Fantastical 3.0.9 Adds Cursor Support for iPad and More

[TiggrToo]

The reality is, you lose features unless you agree to give them all your data. That's BS.

Citation on how they get "all your data" please.

 

[RoboCop001]

I've been looking for a better calendar app ever since they switched to subscription. Does anyone know of one that has a list view of events (not just today's events), as well as an Apple Watch app? I do like the "Up Next" feature on the Fantastical watch app that they added.

 

[jmorrison0722]

Just say no to subscription model software.

 

[ScottNWDW]

Worth it to me, for the server-based ‘send options for meetings’ functionality alone.

I say this as a paid up user of v1, v2 and now v3.
Do I wish it were cheaper? Yes, of course.
Is it worth the money? Also yes, to me.
Was it a fair transition? I believe they did their best, though it wasn’t perfect - the biggest booboo is the upgrade notifications everywhere.
Is it fair to compare it to MS Office, which has vast economies of scale? Probably not.

Same here.

I love the ability to send out a meeting request with suggested times and have the people I invited be able to pick between the suggested times.
I also love the interesting calendar function.

 

[ericwn]

Maybe in iOS 14, Apple can just upgrade Calendar that is built-into to match or exceed what this does.

I prefer if Apple doesn’t steal ideas from small developers.

 

[Smoothie]

I'm a longtime user of Fantastical, and I refuse to pay for a subscription for a calendar app. Before this blunder by the developers, I would recommend Fantastical to friends and convince them that the high one-time cost was worth it for the app's feature set. But no more. I'm generally loathe to pay for a subscription for software, except in a few cases like Microsoft's Office 365 which provides a number of excellent apps and 1 TB of cloud storage and syncing. But $40 per year for a calendar app? Nope.

Flexibits has seen its app store reviews in the iOS store plummet. Most of the reviews are one star and reject the subscription model. They also complain about the botched rollout which actually removed features that had been paid for in the previous version and contained constant nags about upgrading to the new version. Flexibits supposedly addressed some of these complaints. But for now, I haven't upgraded on iOS or Mac OS, so I can still use a functional version without a subscription.

 

[Kabeyun]

Fantastical is an excellent and well worth the $40 a year that they are asking. It does so much more than the FREE Apple calendar. If you don't want to pay for a calendar then use the Apple Calendar. But if you want to use many of the features that make Fantastical, well fantastic then cough up $40 a year. It's not that hard.

We did pay for it! Suddenly, surprise! Now we have to pay for it forever! Screw them, and screw the subscription model in general.

 

[ericg301]

I've got no problem paying for it—the feature set can't be beat. I tried switching back to the stock calendar and reminder apps after my trial period expired and it felt like going back to a Palm Pilot. So I came back. I can't see myself managing my professional and personal life any other way.

The subscription business model is here to stay. And if you draw a line in the sand and refuse to play ball, you're going to be missing out on a lot of cool and interesting apps.

 

[tubomac]

Just say no to subscription model software.

I completely agree with you.
I never buy anything with subscription except Netflix. We should make developer understand that we don't like this system of payment. We should send them a clear message!

 

[Bryan Bowler]

No thank you Fantastical! I paid for your software on all my devices and then you automatically updated me to Version 3 without asking or prompting me, and I lost what I paid for.

You completely ruined our relationship and I refuse to support you anymore.

 

[Daikin]

What we really do not understand (as paying V1 and V2 users) is that a calendar app (!) places a basic function such as day-week-month and year view behind a subscription (under iOS). This is laughable. I repeat: a calendar app ... no way they ever receive a penny anymore from here with this kind of childishness Imagine: 'best calendar app' without standard day-week view on your iOS-device. Every free app in this domain has this on board.

This is actually disgusting when you look at it in a proper perspective. That they ask for extra $ for extras: OK! But an essential and logic thing to be called a calendar app blocking at all ?!

This gives us real contempt for the wannabe marketeer decision. Hope to be able to perish* with their selfish moves towards loyal users.

* Never thought to have to say this, but this infuriates us.

 

[flippo]

Did you even read the article. The update that is being reported says that cursor support is added now.
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They also gave you the option of using it for free without losing any of the features that you already had, or paying the subscription and getting all of the new features. Quit clicking on the new feature set and you won't get any ads. Simple.

That's not true. I paid for version 2 and then I upgrade to version 3 because I read about this. I lost the ability to see the month view if I do not pay for a subscription. That's just one function that I lost from v2 to v3.

 

[uehithneu]

Fantastical is an excellent and well worth the $40 a year that they are asking. It does so much more than the FREE Apple calendar. If you don't want to pay for a calendar then use the Apple Calendar. But if you want to use many of the features that make Fantastical, well fantastic then cough up $40 a year. It's not that hard.

Who here said something about not wanting to pay? And why do you mention only the stock calendar app? There's plenty of great apps that have 'buy once' pricing. F3 roll-out has been aggressive. F3 devs are dismissive and dickish. F3 subscription is ridiculous. """It's not that hard."""
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I'm a longtime user of Fantastical, and I refuse to pay for a subscription for a calendar app. Before this blunder by the developers, I would recommend Fantastical to friends and convince them that the high one-time cost was worth it for the app's feature set. But no more. I'm generally loathe to pay for a subscription for software, except in a few cases like Microsoft's Office 365 which provides a number of excellent apps and 1 TB of cloud storage and syncing. But $40 per year for a calendar app? Nope.

Flexibits has seen its app store reviews in the iOS store plummet. Most of the reviews are one star and reject the subscription model. They also complain about the botched rollout which actually removed features that had been paid for in the previous version and contained constant nags about upgrading to the new version. Flexibits supposedly addressed some of these complaints. But for now, I haven't upgraded on iOS or Mac OS, so I can still use a functional version without a subscription.

This.

I'm surprised to see so many on-point reviews. I thought most users would just accept the godawful pricing change. One of my favorite comments: "Podcast pundits won't save this app."

In all the press coverage I see no disclosures about conflict of interest. I do wonder whether or not bloggers pay for their own subscription.
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I've got no problem paying for it—the feature set can't be beat. I tried switching back to the stock calendar and reminder apps after my trial period expired and it felt like going back to a Palm Pilot. So I came back. I can't see myself managing my professional and personal life any other way.

The subscription business model is here to stay. And if you draw a line in the sand and refuse to play ball, you're going to be missing out on a lot of cool and interesting apps.

Featureset *can* be beat. Why do you say F3 has such outstanding featureset? There's plenty better apps and almost all of 'em have 'buy once' pricing, either as an optional pricepoint or as the only pricepoint.

 

[uehithneu]

I can't see myself managing my professional and personal life any other way.

Oh really? Lol.

 

[ericg301]

That's not true. I paid for version 2 and then I upgrade to version 3 because I read about this. I lost the ability to see the month view if I do not pay for a subscription. That's just one function that I lost from v2 to v3.

on what device?

iphone never had a full month view. ipad did, and still does.

 

[Daikin]

Dear ScottNWDM,
Not to play on the man, but still a famous thinker. You do not agree with the statement that day-week-month (and year) block view behind a subscription (for a calendar app) on iOS ?? With over 30 years in the high-end development sector at our fingertips, we could see it as a dream to milk you out. But this runs counter to our aesthetic values. We are again talking about your pure basic functionality. Every calendar app will give this. We don't even crow about the rest (server-side AW). You know what?? Give your fortune to Flexibits! Because they are and above all not worthy of any support with this (I repeat this!) decision !! What 'best calendar-app' ?

Sorry, it's ridiculous to put the most basic functionality for a calendar app behind a paywall. Loyal user before or not. This is an absolute basis !! Otherwise, our international customers have misunderstood our correct way of support for decades!

Even in these times of solidarity, they keep stiffening their legs ... choking on their pride...👎

 

[ericg301]

Oh really? Lol.

yup. is that a problem?

 

[uehithneu]

Dear ScottNWDM,
Not to play on the man, but still a famous thinker. You do not agree with the statement that day-week-month (and year) block view behind a subscription (for a calendar app) on iOS ?? With over 30 years in the high-end development sector at our fingertips, we could see it as a dream to milk you out. But this runs counter to our aesthetic values. We are again talking about your pure basic functionality. Every calendar app will give this. We don't even crow about the rest (server-side AW) ! You know what?? Give your fortune to Fleibits! Because they are and above all not worthy of any support with this (I repeat this!) decision !! What 'best calendar-app' ?

Sorry, it's ridiculous to put the most basic functionality for a calendar app behind a paywall. Loyal user before or not. This is an absolute basis !! Otherwise, our international customers have misunderstood our correct way of support for decades!

Even in these times of solidarity, they keep stiffening their legs ... choking on their pride...👎

Flexibits could have forked the app, should have released F3 as a separate app. Flexibits deserves all the backlash, all the furor.

 

[ScottNWDW]

Featureset *can* be beat. Why do you say F3 has such outstanding featureset? There's plenty better apps and almost all of 'em have 'buy once' pricing, either as an optional pricepoint or as the only pricepoint.
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Fantastical 3 DOES have an outstanding features. The only one that I have seen that comes remotely close is BusyCal and that one costs $59.99 just or the Mac version alone. Then every time they do a major update, say every 2-3 years you have to pay for it all over again. Hmmm. pretty much the same in the long run. I have not seen any other calendar app that offers 2-way sync with Todoist. I have seen 1-way sync, but not 2-way. I have not seen any other app that allows you to make suggestions for meetings and have the recipients pick the best that works for all. Aside from that it has calendar sets, natutral language parsing, a great interface, etc. Every other app I have seen is lacking in one or more of those features.

 

[uehithneu]

Fantastical 3 DOES have an outstanding features. The only one that I have seen that comes remotely close is BusyCal and that one costs $59.99 just or the Mac version alone. Then every time they do a major update, say every 2-3 years you have to pay for it all over again. Hmmm. pretty much the same in the long run.

BusyCal featureset doesn't come 'remotely close' to Fantastical's but rather it far surpasses Fantastical's. Your post sounds obtuse. When a customer makes payment for BusyCal, the customer gets to use the software so long as she/he pleases. Buy-once pricing and subscription nonsense definitely not """pretty much the same""". Buzz off, man.

 

[Daikin]

The only one that I have seen that comes remotely close is BusyCal and that one costs $59.99 just or the Mac version alone. Then every time they do a major update, say every 2-3 years you have to pay for it all over again. Hmmm. pretty much the same in the long run.

Have been using also BusyCal and BusyContacts for years and years now (10+) - (basically just about every calendar and to-do app that has a bit of a name). Never have to pay an upgrade fee since the purchase for these two? Incidentally, the BusyMac apps are regularly available at half price.

YFYI for those who did not know yet: these BusyMac apps have been owned by the dev of the iOS / MacOS app 2Do for some time now.

 

[uehithneu]

Have been using also BusyCal and BusyContacts for years and years now (10+) - (basically just about every calendar and to-do app that has a bit of a name). Never have to pay an upgrade fee since the purchase for these two? Incidentally, the BusyMac apps are regularly available at half price.

YFYI for those who did not know yet: these BusyMac apps have been owned by the dev of the iOS / MacOS app 2Do for some time now.

BusyCal for macOS outstanding. iOS app nothing special but macOS app so darn good.

 

[uehithneu]

I normally look at complaints about the subscription model as people being cheapskates.

For every """cheapskate""" customer there's a """greedy""" developer.

Developers have to make money to stay interested in the product. Subscriptions are the only way to do it unless you are operating in charity mode or happen to have an in demand game. Most would laugh at paying $40.00 in the App Store to purchase it. All that said $3.99 per month is laughable. $12/year, yes or $24/year, maybe. The comparison to Office pricing is not really fair as it is based on massive volume and tie in to existing products that cost money and benefit from mobile solutions.

Yes developers have to make money. And customers ought to own software! Flexibits refuses to add a high-priced 'buy once' option (e.g., $39.99 x3? x4? x5?) and there's no good reason for that stance. It's not as if persons are unwilling to pay. Unwilling to rent? Yes. Unwilling to pay? No.

The comparison to Office pricing is not really fair as it is based on massive volume and tie in to existing products that cost money and benefit from mobile solutions.

The comparison to Office pricing is not really fair but neither is the common practice of comparing F3 versus the stock calendar app. There's plenty of great apps with 'buy once' pricepoint, either as an option alongside subscription pricing (e.g., Informant, Week Cal) or as the only pricepoint (e.g., Coyome, myCal Pro).

 

[ericg301]

i guess we're going to go through this argument everytime flexibits updates the app huh?

i have no problem paying for it. $40/yr is well worth the benefit it provides me across all of my Apple devices.. but i get that it's not for everyone either.

 

[uehithneu]

i guess we're going to go through this argument everytime flexibits updates the app huh?

i have no problem paying for it. $40/yr is well worth the benefit it provides me across all of my Apple devices.. but i get that it's not for everyone either.

What drives dissent here is not Flexibits making an update but rather MacRumors giving it coverage. Seems to me someone here is in Flexibits's pocket. Why else does one particular app, with middling features and with nonsense pricing, receive such press?

My favorite part of someone's App Store review: "Podcast pundits won't save this app."

And if Flexibits had not forced the update onto F2 users, most of the dissent here would not ever appear. Flexibits should have forked the app. But even *they* know that F3, as a brand-new app, would not ever gain steam.