener John Brown suggested Apple's flagship 64-bit video editing application. John noted they've made it quite simple for most people to use and refers to it as "remarkable." Doc Rock also notes that it is "a major step forward" and "a great application." This week's 10.1 update added optimizations for Apple's new Mac Pro desktop. Hazel from Noodlesoft. Doc says this pairs up with Alfred as his "domestic help" and notes that "it does a really good job of keeping icons on desktop organized," plus it can move files around based on a variety of file attributes that you set. MailMate from Feron. An IMAP email client with an impressive array of features. "It does everything I need it to," says Brett, who describes it as "the TextMate of email." Marked 2.2 from Brett Terpstra. We couldn't let the show go by without a hat tip to Brett's own Markdown preview tool, very much improved in the 2.x version. MindNode Pro from Ideas On Canvas Ltd. Both Mike and Brett called out this Mac and iOS mindmapping tool for its speed, easy interface and good-looking output. Mouseposé 3.2.4 from Boinx Software Ltd. Updated in December, it's a useful mouse pointer highlighting tool for demos and presentations. "A lot of my colleagues use tools like OmniDazzle or Zoomit for remote presentations," says Mike, "and whenever I pull out Mouseposé everyone on the call goes 'oooh, ahhh.'" OmniPresence from The Omni Group. For users of OmniGroup's apps. It's a free service and menu bar item that offers file syncing between devices. "It makes all of the changes between your files appear everywhere," says Jeff, but without the limitations and aggravations of iCloud. PollEv Presenter app from Poll Everywhere. SMS-based polling service that works with PowerPoint or Keynote to show live polls in real time. Mike calls it one of his go-to tools. Popclip from Pilotmoon Software. (Offered by Doc Rock and Brett Terpstra.) A $2 app that shows up when you select text with your mouse or trackpad -- simulating the iOS text selection experience.. ReadKit from Webin. RSS reader; Brett says it's "simplistic and powerful, and it supports every RSS system you can think of, and makes my life easy." RocketDocs. This single-session browser tool is specific to the Google Drive/Google Apps productivity tools. Mike says it's often easier than setting up Chrome for Docs use, and keeps your editing sessions away from general browsing. Shush from Mizage. A cough button for your Mac, so that you can mute yucky noises when recording audio. Works in FaceTime, iChat, Skype, Podcast Capture and more. Both Mike and Brett enthusiastically recommend it -- Mike even used it during the show, and blocked every snuffle and cough! We welcome your suggestions for the best Mac apps of 2013 -- let us know in the comments or on Facebook.
Fantastical 2 re-designed and re-engineered for iOS 7
I've been using the new version of Fantastical for a few weeks now, and if you liked the first version, you're going to love the new version. Fantastical has always been designed for ease of use and worked like a dream, but Fantastical 2 builds on those strengths and takes advantage of some key iOS 7 capabilities that anyone who uses their calendar daily will appreciate. Perhaps the biggest example of a key iOS 7 tech: background refreshing. With Fantastical 2, you won't need to take a trip to Apple's calendar any more. Fanastical will simply update automatically even if you don't launch Fantastical. I'm constantly adding items to my calendar at my computer (using Fantastical for Mac, but sometimes I'm accepting invites to my Google calendar). Having the app automatically refresh without me doing anything extra is a huge time saver. Then there are some design refreshes, like text size (controlled by iOS 7 Dynamic Text), a week view in landscape mode (super handy, especially on Mondays) and for larger 4-inch iDevices, there's an extended keyboard with handy buttons for calendar-specific symbols. The reason I bought the first Fantastical, however, is the parser. Being able to type in plain English, as though talking to an assistant, was magical and Fantastical did it before Siri was around to listen. In version 2, the parser has been beefed up. Since reminders are now fully integrated in 2, you can set an appointment or reminder by just using those terms. Even better, you can use "task" or "todo" in your phrasing and Fantastical will put your item in the right place. Plus, repeating events are easier to input so you could say something like "third Wednesday of each month" or "every two weeks" and Fantastical will figure it out. But my favorite is being able to say when a calendar item should alert you -- because the default is rarely adequate for me. Calendar apps litter the App Store, and we're unfortunately in a world where users gripe (often loudly) about having to "buy this app again." So first of all Flexibits is making Fantastical 2 US$2.99 for a limited time, and it will go up to $4.99 afterward. Second of all, even at full price we're talking about less than the price of most toys. This is not a toy, it's a tool. Tools aren't free to make and they shouldn't be free to steal. Let me explain. Flexibits is not made of volunteer designers and coders. It is a business. When you go to a business to buy something, you pay money for the value it provides to you. Sounds simple, but if the launch of Tweetbot 3 taught me anything, it's that people do not understand this simple concept. Developers work hard to redesign and add new features to apps, especially when Apple introduces a ton of new capabilities in an OS. iOS 7 added a lot of new capabilities. Tweetbot 3 took advantage mostly of those whiz-bang visual features (blurring, physics, etc.). Fantastical 2 takes advantage of a few new design techniques, but really pours it on with functionality. If you start typing into the parser with German, it'll understand. If you use Reminders, they work great. If you don't open Fantastical 2 for a couple of days, your calendar is still in sync. Features like those don't grow in groves of hot dog trees in the land of Dairy Queen. They require people to show up to work and make them happen. Fantastical 2 may look like its predecessor, but the value you will derive from the new version if you're using iOS 7 is completely worth it. Plus, if you're cheap or using an older iOS, guess what? Fantastical version 1 still works. This isn't planned obsolescence, this is simple math and basic business. Buy Fantastical 2 -- it will make dealing with appointments, calendars and reminders so much easier it's worth far more than what they are charging for it. Note that it is designed for iPhone. Full PR below. Show full PR text Flexibits Releases Fantastical 2 for iPhone, Completely Redesigned and Reimagined for iOS 7 DANVILLE, California - October 30, 2013 - Flexibits today introduced Fantastical 2 for iPhone, an all-new app exclusively for iOS 7, building on their award-winning calendar app. Completely redesigned for iOS 7, Fantastical 2 for iPhone includes many new features including reminders, an improved parser, a new light theme, a week view in landscape mode, background app refresh, TextExpander support, birthday reminders/greetings, and much more. Reminders are fully featured and allow users see their events and dated reminders together in the main list. Reminders can be added directly from their Reminders list or new event screen - a simple flip of the item switch will toggle between events and reminders. Users can even set dates, times, and geofences (when I arrive/when I leave) to their reminders. The parser improvements in Fantastical 2 for iPhone are significant, including the ability to create reminders by starting sentences with "reminder", "todo", "task", or "remind me to." Also new are expanded, expressive repeating events such as third Thursday of every month, every weekend, last weekday of the month, and more. Plus, users can now add alerts with phrases such as "remind me tomorrow at 3PM", "alert 1 hour before", or "alarm 3PM." Fantastical 2 takes full advantage of iOS 7, including support for Background App Refresh, Dynamic Type, and 64-bit support for the iPhone 5s. Background App Refresh ensures events, reminders, and alerts are up to date even when Fantastical isn't open. Support for Dynamic Type ensures Fantastical shows text larger or smaller, depending on the user's preferred text size. Also new (and exclusive to devices with 4" screens) is an extended keyboard when creating new events or reminders, providing instant access to numbers and symbols for dates and times. "We wanted to make an iOS 7 iPhone calendar app worthy of the name Fantastical," said Michael Simmons, Co-Founder of Flexibits. "With its beautiful iOS 7 design and functionality, we're confident users are going to be love Fantastical 2 for iPhone." With Fantastical 2 for iPhone, users will quickly and easily create, view, and search all of their events and reminders. The advanced natural language engine is extremely expressive, enabling users to enter event or reminder details in their own style. For example, users can enter sentences such as "Lunch with Elon at 123 Main Street on Tuesday" and Fantastical 2 for iPhone translates the sentence into an event and adds it to their calendar. And with support for reminders, users can enter sentences such as "todo Pick up dry cleaning" and the user will have a reminder, ready to check off. Fantastical 2 for iPhone is localized in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, letting users enter events in their preferred language. Best of all, Fantastical automagically detects the entered language for an event or reminder regardless of the system's language setting. On devices supporting dictation, events or reminders can be created simply by speaking. With its powerful natural language event and reminder creation, DayTicker, calendar, beautiful week view, event list, and much, much more, Fantastical 2 for iPhone is the fastest and friendliest calendar app for iOS 7. Pricing & Availability Download Fantastical 2 for iPhone on the App Store for a limited-time price of $2.99 (US). The standard price will be $4.99 (US). Fantastical 2 requires iOS 7. For further information, please visit: http://flexibits.com/fantastical-iphone To download Fantastical 2 for iPhone on the App Store, please visit: http://flexibits.com/fantastical-iphone/download Flexibits creates apps that are enjoyable and flexible. Apps that make your life better. Apps that remove frustration. With many years of experience working on many popular apps, our hope is that our experience and passion comes through in everything we do. Flexibits: Flexible bits. ............................................................................................................................ Press Contact: Michael Simmons Flexibits pr@flexibits.com Download the Flexibits Press Kit here: http://flexibits.com/flexibits_press_kit.zip
Fantastical 2 for iPhone wants to be your all-in-one calendar and reminder app
From its humble beginnings on OS X, Fantastical's contextual input changed the way plenty of people set appointments and reminders. When it arrived on the iPhone last November, the app became the first calendar software to reach number one on the App Store. Almost a year later, and Flexibits is looking to build on that success with Fantastical 2, a $2.99 upgrade that offers a new design and plenty of iOS 7 specific features.
Fantastical 1.1 adds multiple alarms, clipboard detection, other improvements
Fantastical 1.1 for iPhone (currently US$3.99) is now available with some seriously nice new features (here's our full review of Fantastical 1.0 for iPhone). Now you can add multiple alarms to an event, jump to a specific date easily, duplicate events and even detect what's on the clipboard. Here's an overview of Fantastical 1.1 for iPhone. At last you can add multiple alarms to a calendar event! If you're a forgetful Jones like me, that's great news. You can also quickly jump to any date by tapping and holding on the title bar. A new menu appears to let you choose exactly the date to go to. As you'd expect, it's very pretty, too. My favorite new feature makes it so easy to move or duplicate an event. Tap and hold on any event, and a new pop-up appears with two options: duplicate and move. Choose duplicate, and a new screen appears asking when you want the second event to happen. Select move and you're asked when you'd like the date to take place. It's so fast and handy. Other niceties include weekend highlight (they appear slightly dimmer in the Day Ticker), new badge options for the app's icon, including the current date (yes!) and super-smart clipboard detection. Fantastical 1.1 now looks for text strings in the clipboard and offers to create an event based upon that information. Very nice. There's more, of course, and you'll find the full release notes here. Fantastical is my favorite iPhone calendar app, and version 1.1 makes it better.
Fantastical for iPhone a fast, good-looking alternative to Calendar
Flexibits has released Fantastical for iPhone (half-off at US$1.99 for a limited time), a mobile companion to its popular calendaring solution for the Mac (here's our review of Fantastical for Mac). I've been using it for a few days and quite enjoying it. Fantastical for iPhone makes it super easy to enter an event by supporting natural language, and the UI is beautiful. A couple of little niceties that I'll describe later in this review make it a pleasure to use. Here's my look at Fantastical for iPhone 1.0. Looks Fantastical for iPhone shares many visual cues with its desktop sibling, which helps it "feel" like Fantastical for Mac. For instance, two "staples" hold the same red border in place. The current date is circled in the "Day Ticker" (more on that later) and the date list uses the same color-coded dots to indicate which calendar an event is tied to. Finally, color-coded event duration indicators appear beneath each date, giving you a sense of how long an event will occur (timed vs. all day). Those who like Fantastical on the Mac will feel at home with the iPhone version. %Gallery-172237% Use Entering an event is super easy, thanks to Fantastical's support for natural language. To create a new event, follow these brief steps: Tap the "+" in the upper right-hand corner. Enter the specifics. For example, "Oil change on Saturday at 3:00" or "Chorus practice next Friday at 2:00." Tap Done. Often times, these three simple steps will suffice, which is great. You can set up a repeating event just as easily. For example, "Cub Scout meeting Wednesday at 6:30 repeat every week" will create an unending repeating event. Pretty nice. For super-fast entry, tap the dictation icon! Those interested in adding more detail can tap Show Details before completing step three above. This brings up an edit screen much like that in Apple's Calendar. Use it to add a title, location, start and stop time (vs. all day), repeat specifics or an alert. You can also assign that event to a given calendar, select your own availability and record an associated URL or notes. Reviewing events is straightforward. The title bar shows the current month. Beneath that is the Day Ticker, which provides an overview of a five-day period: today, two days past and two days ahead. Swipe this in either direction to move back or forward. Something I really like in the Day Ticker the slight magnification on the current date. It's dead-center, highlighted ever so slightly and draws your eye right in. You can't help but notice it, and completely eliminates a search for the current day. Very thoughtful. If you'd rather see the full month, pull down on the Day Ticker to replace it with an overview of the current month. And yes, you can swipe left and right to move month to month. The search field is in there, too (pull down just part way). It lets you search by title, location, invitees or any part of the event. It's quite fast in my experience. Another nicety lets you tap the title bar at any time to return to the current day. I love it. Finally, events in the timeline beneath the row of dates show an event's associated calendar color, title, location and start / end time. Breaks between days are also indicated. It works very well as an at-a-glance calendar. Settings Tap the gear icon to fiddle with the settings. You'll find: An option to make the Day Ticker or Calendar the default. Pick which calendars to display. Identify your preferred start of the week. Switch event end time display on or off. Turn calendar weeks on or off. There's a help section, too. Wish List I wish I could set an alert with natural language. Also, I wish I could turn Fantastical on its side for a full-screen monthly overview. Perhaps in a future update. Conclusion Fantastical for iPhone is fast, good-looking and very useful as an at-a-glance overview of what tasks and appointments await you. Navigation is clear and little niceties make it a pleasure to use. Add a full-screen landscape calendar overview and I'll be ga-ga for it. Try it yourself while it's on sale for 50 percent off. I suspect you'll be glad you did.
Fantastical 1.3 adds reminders, bug fixes
Flexibits has released an update to its Fantastical menu-bar calendar tool. Fantastical 1.3 adds support for both iOS and iCal reminders. That's a feature I've been waiting for. You can choose which calendar's reminders Fantastical should display, and they're color-coded to match the parent calendar. Reminders appear just above appointments and can be edited with a double-click. As you would expect, you can create reminders as easily as appointments, using natural language. "Remind me to write about Fantastical today" created just the reminder I wanted. This update also includes various bug fixes and is free for registered users.
Fantastical 1.2.2 available, prepares for Mountain Lion's Gatekeeper
Fantastical by Flexibits has been updated to version 1.2.2 to address, among other things, Gatekeeper support in Apple's forthcoming Mountain Lion. Fantastical is a fantastic tool for the Mac that I've been using for quite a while (here's our comparison of Fantastical and Today). It lives unobtrusively in your Menu Bar and offers fast, natural language creation of calendar events. You can also use it to edit existing appointments, browse what you've got scheduled and sync with iCal, BusyCal, Entourage, or Outlook. Version 1.2.2 prepares the app for Gatekeeper, allows for vertical resizing of the event list (Lion only) and adds notes to search results, which I appreciate. There's more, of course, and you'll find the full release notes here. Fantastical requires Mac OS X 10.6+ and is available for $19.99. This is a free update for existing users.
Fantastical 1.1 offers editing, notes, full iCloud support
Fantastical by Flexibits has been updated to version 1.1, which offers a slew of new features. Users can now edit events and notes within Fantastical, and changes are immediately synchronized with iCloud. There's a lot to like about this new version, including behind-the-scenes bug fixes that make the whole experience more enjoyable. Here's what's new in Fantastical 1.1. At last, you can edit events within Fantastical! This is the feature I've been waiting for, and I'm glad to report it works. To edit an existing event, simply double-click its listing in Fantastical. An edit window pops up, ready to accept your changes. You can edit notes in the same way. The other major change is full iCloud integration and near-immediate synchronization of data. Previously, Fantastical required you to launch iCal (or have it running hidden) for sync with a MobileMe calendar. Now that's changed, thanks to iCloud and Fantastical's CalDAV integration. In my testing, events created in Fantastical showed up on my iPad by the time I launched the calendar app. Several smaller changes further improve the Fantastical experience. For example, new events now automatically set the start date to the selected date on the calendar, with is a nice time saver. Multiple all-day events are grouped by calendar and sorted by event name, and Outlook events are color-coded by category. Fantastical has been one of my favorites since I first reviewed it in May. It's out of the way when I don't need it, and quick when I do. Now that I can use it to edit tasks and notes, I probably won't look at iCal very much at all. Fantastical 1.1 is available now from the Mac App Store for US$19.99.
Fantastical 1.0.2 for Mac supports BusyCal
While I read our review of Fantastical with much enthusiasm, as a longtime BusyCal user I simply couldn't afford to play dice with my calendar. But Fantastical 1.0.2 is now available, and the primary update appears to be that the natural-language calendar tool now plays nice with BusyCal. You can get Fantastical from Flexibits directly or on the Mac App Store.
TUAW Talkcast, June 5: WWDC Edition!
Sunday, Sunday Sunday!!!! You know what that means, it's Talkcast time! We have a whole stack of rampant speculation on WWDC 2011 which starts this week, your standard issue Mac news, and a pre-announced VERY special guest: Michael Simmons from Flexibits who is not only going to chat development with us but also GIVE AWAY a copy of Fantastical, winner of the TUAW calendar app throwdown! We will likely have the usual suspects in as well, providing what we'll call "color commentary" in the chat room. Also, if you attend the recording, you are invited to stay for the aftershow, and TUAWTF is never recorded for a very good reason. Your calls and questions help us make the show the best it can be, otherwise I'm just talking to myself! To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (yay for free cellphone weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8. If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Gizmo, X-Lite, or Blink SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk to you tonight!
Fantastical vs. Today: Mac calendar app faceoff (Updated)
Earlier this week I reviewed Flexibit's new Fantastical app and Today from Second Gear Software. Both offer attractive and useful front-end access to iCal. Today I'll compare the two head-to-head and pick a favorite. Why these two apps? First, Fantastical is the fresh newcomer, garnering much well-deserved attention since its release a few days ago. Today offers similar functionality and has been around since 2008. They perform similar tasks but differently, and in subtle ways cater to different audiences. Before we get started, catch up with the Fantastical review and the Today review. All set? Then let's begin.
Fantastical improves the Mac desktop calendar experience
Calendaring on the Mac has come a long way since I was using Palm Desktop on a 333 MHz iMac. iCal is the Mac OS default today, and it works well. There is room for improvement, however, and Fantastical takes a huge step in the right direction. This handy app lives in your menu bar, providing quick access to your many appointments across calendars (including iCal or Outlook 2011). Fantastical supports incredibly rapid and natural full-text entry for appointments, making it easier than ever to get your events where you need them. It looks great, works well and is definitely worth your time. Read on for the full review. Note: tomorrow I'll post a review of a competing product, Today by Second Gear Software. Then, on Thursday, we'll do a head-to-head shootout between Fantastical and Today. %Gallery-123721%
