Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,289
30,364



Popular calendar app Fantastical 2 for Mac was today updated with a long list of new features, introducing a multitude of small but significant changes. The new version of the app includes Exchange support with native account syncing so Exchange users can respond to invitations and use availability lookup, categories, and people lookup.

With the new availability feature, enabled through a calendar service like Exchange, Google Apps, or OS X Server, Fantastical 2 users can quickly check their colleagues' availability and schedules to expedite the process of setting up meetings and appointments. For Google Apps users, there's an option to load Google Hangouts links for group meetings and there's support for push updates and Google Contact search when adding invitees.

fantastical-800x485.jpg

Printing is now available and there are multiple layout options available for printing calendar schedules. Users can choose a specific calendar to print and choose whether to show all-day events, timed events, or both. There are also options for calendar keys, black and white printing, and a mini calendar at the upper right of the page. Daily, monthly, weekly and yearly calendars are available to print, letting users share a hard copy of their schedules with others.

Other important new features include iCloud shared calendar notifications, an extra time zone line to let users view other time zones when scheduling an event, multiple selection to move or delete multiple items at one time, and a new option to start week or month views on the current day or week.
"We launched Fantastical 2 for Mac one year ago, and our goal was to reinvent Fantastical itself," said Michael Simmons, Co-founder of Flexibits. "Today's update is the biggest we've ever shipped and we think our users are going to love it."
There are several other feature additions, bug fixes, and improvements to the Fantastical 2 app, which should improve performance for all users.

Fantastical 2 can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $49.99. [Direct Link]

Article Link: 'Fantastical 2' for Mac Updated With Native Exchange Support, Availability, Printing and More
 

smizzle

macrumors regular
Sep 15, 2010
161
132
Pittsburgh, PA
$50 for a calendar app seems a bit excessive... It's a shame Microsoft dropped development on Sunrise. That was an awesome free calendar app. If paying this much is the alternative I'll probably just go back to the stock calendar if they ever completely pull the plug on Sunrise.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tyasjs and Aston441

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,544
6,042
$50 for a calendar app seems a bit excessive... It's a shame Microsoft dropped development on Sunrise. That was an awesome free calendar app. If paying this much is the alternative I'll probably just go back to the stock calendar if they ever completely pull the plug on Sunrise.

I bought the original Fantastical as part of a bundle with 9 other apps for $20. I thought I got a good deal for my money.

Buying just Fantastical for $50 is a ripoff.

Also, printing? Really? Having a printer is like having a landline or DVD player - plenty of people still have old ones laying around, but the only old people are still buying them. It's a dying industry - it'll be gone within a few years. It seems really silly to invest any time or effort in adding this feature.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jocamero and DIRSGT

nefan65

macrumors 65816
Apr 15, 2009
1,354
14
I trialed this one, and BusyCal. Not impressed with either really. I have O365 from work, and still use Mail and Cal for Exchange. The only issue I have is that new mail is usually a few seconds behind my iPhone [or Outlook if I used it], and iCal gets flaky at times. If I put a new event/appointment in, it will add it and a few seconds later it'll just say New Event. If I change it, and check my phone or Outlook, it shows 2 - 3 events; the one that should be there, and a couple that just say "New Event"...odd.

Other than that, ya $50 for a calendar app is nuts. It's worth maybe $9.99.
 

tgara

macrumors 65816
Jul 17, 2012
1,154
2,898
Connecticut, USA
I trialed this one, and BusyCal. Not impressed with either really. I have O365 from work, and still use Mail and Cal for Exchange. The only issue I have is that new mail is usually a few seconds behind my iPhone [or Outlook if I used it], and iCal gets flaky at times. If I put a new event/appointment in, it will add it and a few seconds later it'll just say New Event. If I change it, and check my phone or Outlook, it shows 2 - 3 events; the one that should be there, and a couple that just say "New Event"...odd.

Other than that, ya $50 for a calendar app is nuts. It's worth maybe $9.99.

I'm in the same boat.... I tried both Fantastical 2 and BusyCal and a the time, neither had Exchange support that was on par with Apple's Calendar. Since that feature is critical for me, both were a no go.

That said, I am willing to give this update of Fantastical a try to see how Exchange works. I like the menubar feature, and the iOS apps are great. But, $50 is a lot to spend on a calendar app. It better work really good if I'm going to drop that much.

nefan65, I had the same issue you did with the New Event bit. Have you tried turning the Exchange calendar off, then on again? If that doesn't work, you may need to delete your Exchange account and re-add it. That fixed the problem for me.
 

AndyK

macrumors 65816
Jan 10, 2008
1,025
377
Terra
It's a good app but the pricing just doesn't justify the feature list. Especially considering they still sell the iPhone / iPad apps separately from each other & haven't gone universal. That and the inclusion of printing (I find it hard to believe they get as many requests for it as they claim on their blog).

That being said I do own it and I like it. I purchased it at launch when it was on discount with iTunes credit I won in a giveaway. Not sure even after having it so long I'd shell out from my own pocket in the future though.

All in all, they just seem a little out of touch with a slow and low development curve, which doesn't fuel any excitement or enthusiasm for what future releases could bring.
 
Last edited:

zkmusa

macrumors regular
Jul 16, 2002
103
15
Dallas, TX
I have been a long-time user of Fantastical 1, the menu bar app. This app is indispensable to me. When Fantastical 2 came out, I could not justify spending $50 for the app, as I am not in need of a full calendar application.

I am still hoping the developer will create a spinoff menubar app that doesn't have the features of the full calendar app, but updates the original Fantastical. I would gladly pay $20 for this.
 

nefan65

macrumors 65816
Apr 15, 2009
1,354
14
I'm in the same boat.... I tried both Fantastical 2 and BusyCal and a the time, neither had Exchange support that was on par with Apple's Calendar. Since that feature is critical for me, both were a no go.

That said, I am willing to give this update of Fantastical a try to see how Exchange works. I like the menubar feature, and the iOS apps are great. But, $50 is a lot to spend on a calendar app. It better work really good if I'm going to drop that much.

nefan65, I had the same issue you did with the New Event bit. Have you tried turning the Exchange calendar off, then on again? If that doesn't work, you may need to delete your Exchange account and re-add it. That fixed the problem for me.
Thanks! I did delete and re-add. I'll turn off and wait a bit and see if maybe there was a weird sync thing going on, and re-enable. Worth a shot...
 

Futurix

macrumors 6502a
Nov 22, 2011
591
684
Strasbourg, France
Also, printing? Really? Having a printer is like having a landline or DVD player - plenty of people still have old ones laying around, but the only old people are still buying them. It's a dying industry - it'll be gone within a few years. It seems really silly to invest any time or effort in adding this feature.

Clearly you are not working in an office.
 

liven2

macrumors regular
Jan 2, 2002
194
68
Bonney Lake, WA
This upgrade is duplicating all my exchange calendar events over and over and over. I now have hundreds of duplicate entries related to my exchange account. NOT happy!! User beware! :(
 

philipmv

macrumors member
Oct 23, 2014
32
53
MacRumors really should include a short disclaimer at the beginning of advertisement posts like this saying this was a "paid article submission." I miss the MacRumors of old, when articles were rumors, not ads.
 

Sleepyshibe

macrumors newbie
Jul 24, 2014
10
6
Chicago
It's expensive but I use it everyday, it's well supported with updates and it's the best calendar app out there. Natural language calendar entry is incredible.

That was my one argument for using Fantastical too but when Fantastical 2 came out at $50 and then Apple added language processing to the native Calendar app, I saw no reason to upgrade and went back to using the built in calendar.
 

AppleInLVX

macrumors 65816
Jan 12, 2010
1,237
744
Waiting for it to be part of a bundle so I can get more value out of it. That 50 bucks is 70 CAD, and there is no way in hell I'm dropping 70 bucks for something that replicates the features of what comes with the OS. 20 bucks CAD is the limit for standalone. With a bundle of other stuff it might be worth it.
 

BornAgainMac

macrumors 604
Feb 4, 2004
7,275
5,212
Florida Resident
Needs Travel support. I really like that Apple feature. One time it was a Saturday and I got an alert to leave about 15 minutes earlier. It was due to delays on the freeway that just happened.
 

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,544
6,042
You must be working for a fairly unique company then. In my experience paper scheduling is still king in most places, even in most 'new media' companies. Unfortunately.

Our conference rooms each have iPads on the door indicating when the next meeting is. Tap on it if you want to reserve it for something quick.

I personally feel the iPads are overkill... You could get a $100-$200 Android Tablet to do the same thing, but oh well, I'm not the one calling the shots here.

The iPads all synchronize with the calendars on our Exchange servers.
 

AppleInLVX

macrumors 65816
Jan 12, 2010
1,237
744
Our conference rooms each have iPads on the door indicating when the next meeting is. Tap on it if you want to reserve it for something quick.

I personally feel the iPads are overkill... You could get a $100-$200 Android Tablet to do the same thing, but oh well, I'm not the one calling the shots here.

The iPads all synchronize with the calendars on our Exchange servers.

That's pretty slick. Although in practice, what does it gain? I assume that the meeting rooms are all booked through Exchange anyway, and if you wanted a room, its bookings would show up there. I guess I wonder how often someone shows up randomly at a room wanting to book it for later.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
Our conference rooms each have iPads on the door indicating when the next meeting is. Tap on it if you want to reserve it for something quick.

I personally feel the iPads are overkill... You could get a $100-$200 Android Tablet to do the same thing, but oh well, I'm not the one calling the shots here.

The iPads all synchronize with the calendars on our Exchange servers.
I would wager that there are far fewer places with anything close to that compared to those that still print things out (especially those outside the tech sector, and there are sure plenty of those).
 

jeffg819

macrumors 6502
Dec 25, 2006
272
155
Print out my calendar every morning and use it to record various things about my day. Was using Calendar for this and Fantastical for all other activities. One less step in the morning routine!
 

ScottNWDW

macrumors 65816
Jul 10, 2008
1,231
315
Orlando, Florida
I've been using Fantastical 2 since it came out. It is well worth the price. At first I was taking aback by the price, but like other apps I use, if I USE the app on a regular basis it is well worth the price. I use OmniFocus and that was a huge investment, but it is the best damned task app I could find. With this update, Fantastical is the best calendar app out there and in my opinion well worth the price.

This update brought some great new features to the app and one of the best new features is the native support for Microsoft Exchange. My workplace uses Exchange and I have my own personal calendars. I like that the category colors that I have chosen in Exchange will come through to Fantastical. All other calendar apps that I have used or tried had the exchange calendars in just one color. Now they are all in the same colors as my computers at work. I also like the printing capabilities and the fact that you can have the various calendar sets.

I get annoyed and tired of people who think that app developers are supposed to just give their apps away for free all the time. If you want to wait until the app is included in some bundle to make it worth the price then you really don't need the app that much.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Aika and Weaselboy

nnoble

macrumors 6502
Jun 19, 2011
459
540
I bought the original Fantastical as part of a bundle with 9 other apps for $20. I thought I got a good deal for my money.

Buying just Fantastical for $50 is a ripoff.

Also, printing? Really? Having a printer is like having a landline or DVD player - plenty of people still have old ones laying around, but the only old people are still buying them. It's a dying industry - it'll be gone within a few years. It seems really silly to invest any time or effort in adding this feature.
[doublepost=1459506977][/doublepost]Congratulations on living and working in an advanced IT environment with good connectivity. I'm aware such environments exist. Like you, Flexibits were also working under the illusion that the rest of the world is like that. I work in a part of the world that can't fully guarantee electricity 24 hours a day. Internet connectivity is even less reliable. There is a lot to be said for getting out and about and seeing how the rest of the world operates. Printer manufacturers will be in business for a very long time to come.
 
Last edited:

ScottNWDW

macrumors 65816
Jul 10, 2008
1,231
315
Orlando, Florida
[doublepost=1459506977][/doublepost]Congratulations on living and working in an advanced IT environment with good connectivity. I'm aware such environments exist. Like you, Flexibits were also working under the illusion that the rest of the world is like that. I work in a part of the world that can't fully guarantee electricity 24 hours a day. Internet connectivity is even less reliable. There is a lot to be said for getting out and about and seeing how the rest of the world operates. Printer manufacturers will be in business for a very long time to come.
This is so true. People always have to have the paper. I work as a concierge and every day I get people wanting me to print their airline boarding passes even though they have the airline's own app with the digital boarding pass right there that they can use. I don't think printer manufacturers have to worry about anything. From what I see we are all printing more things than we did in the past.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.