Well this is hard to admit (especially after my above posts), but I may change my mind about subscribing to Fantastical. I am very strict about my subscriptions (I just cancelled Apple TV and a few other subscriptions) but after going through all of @MacSparky’s videos on the new Fantastical I discovered features that I was not aware of and learned how to use them. I don’t like $40 for a calendar app but there just may be enough power behind this app to make it worthwhile. I’m on the 14 day trial. I’ll decide for sure after the trial but I’m actually impressed with the feature set. If you are on the fence, I recommend you take the time to go through David’s videos. They may help you make a definitive decision.
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Week Cal is iOS only, right?
I put reminders in my calendar and make them very light gray so they don’t visually stand out. I tried making them white, but the checkbox was too faint for me.
Yes I am signed in. I can try to sign out and in again.
Signing out then back in again seems to have resolved the issue.
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I don’t know if others have responded, but only the iPad version was left alone.
You still have all the features in V2 in v3 - unless others have discovered something. You don’t have to sub for anything you already had. Only two hang ups: you need a flexibits acount to sync to watch, and it continually asks you to upgrade when you run into a feature that is premium (annoying).
Perhaps I am missing something regarding Fantastical. I have purchased and been using version 2 on my iPhone, iPad and Mac - primarily because it was so highly recommended by a number of websites and a lot of users…including many in this forum!
I guess I will preface this by saying I have a relatively simple use case as I am retired and only have personal/family/friend’s appointments that need to be calendared. As far as collaboration is concerned, I do share a calendar with my wife, however that is all, so collaboration features are not important to me.
With that as background, I just don’t see what is so impressive about this app. It has a relatively attractive interface, but functionally I don’t see it a lot different than some other calendar apps.
For me and my particular needs, I am not willing to pay a subscription fee of $40/year to unlock features such as full screen views. That should be a standard feature found in any calendar app.
I am switching back to Readdle’s Calendars Plus 5 on iOS - which still provides far more functionality than I need, but I use Spark for my email client so this combination is a nice complement.
Unfortunately, Readdle does not currently have a version of this application for macOS, however I know many users have requested it and it seems to be a highly desired product on Readdle’s ‘Wish List’.
However whether a Mac version is eventually released or not, I am still not willing to pay the subscription fee they are requiring. I may continue using Fantastical 2 on my Mac as these calendar apps ultimately all sync to Apple Calendars, however I’m not even sure about that at this point. Based on my personal experience, I simply don’t find Fantastical to be that much better than any other calendar app.
I am considering deploying a Windows 10 partition on my system and if I do that, I may return to using Outlook as my client of choice. I know Outlook is available as a native Mac application also, however I have no experience using the Mac version and I don’t find a lot of forum or social media posts from Mac users who recommend it!
For the moment however, I will just use Spark for email and Apple Calendars until I figure out a longer term plan. Given the amount of my overall digital life I spend using my mobile devices, my Mac has become my secondary device for planning and calendaring activity so having a great calendar app on the Mac is much less important to me than it used to be!
If you are looking for a very competent alternative calendar app for iOS, check out https://readdle.com/calendars5 .
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I’ve tried most of the major calendar apps, including Fantastical, BusyCal, etc. The “killer feature” of Fantasical for me was it’s natural language entry, but others now have similar features. It’s a good calendar but has alway been too expensive for many and is definitely not worth the new price, IMO.
Google hosts my mail and calendar and I use Apple Calendar on the Mac as my front end to add travel time. And like you I have settled on Calendars 5 on iPad and iPhone.
I do have some experience with 0365 and their Mac Outlook client. At the time I tested it everything was siloed and it didn’t sync with any outside services. Based on the way I and my users worked I could not recommend it. Full disclosure, I never liked Windows Outlook either and refused to use it.
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Back when I purchased Fantastical, the driving reason for me to buy was because it was the only calendar app that used natural language processing for creating calendar entries. Since then, other apps have added this capability so Fantastical isn’t the only option (at least for that reason) anymore. I primarily use it for data entry and have notifications sent via the built in apps. As such, like many others, I see no reason to subscribe.
I also don’t like the need for a Flexibits account just to access the app and even more so to get watch sync working. I have removed the watch app and am sticking with the V2 versions for the foreseeable future. I did install the V3 app on my iPad since it can coexist with the V2 iPad app Just to see what everyone is talking about.
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Flexibits handled this upgrade very badly, unlike Omnifocus who made their upgrade from 2 - 3 a separate download. On the Mac and iOS, they pushed v3 as an update to v2, but it isn’t, it’s an upgrade. It should have been a separate application install.
They have lost me as a customer as I don’t buy in to the subscription model. Nor do I like surprise upgrades to major versions of software.
Here is my process for purchasing apps:
- I identify a need for an app.
- I look at products that the features I want
- I read reviews and decide if the app will do what I want for a reasonable price.
- I decide to purchase the app or not.
The subscription model is
- Subscribe
- Keep paying regardless as to whether or not you get a useful feature.
Finally, I stole this from another user:
Three rules I live by:
- I don’t smoke
- I don’t do drugs
- I don’t do subscriptions
That is me in a nutshell.
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I’d add for me I don’t drink but I do subscriptions in moderation. 
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Yes week cal is only ios , that’s a great idea making the reminders gray so they don’t stand out much, I’m going to try that out.
I do subscribe to many publisher’s applications. I recently found an iOS app called Bobby (silly name, but useful app) that allows me to track the frequency and cost of each of my subscriptions.
After populating my data in this app I became much more visually aware of just how MANY subscriptions I have and how MUCH they were costing me in total. This was very surprising to me and as a result I have been significantly reducing my subscriptions to just the essential ones that I am regularly using.
It is just too easy to subscribe to something that is only a few dollars a month. Before long, a number of similar subscriptions can really add up to some very substantial amounts of cash.
I don’t mind using subscription software, but before subscribing make sure it is a product you really are going to use. Also I highly recommend that you keep track of your subscriptions so you know when they each renew and how much they will cost. It is very easy to forget about apps you rarely use and they may be draining money from your budget while you are getting no value in return.
In my personal opinion, the cost that Flexibits is asking for Fantastical 3 is simply too high for the value it provides.
Obviously my comments are only intended for those who actually USE subscription apps and software. I realize many people do not like this model and will not use these products. My comments are not going to be of any concern to you.
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Bobby has been keeping my books for the past year or so. Streaming apps can sneak up on you also.
Chronicle is also a nice App to track recurring costs (like subscriptions and much more), on macOS & iOS:
Ironically they also went the subscription route, but the paid Apps without subscriptions still work fine for me.
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I have been a user of Fantastical since day 1. I used it on my Mac, iPhone, iPad and Watch. I retried a couple of years ago, and my usage of the calendar is very different now. I am not going to upgrade and defiantly not going to subscribe. I think this update is for heavy calendar users, like I was in the past. I moved to Calendar 5, which meets my needs for all of my gear. I am not opposed to paying for a subscription when there is value for me, but this one does not meet that criteria any longer. I hope they are very successful … it is a great app.
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Agreed Wayne. I have our Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, etc all in Bobby as well.
This looks interesting. I may take a more in depth look at it.
This app does far more than what Bobby does, Bobby simply allow you to list recurring expenses by name and can sort them alphabetically or by renewal date. There is also a notification option you can choose if you want to use it, however it is optional.
It’s simply a handy tool to make sure you aren’t blind-sided by that $100 renewal fee for Microsoft Office 3t5 when the annual renewal is due.
I carry a very comfortable balance in checking so I’m not worried about overdrafts, however I still like a reminder when one of these charges is coming in.
I think when it comes to subscriptions, the burden really is on these developers to prove they are worth $X per month or per year and if they are not worth it to you, you definitely shouldn’t subscribe.
The strange bit to me is how folks get so emotional about it. For instance, I stopped subscribing to The New Yorker because I found I wasn’t enjoying it enough to justify the cost. Nobody gets mad at me when I tell them that. Looking at my email inbox, some people are definitely mad because I’m subscribing to some apps.
Chill gang.
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@MacSparky Wait, wait, wait. Are you telling me people on the internet yell at strangers for doing something they don’t do, thereby implying no one else should? I don’t believe it. Shenanigans!
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@MacSparky very sorry that some think they have the right to criticize your personal decisions and how you choose to spend your money. To be frank, it is none of their business. It is particularly unfortunate given how much you have contributed to this community. Thanks for all that have and are doing. I for one have learned a great deal from you. When you spend money to master applications we all benefit.
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