True, but I am still concerned with what data we are giving them access to in doing so. I have just never been big on giving apps access to stuff.
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Fantastical Unifies Its Mac, iOS, and Apple Watch Calendar Experience With Weather, Tasks, Meeting Proposals, and More
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True, but I am still concerned with what data we are giving them access to in doing so. I have just never been big on giving apps access to stuff.
No. Just say "NO" to subscription software. Especially for a freaking calendar app. #shameless. BTW, I've already deleted Fantastical from my phone, Macs and watch.
Valid point. The same concern can be voiced about any company. Even Apple is vulnerable to bad actors or technical difficulties.
Edited to add:
I don't mind paying for quality software that is meeting my need in one way or another. I understand many here don't like subscription software, and I understand that perspective. What I don't understand is the anger and (for a few) vitriol about this new model. You have 14 days to test drive. If it doesn't meet your need(s), is too buggy, or the cost to usage ratio is too disjointed for you, then by all means cancel before you are charged. Many here are current paid users like myself. You still have the same functions (including the watch app) as you did before. You don't have to subscribe and you don't have to stop using the app, not to mention deleting it.
In my opinion, there are many here who were too quick to get on the proverbial "burn them at the steak" software bus.
I don't know if I am going to pay the $40 dollars a year. What I do know, is that I am going to give this new update an honest run through, before making a decision.
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Dropping in a recommendation for Itsycal here. https://www.mowglii.com/itsycal/
It's a free companion to the built-in Calendar app that lives in the menu bar - which is the primary thing I liked about Fantastical.
It's a free companion to the built-in Calendar app that lives in the menu bar - which is the primary thing I liked about Fantastical.
We must not forget that it is Apple’s interest for their services revenue narrative to have as many applications as possible switching to subscriptions.
They love this. Tim is taking this all right to the bank.
They love this. Tim is taking this all right to the bank.
Sorry, they do not. They are clear that they do not host or have access to your calendar data.
I'm unemployed, and occasionally can scrape together $ for a really useful app.
Subscriptions are simply out of the question for me
Subscriptions are simply out of the question for me
Macstories has a record of the new fantastical app.
The New Fantastical Review
Over six years after the debut of the second major iteration of Fantastical – version 2.0 for iPhone, which I reviewed in October 2013 – Flexibits is introducing a new version of their popular hybrid calendar client/task manager today. The new Fantastical1, available today on the App Store, is a...www.macstories.net
Worth a read, if nothing else.
My guess is that constant accuweather access probably costs flexibits a fair amount of money, hence the price. In the past, I liked its calendar widget and that it just looked so much nicer than the stock calendar app. Now, the main advantage is still its natural language parser but personally, I don’t think I use it enough to justify the new subscription pricing.
Thanks, extremely thorough review of the app.
I've been a very happy user of Fantastical, on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, ever since it was first released. I liked it for its simultaneous calendar-and-appointment-list display and optimal use of screen real estate (including the "tap the date to get back to today" feature), for its configurability, and especially for the natural language input.
Now, with the new version, they've added an extra row of text/icons at the top of the screen that contains: the settings button (was previously in the same line as the month name), and the name of the current set of calendars (I'm only one person, why do I need multiple sets of calendars?), the magnifying glass (previously in the same line as the month), and a notifications bell, which looks mostly to be a way to tell me "exciting news", rather than being something I want. So, the use of precious screen space has gone downhill.
(And these days the built-in calendar app has a "Today" button to take you back to today's entries. Fantastical's "tap the month to get back to today" was good because it didn't eat screen space for a button, but then Fantastical blew the extra space on another row of unnecessary text/buttons at the top of the screen.)
When I look at the configuration options, a ton of them have the little "[+]" indicating that they're only available to subscribers. In fact, it's hard not to run into those buttons in a bunch of different places all over the app. It's like the whole app is an advertisement for the extra-cost version.
The natural language input... I really like entering appointments from the keyboard with this, but these days it's entirely possible to do the same basic setup via Siri ("Hey Siri, create an appointment at 3pm tomorrow for foobar"). So natural language setup in Fantastical is less compelling these days.
(I always ended up having to go into the built-in calendar app anyway, to set up the travel time, after adding an appointment in Fantastical, since it doesn't support travel time.)
Comparing to the built-in calendar, that leaves me missing Fantastical's combined calendar-and-appointment-list display. And I do miss it.
And to "add value" to the app, Fantastical has pulled in:
That's even before considering the subscription cost. I happy with paying for tools I use a lot, even by subscription in some circumstances. But I have no patience for, "give us extra money so we can add features you don't want".
As of a little while ago, I replaced Fantastical on my home screen with iOS's built-in Calendar. I'm going to use that for a while and see if I feel like I'm missing anything (aside from missing Fantastical 2, which is no longer available to me).
Now, with the new version, they've added an extra row of text/icons at the top of the screen that contains: the settings button (was previously in the same line as the month name), and the name of the current set of calendars (I'm only one person, why do I need multiple sets of calendars?), the magnifying glass (previously in the same line as the month), and a notifications bell, which looks mostly to be a way to tell me "exciting news", rather than being something I want. So, the use of precious screen space has gone downhill.
(And these days the built-in calendar app has a "Today" button to take you back to today's entries. Fantastical's "tap the month to get back to today" was good because it didn't eat screen space for a button, but then Fantastical blew the extra space on another row of unnecessary text/buttons at the top of the screen.)
When I look at the configuration options, a ton of them have the little "[+]" indicating that they're only available to subscribers. In fact, it's hard not to run into those buttons in a bunch of different places all over the app. It's like the whole app is an advertisement for the extra-cost version.
The natural language input... I really like entering appointments from the keyboard with this, but these days it's entirely possible to do the same basic setup via Siri ("Hey Siri, create an appointment at 3pm tomorrow for foobar"). So natural language setup in Fantastical is less compelling these days.
(I always ended up having to go into the built-in calendar app anyway, to set up the travel time, after adding an appointment in Fantastical, since it doesn't support travel time.)
Comparing to the built-in calendar, that leaves me missing Fantastical's combined calendar-and-appointment-list display. And I do miss it.
And to "add value" to the app, Fantastical has pulled in:
- Weather (do not want this integrated - I use Dark Sky, and my own custom home weather station - 15k lines of Python running in my living room)
- Task management (do not want this integrated - I use OmniFocus as a separate app, Fantastical has no chance of competing)
- Sets of calendars (again, I only have one set I care about, so displaying its name on the screen constantly is just an annoying waste of space for me)
That's even before considering the subscription cost. I happy with paying for tools I use a lot, even by subscription in some circumstances. But I have no patience for, "give us extra money so we can add features you don't want".
As of a little while ago, I replaced Fantastical on my home screen with iOS's built-in Calendar. I'm going to use that for a while and see if I feel like I'm missing anything (aside from missing Fantastical 2, which is no longer available to me).
Federicco has said that he doesn’t mind paying for nice apps. In his newsletter, his recent app highlight was raindrop, a bookmarking app which also runs on a subscription model. Overall, it seems like he’s paying quite a bit for the apps that he does use.
I don’t think he is being paid to say nice things about these apps. My take is that he does genuinely like the app because they meet his needs as an ipad power user (he’s recently gone back to using reminders as a task manager replacement of sorts).
Needs that likely aren’t reflective of the way we use our iOS devices at any rate. But my take is that the free version of fantastical is still able to offer basic functionality, with the paid option for heavy users desiring more features.
Valid point. The same concern can be voiced about any company. Even Apple is vulnerable to bad actors or technical difficulties.
Edited to add:
I don't mind paying for quality software that is meeting my need in one way or another. I understand many here don't like subscription software, and I understand that perspective. What I don't understand is the anger and (for a few) vitriol about this new model. You have 14 days to test drive. If it doesn't meet your need(s), is too buggy, or the cost to usage ratio is too disjointed for you, then by all means cancel before you are charged. Many here are current paid users like myself. You still have the same functions (including the watch app) as you did before. You don't have to subscribe and you don't have to stop using the app, not to mention deleting it.
In my opinion, there are many here who were too quick to get on the proverbial "burn them at the steak" software bus.
I don't know if I am going to pay the $40 dollars a year. What I do know, is that I am going to give this new update an honest run through, before making a decision.
Not sure I’m a “burn them at the stake”, but every time some greedy company comes along with a money grab, it makes it easier for the rest to jump in.
I pay for all of the software that I use. That includes some pricey wares. I don’t mind paying for quality software. But don’t come knocking on my door every month with your hand out. Release the product and LET ME decide if the updates are worth the upgrade price TO ME.
The subscription model is for lazy developers who are basically banking on the fact that the future upgrades WON’T be worth the cost of upgrade.
Subscription model for a calendar app that features MY data? No freaking way.
Ok, so, maybe I am a “burn them at the stake”. And proud of it.
can you please tell me how to skip creating an account? The app worked for a little bit but when I just went to lunch it again it will not let me get past the account creation screen. No, I do not have it installed on my Apple Watch.
I love Fantastical but they’re doing their best to keep people from using their app. Subscription model for a calendar app is just a giant FU to customers, current and future.
Here's my knock on Fantastical. I really don't see how it's drastically different from iCal. It used to be leaps and bounds ahead of iCal, but that's no longer the case (at least not for my use case). To me it's like an iCal plugin and not really worth the price that they're asking for. I actually wasn't too thrilled at it when it was priced at $40 flat. I only went for it when I got it on discount at $20.
I'm a developer myself. I understand the challenges of putting out software and how hellish it can be when the likes of Apple, Google, and Facebook keep breaking your work that you have to fix even though nobody wants to pay you a cent to do so. I just don't get what's so valuable about Fantastical in 2020.
This is actually one of the big problems I see with subscription apps: they price themselves for the market of really dedicated users, and it tosses out the casual users. There are a lot of apps where I'm willing to pay a moderately large up-front price (say, $10 on iOS or $50-$100 on the Mac, just for sake of argument), as a one-time thing, if the app is particularly compelling to me right then (does some task I really need to get done), but I have pretty much zero interest in paying, and keeping track of, a subscription fee (that's say 1/2 or 1/3 of the up-front price) for that app in perpetuity. For something that I need to use right then, and then once in a while after that (maybe several times a year). Keeping up a continual subscription for something that you use several times a year is annoying, as is dealing with unsubscribing and resubscribing as needed. And I've had apps in the past where I paid up-front expecting to use it several times a year (forever), and then they converted to a subscription ("but you get the first year for free") - great, now I've gone from $50 to use this 4x a year for many years, to $50 to use this 4x a year for one year (unless I sign up to pay more). Gee thanks. (If I splurge and buy a particularly nice version of some physical tool, it doesn't expire after some short period of time.)
(There are also apps where I'm happy to pay a subscription fee because they're important to me and I use them continually.)
Anyway, what I was getting at is, the "focusing on the professional market" bit, and pricing for those professional users, can be annoying because it can set up a situation where it just doesn't pay to use the app if you aren't a professional user. It's not just focusing on professionals, it's turning their back on everyone else (I'm thinking more in general, not just about Fantastical).
It's their right do as they see best for their own success. If they want to vacate the market segment for casual users, I'm sure someone else will be happy to fill that void if there's any money to be made... and if there isn't, you've got your answer for why they'd make such a move.
Surely one of the most important functionalities of an calendar app. Especially if all your devices already have pre-installed weather apps.
I guess the idea is that when you have a weather app integrated into the calendar, it’s easier to plan for trips and appointments when you have a clearer idea of what to expect.
I am just reminded of a tweet by Macro Arment (can’t locate it at the moment) justifying the business model of Dark Sky (a weather app that recently went subscription-based) because of the costs of pulling weather data.
We can debate the merits of including such a feature in a calendar app (I personally don’t need it), but I think it’s worth pointing out that such a feature likely isn’t entirely free to the developer. Which might explain why the price isn’t any lower. Those features impose quite a bit of expenditure on the developer’s part, and maybe that’s why it is the price it is.
Like many others, I’m considering other options. I can’t believe it won’t even let me change to most of the views without subscribing.
A number of people have recommended Calendars 5. Can anyone confirm whether it allows for location-based reminders? I can’t find that information in any of their app information.
A number of people have recommended Calendars 5. Can anyone confirm whether it allows for location-based reminders? I can’t find that information in any of their app information.
Been a big fan of Fantastical for years. Paid for Fantastical 2 on iPhone and maybe the original Fantastical on iPad. Never liked the iPad version.
I'll use these new apps, the features I need are included since I purchased the older app, and I'm happy with the update for iPad.
No chance I'm dishing out $55 CAD / year for premium though.
I'll use these new apps, the features I need are included since I purchased the older app, and I'm happy with the update for iPad.
No chance I'm dishing out $55 CAD / year for premium though.
Calendars - Readdle Knowledge Base
Readdle EN - help desk and customer service portal
Edited to add: I wish F3 had the ability to set persistent sound alert for an event or task, until marked as completed.
Calendars - Readdle Knowledge Base
Readdle EN - help desk and customer service portalhelpspot.readdle.com
Edited to add: I wish F3 had the ability to set persistent sound alert for an event or task, until marked as completed.
Thanks, that's a helpful page. I didn't see anything on location-based reminders, so I'll assume they don't have the feature. Will check out other alternatives.
From the link....
Calendars 5 allows to open a map when a Location is assigned to an event. To do that tap the event and then tap the location link.
Right but that's for the location of a calendared event. I'm asking about reminders that alert you when you are at a designated location. iOS Reminders and Fantastical have it but for some reason a lot of other calendar and reminder apps don't.
Most of us on this forum paid for fantastical 3 times. iPad, iPhone and Mac. Now they want even more money per month? Don’t get greedy. Why would anyone pay monthly to use a calendar app?