The best alternative calendar apps for iPhone that can get your schedule better organized and help you keep it that way.
While the new, built-in iOS 7 [1] Calendar app is clean, it's a dramatic change from the old one and not a change everyone thinks is for the better. If you've been a die-hard Calendar app aficionado, but now you find yourself looking around for an alternative, you're in luck! There are several really great calendar replacement apps in the App Store, and they can all tie into the same iOS calendar database, so all of your appointments, events, birthdays, and more will "just work" in your new calendar app, the way they always did in the default one. Here are my favorites!
Sunrise Calendar 2.0
Sunrise Calendar 2.0 [2] supports both Gmail and iCloud calendars but sadly, no Exchange. Not only that, you can also choose to link up your Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare. You can then manage all your Facebook and personal events in one place. Foursquare checkins show up in your calendar as well so you have one main feed for everything. Sunrise Calendar is one of the very few options that handles event sharing and invites properly through iCloud as well. If that's important to you, it's a solid bet. Oh, and did we mention the interface and design is gorgeous too?
If you share events via iCloud often and like the ability to tie in networks like Facebook and Foursquare, get Sunrise Calendar for iPhone.
Fantastical
Fantastical by Flexibits [3] has been one of my absolute favorite alternative calendar apps as long as I can remember. The interface is dead simple to navigate and provides much of the same look and feel as the default Calendar app found in iOS 6 and before. Except it's better in many ways. Fantastical also supports true push for iCloud events and not email workarounds. Natural language support is also a huge selling point since it makes event entry dead simple. Not only that, Fantastical also offers Exchange support.
If you want something visually close to the older default Calendars app or need Exchange support, get Fantastical.
Note: Fantastical 2 is slated for release this month and will be a completely new purchase. If you can wait, we'd recommend it. If you need something right now, it's still $5 very well spent. We will update this article as soon as Fantastical 2 is available.
Calendars 5
Calendars 5 by Readdle can not only manage your Calendar, but your reminders and tasks as well. It also supports natural language input for event creation. Calendars 5 is also one of the few options that is a universal download for both iPhone and iPad. You can sync local calendars as well as Google calendars with Calendars 5. Event sharing is available for Google calendars but not for iCloud.
If universal support for iPhone and iPad are important to you and you want one solution for tasks and calendar events, definitely consider Calendars 5.
Agenda Calendar 4
Agenda Calendar 4 by savvy apps [4] has tons of customized views that are all well thought out and designed. I think it's month view is one of the best available. Agenda 4 can also integrate your reminders much like Calendars 5 can. You can also send events and tasks to Clear, Drafts, Due, OmniFocus, Scratch, Things, and Todo.
If you want integration with other productivity and task apps, get Agenda Calendar 4.
Tempo
Tempo calendar aims to make your calendar more of a personal assistant than just lines of information for you to read. Tie in your email accounts, contacts, Foursquare, and Yelp! accounts and Tempo will get smarter. It can start serving up emails that are attached to certain tasks or what it thinks is relevant to a particular meeting. This can include attachments and documents or just email conversations. Events that involve things such as boarding passes for flights, Tempo can keep that information safe and up to date as well.
If you want your calendar to do more and you deal with lots of meetings on a regular basis, definitely give Tempo a try.
Cal by Any.do
Cal by Any.do is one of the best looking alternative calendar apps available. It also ties in closely with Any.do for tasks. One unique thing that Cal does is plot out free time in between events. The main agenda view is reminiscent of the default Calendar app pre-iOS 7 as well so it won't be as overwhelming to new users. Cal also supports natural language input and automatically searches for physical locations in your events to attach. In my experience, it's been very intuitive and easy to use.
If you don't need tons of extra features and want something that just works, or you're already an Any.do user, Cal is worth a try.
Your favorite calendar apps?
These are our absolute favorite calendar apps. Not only do a lot of these provide more functionality, they can also tie into all the services we care about most. If you use one of the above, let us know why you prefer it over the native Calendar app. If you use something different, make sure to let us know what!
Links
- ^ iOS 7 (www.imore.com)
- ^ Sunrise Calendar 2.0 (www.imore.com)
- ^ Fantastical by Flexibits (www.imore.com)
- ^ Agenda Calendar 4 by savvy apps (www.imore.com)
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