Grila: a calendar for keyboard addicts, always one keypress away

Software
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1

Hi everyone!

After the app review fiasco with Sub Sol (which was an app I made to help fund my brother’s college costs), I decided to do another try with a macOS app that was on my mind for a while.

So here’s Grila, a calendar app that’s always available on a global hotkey, and can be navigated with the keyboard.

Some interesting features

  • hourly chimes (inspired by the Apple Watch, which I always wanted for the Mac)
  • 3 different views (year, month, 3-months)
  • merged calendar events and reminders
  • a lot of customizability in colors and themes.

A bit of a story

As with Sub Sol, I made this app so that all the funds will go towards my brother which just started a chemistry college, and right now has to work a 12h/day job to pay the costs. My goal is for him to be free to quit that job and continue his studies with less worries.

The v1.0.2 version that you get with the trial is still awaiting approval from App Store reviewers, but should be released in less than a day.

v1.0.2 changes:

  • :keyboard: DVORAK and foreign keyboard layouts
  • :earth_americas: months and weekdays in your preferred system language
  • :reminder_ribbon: merging events and reminders

Pricing

Price is $3 for the moment which I will most likely increase it in the near future. I like to start with lower prices for early adopters.

But that future is more like 1 or 2 weeks away, I’m not trying to pressure anybody into buying without being sure it’s something they would use.

Promo codes

I’m leaving some promo codes below for the App Store:

94RHETFKX74A
FPM9X9L7Y9PN
W36XAY4346TY
LTW3YRAKRMMK
H77NHR4M34HX
6FRNTW4TPWEX
TR3EET6AR4XF
WFA3TJN4LJWJ
XYHXM4HKMNYA

And some instructions on how to use them: redeeming promo codes

2 Likes
2

This looks pretty cool. I’ll give it a try – right now I use Fantastical to enter new events, but don’t much like reviewing my day on it. And I always prefer keyboard commands.

One suggestion for the App Store language: You might make clear that it uses the system calendar(s), assuming it does, rather than a separate database. Most people will probably assume that, but it’s probably better to be explicit.

Looking forward to trying it.

3

Thank you!

You might make clear that it uses the system calendar(s)

Hmm, yes, I didn’t think about that. It does use the system calendars as it’s basically just a viewer (not an editor) for events and reminders.

I’ll try to be more clear, thanks for the hint!

1 Like
4

Love the navigation elements! Love the ethos behind the support of your family member. Congratulations!

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5

Codes are gone. Happy to support with $3. Thank you for sharing your personal story.

@alinp32 If I can’t get the app to pop up a window or appear in the menu bar, even after killing and restarting the app a few times, what are possible solutions? I’m on a 16" 2021 MBP on Ventura. I’ve given calendars and reminders permissions.

6

Thank you for the support! :blush:

Not sure :thinking: could be a system issue.

Try the following:

  • delete the app
  • install it from App Store again
  • check if it opens and works
  • restart the system if it doesn’t

Sometimes on Ventura, the launchd system daemon stalls for some reason causing apps to not launch correctly. A restart always fixes it.

7

WOW. What a great calendar. So glad you shared here.

2 Likes
8

Bummer. Won’t run on Catalina. :slightly_frowning_face: Will have to wait to try it when I eventually upgrade.

Is there a reason it isn’t back-compatible? It doesn’t seem to use particularly recent tech, or?

9

It uses newer SwiftUI and Locale/Calendar APIs that were released in macOS Monterey. Without them I would have had to almost double the amount of code to write them myself.

1 Like
10

Got it. Makes sense! Well, one more reason to upgrade. :crossed_fingers:t3::crossed_fingers:t3::crossed_fingers:t3:

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11

A restart worked. Thank you!

12

I’m looking for a simple, hourly chime app for an M1 Mac running the latest OS - currenlty macOS 14.5 (Sonoma). Once upon a time, this was built into macOS, but Apple seems to have ditched this functionality. There are a couple of $10-$20 apps out there, which is a bit ridiculous given what should be minimal coding.
I’d gladly pay $3 or $5 for this, and you seem to have already done the needed work - you might consider a stand-alone hourly chime app that won’t have any serious competition in the App Store.

13

I checked. You can announce the time.
I don’t know if you can change from announce to chime?
Maybe a terminal command?