I would pay for a subscription handling my calendars, meetings, team collaboration and client scheduling from my website. Not for a nice looking calendar app.
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I had the same problem because I had purchased v2 direct from Flexibits & upgraded to v3 via the Mac App Store. If you reinstall v3 direct from Flexibits, you should see all of your v2 features. Thereās either a problem with the MAS upgrade path or Flexibitsā messaging on how to upgrade.
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Another inconsistency are calendar sets. They have been in the macOS version for years and I have requested them to be added to the iOS versions on multiple occasions to the devs. My requests go back to early 2017. The devs always staved this off thanking me for the suggestion.
Therefore this feature didnāt exist in v2 and is now only accessible to premium users, if you use more than 1 set and the obligatory all calendars-āsetā.
Because of this limitation Iāve been using the aforementioned Calendar 366 II for a long time in parallel. Fantastical for task entry and Calendar 366 II for the better week view with the ability to switch claendar sets. (Calendar 366 II now even supports URL-schemes to switch between those sets!)
Pricing page has information about what is in the free version and the subscription extras:
So, I think for brand new users this is 100% win. - lots of good features on the free side, that used to be blocked by a high prices.
The sad thing for Flexibits is that those subscription based features donāt look very interesting to me, and that means they wonāt get any money for this upgrade from me.
The sad thing for me will be some features Iām used to from version 2 going behind the paywall.
It will be interesting to keep watching for a month or two to see how many paywalled features I miss, and if I consider the subscription.
To take the feature to view day, week, month views of a calendar ā which is present in almost every other calendar app on macOS ā including Calendar ā and shove it into the subscriber-only feature set seems to be a move engineered to get more subscriptions.
Itās also a move that indicates to me that the developers are more attuned to the glowing press they get from the techno-blogosphere than to real customers who pay for what they use.
Anyway, BusyCal is a fine workable solution and is included in SetApp. When the day comes that Flexibits deprecates Fantastical 2 on the Mac, then itās BusyCal for me.
Katie
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What do you use Calendar sets for? 
What specific features from v2 will you be sad to see go behind subscription wall?
But isnāt it just a matter of time before BusyCal goes the same with a subscription? I mean that is the direction weāre headed with those few, yet very well tailored apps that have been around for years.
Personally, I think the upgrade is excellent. I detest subscriptions and if possible always buy a lifetime subscription just to not have them in my budget. But with some apps, itās worth it. Fantastical is more than just a Calendar app. The stock Calendar app is a Calendar app. Fantastical is certainly much more than thatā¦ if that made any sense
A couple things:
First, when it comes to the iPad you can keep version two, even if you uninstall it. Though I donāt know if sink would continue to work with the other versions or platforms.
Second, the only View that I donāt get in the new version on iPhone is the āfull screenā day View. Though I donāt remember having a full screen day View before upgrade anyway.
Third, correct me if Iām wrong, but what would be fantastical even sync? Events and reminders are not siloed data, correct? Would it only be preferences/settings? As others have mentioned, isnāt it just a front end?
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I have sets for:
- my private and family calendars,
- my jobby-job calendars (we donāt have fixed working hours),
- a side-business with a friend,
- another one in which I track personal trainings with my athletes.
- On top of that I keep one set with the so called 10000ft view, where I plan the year from a grand perspective.
- And another one is filled with irregular opening hours of locations, like coffee shops, sports clubs etc. to easily see constraints, when I am scheduling my own appointments on Sunday.
It is a system that requires some getting used to, but it works wonders for me 
I loved to be able to switch between those sets in Fantastical on macOS by hitting ā0-9 even when I am already in midst of crating a new appointment. And I would have loved to see that feature on the iPadOS.
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I use calendar sets for quite a few things! These are my sets:
- Personal: all of my non-work related calendars.
- Me: All of my personal and work calendars.
- Work: Just my work calendars.
- Podcasting: All my podcasting calendars.
- Parents: My parentsā calendars.
-
Other Half: Calendars my other half has
- Everything: All the calendars.
This allows me to check different areas of my life with just a few clicks/taps.
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Wow that sounds amazing. I have never really used the Calendar sets at all. I just all have my calendars right there.
But basically a calender set is a way of controlling what to see, right? So if you only to focus on your work schedule then hit that calendar set right?
If thats the idea behind calendar sets wouldnāt that just be achievable by selecting and deselecting calendars?
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Long time Fantastical 2 user here and here and its sad but looks like I am going to have to find another app.
Over the years Iāve used it the app just hasnt needed those big feature updates. It just worked, which is great. However this also suggests (to me) that this should be a one time purchase - not a subscription.
Honestly, Fantastical is expensive, and if they put out a version 3 for $50 or whatever I would have happily bought it as I like the app and the developer. But a subscription seems excessive, and subscription fatigue is in full force.
RIP.
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Functionality for users who had Fantastical 2 Mac is even more confusing, but better than I thought.
There seems to be another level between the free level, and the subscribed level for V2 Mac users
I do have access to the āInviteesā feature which lets me see if the meeting Iām booking will work for other users on my same exchange server. Not supposed to be a free feature. This is super cool because I use this feature ALL THE TIME.
I also have access to full screen displays for Day, week, and month on my Mac. - Not supposed to be a free feature.
I am definitely going to enjoy the ārun in backgroundā option, so I can turn off notifications from Apple Calendar, and stop getting double notifications when Fantastical is open.
Overall great news for me - all the functionality I used is still there for me with no subscription needed, and there are some new cool things.
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Correct, but instead by quick keyboard shortcuts as opposed to find and select.
And in general, the Todoist integration is more or less useless (IMHO) if you use anything other than a simple list of todos. I use Todoist extensively, but only through filters and labels, and Fantastical cannot parse out my task flow (hopefully I am wrong)
But honestly I donāt see the big problem here. As far as I understand, and correct me if Iām wrong, but the features you have with v2 will remain with the new version. If you want more than you gotta pay a subscription. I donāt see Flexibits forcing anyone to update.
Itās like on a mixer board where you can āpunch inā a solo track or a specific group of them. Instead of manually deselecting calendars to get a specific view the app lets you āsoloā a calendar or calendars of your choosing. Useful, and a little surprising that it hasnāt been a common calendar feature for years.
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