a review by Tom Piper
Calendars have been around for a long time on our Macs, and more recently on our iPhones and iPads. Apple has allowed us to sync all our calendars effectively through iCloud, but they still need to be more full-featured. A recently upgraded application has demonstrated how many functions can be integrated into a great product.
Fantastical 2 has a beautiful, all-new design exclusively for OS X Yosemite and fully compatible with El Capitan. The original Fantastical was only a menu bar app, but has now been reinvented into a full Mac application, without losing the benefits and convenience of the menu bar window.
Fantastical's natural language engine is expressive and intelligent so I can write in my own style. It automatically recognizes the location of my event and can even invite people from Contacts to my event. They've made multiple parser improvements including improved repeating event and reminder support, the ability to add alerts, full-time zone support, and many other time-saving improvements.
This calendar app lets me quickly toggle multiple calendars on or off with a single click, so I can focus on what's more important in that moment. I can even automatically switch Calendar Sets based on my location (such as Work and Home). The Mini Window that started it all is back, better than ever. It resides in my menu bar and lets me create, edit, and view my events and reminders instantly. I can now drag the Mini Window away from the menu bar, allowing me to position the window anywhere I like. And the new infinite list makes it easy to find all of my events and reminders, no matter when they occur.
As it that’s not enough, Fantastical supports the same reminders as OS X and iOS, giving me the fastest way to create or update my to-do list. Creating a new reminder is as easy as creating a new event by just typing in what I need to get done. It now also features a focused reminders list, as well as support for location-based reminders.
Fantastical now has its own CalDAV engine, meaning that I can add my calendar accounts directly. It supports iCloud, Google, Yahoo, as well as any other CalDAV account. I can also use local and Exchange calendars, as long as they've been added to my Mac's built-in Calendar. Fantastical's Today Widget gives me convenient access to my schedule. The new Share and Action Extensions make it super easy to get data into my calendar.
Fantastical is also available for my iPhone and iPad as separate apps which all sync seamlessly when using a service like iCloud, Google Calendar, or Yahoo Calendar. The extraordinary calendar also supports Handoff, allowing me to seamlessly transition between Fantastical on all of my devices. It even works with an Apple Watch app and glance, ensuring that Fantastical is always there for me. This is how such systems should really function!
Fantastical 2 is available for the Mac for $39.99 at flexibits.com/fantastical, for the iPhone for $4.99 at flexibits.com/fantastical-iphone, and for the iPad for $9.99 at flexibits.com/fantastical-ipad. After having used Fantastical for several years, I can attest to it versatility, dependability, and great value. With this latest update, it has become even better, more robust, and very convenient.
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