Written by Mårten Björk •
![]()
iCal is Apple’s calendar application. It’s a nice little application that will help you plan your everyday life. Add all upcoming events and choose if you would like iCal to remind you or even share your calendars with your friends.
The Family Wall app offers much of the same great functionality as Cozi, including the ability to view and update a shared calendar and create and update task lists. Beyond that, however, it offers a private family social media-type experience, with a built-in instant-messaging tool. We outlined the best calendar apps and learned a lot doing that. Now we're focusing specifically on macOS calendars. We tried all of the top calendar applications, both inside the Mac App Store and outside it, and surfaced only the best of the best. And these apps all have a few things in common. The best calendar apps for Mac.
Getting started
To get started with iCal, simply click the icon. By default it’s located in your dock. When the application has launched, you will see a window looking something like this:
Both the iPhone and Mac App Store are filled with excellent calendar apps. Read the post to find the five best calendar apps for Apple iOS and macOS. Because iCloud sync is live, whenever you create a new event in a synced calendar, the Calendar app pushes the initial raw entry on creation to iCloud, and as you modify it, those updates are sent. ICal is so easy to use, you will soon find your calendar to be smothered with events, in many different calendars. To make it more easy to read, you can view and hide certain calendars by checking and unchecking the boxes to the left of the calendars. If unchecked, the events of this calendar will not be visible in the calendar viewer.
iCal’s interface is easy to understand. To the left, there is a list of calendars (read more about it later) and a date browser that helps you choose the right date. The largest part of iCal is where you view the events that will take place.
Add new event
Let’s create a new event! Look at the big calendar viewer. It’s all empty, right? Lots of space for you to add events. To add something here, just click where you want to add something. A new event will be created, and you can write what you want it to contain.
To the right of the main window a so called “drawer” will appear. Inside this extension of the main window you can change the settings of the event.
Change the time of the event. Set if you want it to be an all-day event. You can also set the event to repeat itself at a given basis. For instance, “Soccer practice” could be set to be repeated every week. It will then be visible every week at the same time.
You can also set an alarm for the event and change which of the calendars you want your event to belong to. This leads us to the next heading:
Adding calendars
With calendars, we mean categories. Perhaps you want a different category for every member of your family or one to separate different work projects.
To add a new calendar, simply double-click some of the white space in the calendars list. Your new calendar will appear and you can name it. In the “drawer”, settings for this calendar will appear. There are not many settings, just name, colour and description of the calendar.
If you control-click the white space, a neat little menu appears. One of the alternatives is to create a new group where you can put other calendars. If you have many different calendars, this will make them easier to organize. Create a new group and drag calendars to it.
Viewing your calendar
iCal is so easy to use, you will soon find your calendar to be smothered with events, in many different calendars. To make it more easy to read, you can view and hide certain calendars by checking and unchecking the boxes to the left of the calendars. If unchecked, the events of this calendar will not be visible in the calendar viewer.
If you check or uncheck a whole group of calendars, all calendars will be shown/hidden.
Get more calendars
There are actually calendars which you can subscribe to online. Go to IcalShare or Apple’s own calendar archives. For instance you can download this calendar from icalshare.com:
Red Sox T-Ball-6 Sammamish 2006 Practice and game schedule for Red Sox T-ball (6) team, Sammamish Little League, 2006.
Multipart articleby Kate Eby on Jun 17, 2016
Success relies on organization, and a calendar is one way that helps many people stay on track, meet deadlines, and organize their events. Apple’s built-in calendar app, iCal, is a go-to for scheduling - you can invite other attendees to events, link to maps, set notifications, and add events using natural language (if you type, “meeting with Joe at 2 pm Friday” and iCal will auto-create the calendarized entry).
However, greater functionality is required for scheduling many projects and events. Perhaps you need to access calendar information on multiple devices that aren’t all Apple products. Maybe you want to keep an editable to-do list inside your calendar app. There’s also the possibility that you just want an alternative to what comes standard on a Mac. Below you’ll find a roundup of the top calendar apps for Mac, as well as iCal add-ons so you can manage your schedule your way. Top 5 Calendar Apps for Mac That Will Keep You Organized
Looking for a Mac calendar app that goes beyond the features offered by iCal? These five apps, that work with Mac OS X or later, have all the essential calendar features plus added functionality including the ability to add tasks, to-do lists, weather updates, and customization options that will give you just the experience you want.
1. Fantastical 2
This full-featured app will help you keep track of all the things you need to accomplish in a day. You can easily import calendars from Google, Microsoft Exchange, Yahoo, and other CalDAV accounts to make Fantastical 2 your one-stop view for all events in your life. Once calendars are loaded, you can create sets of calendars to see the information you want, and add reminders using natural language. You can even program calendar sets to appear by location, so that when you’re home, you only see the calendars related to your personal life.
Other helpful features of Fantastical 2 include the widget and Mini Window. The widget supports extensions so you can add other important daily information, like weather, to your daily calendar. The Mini Window lives in your menu bar and is easily editable for quick updates - a helpful tool for those viewing their calendar on desktop.
The latest version of Fantastical 2.2 is available for $49.99. You may also purchase the Fantastical 2 calendar app for iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch separately, and your calendars will sync across devices.
Features:
2. BusyCal2
BusyCal2 looks a lot like iCal, but is more powerful. Like the other calendar software for Mac in this roundup, BusyCal2 syncs with Google, iCloud, iOS, and other CalDAV accounts. It includes all the typical calendar views (day, week, month, and year), and also adds a List view. You can decide the number of weeks you want to show in a month view, or number of days in a week view. BusyCal2 includes several other calendar capabilities, such as adding weather and moon phases, to-dos (with or without a date), and sticky notes.
BusyCal2 is also highly customizable. You can change colors and fonts for specific calendars and types of to-dos and even add Emojis to specific days. Additionally, you can create calendar groups and turn groups on or off to show or hide calendar activity. If you don’t want to keep the app open on your screen, there’s a menu bar app so you can see your day at a glance. The app costs $49.99, but you can try it free for 30 days. Features:
3. Microsoft Outlook
The calendar feature is an element of the email app in Microsoft Outlook and is geared toward business users. Many of the features in the app are designed to help you schedule meetings based on the availability of other team members. With this app you can view group schedules and side-by-side calendars, send out meeting invites, and create all-day events. The calendar overlay feature allows you to view your personal schedule and work appointments in one view. The app is part of Microsoft Outlook for Mac and costs $109.99.
Features:
Best free app to write a book on mac.
4. SmartDay Best Free Calendar App Mac
This calendar app doubles as a task manager. You can change due dates by dragging and dropping tasks onto specific days; uncompleted tasks will automatically be moved to the next day. The auto-schedule feature allows you to place tasks into a timeline so you can easily view deadlines and identify how many tasks you can complete in a day or week. Use SmartDay as an organizational tool by attaching notes and documents to events, and even include checklists within your notes. For example, you can add a grocery list to a scheduled shopping event.
The calendar app runs on a Mac, but iOS and other device versions are available, as well as a web-based option. Try the SmartDay Mac OS X app for $29.99, iPhone and iPad app for $9.99 each, or the web version for free. Features:
Calendar 2018 App Mac Pro5. Rainlendar Rainlendar is a highly customizable calendar app that lives on your desktop and includes a variety of ‘skins’. Create an event, task list, or alarm and then choose a single skin or mix skin template to create the exact view to fit your needs. Rainlendar is the most customizable of the calendar apps listed here, and that is the product’s strength. Rainlendar offers many of the basic calendar features along with the ability to create a to-do list and pop-up reminders and view multiple calendars in a single view. There is a Lite version, which is free, and a more robust app that costs €9.95 (about $11) available on the Rainlendar site. Features:
Use iCal the Way You Want with Calendar Software for Mac
Enhance the familiar iCal functions with software add-ons that allow you to display appointments on the desktop, customize the look of the calendar, incorporate weather updates, and provide a way to enter events quickly. We’ve rounded up calendar add-ons for iCal that will change the way you view appointments.
Blotter Google Calendar App For MacBlotter integrates with iCal and copies your schedule to your desktop, so you don’t need to open iCal to view it. You choose which events from iCal to display on Blotter, and you can also quickly add events or create reminders from the desktop view. However, you can’t edit existing appointments from the app. You can download the Blotter app from the Mac App store for $9.99. Features:
Calendar 2 How to cycle through open apps mac. This customizable menu bar app displays information beyond calendar events on your desktop. With this calendar app add-on, you can also see the weather for the next 15 days, as well as Facebook events and birthdays. Customize the look of the app with one of 20 available themes, or set a background using your favorite picture. The Calendar 2 app is free, but more advanced features are available as in-app purchases. Features:
How to uninstall an app on mac mavericks.
QuickCal
Use QuickCal to quickly add events to your iCal. The app uses natural language and auto-complete for fast input, and will send alerts for schedule conflicts. Along with iCal, the app can integrate with Google Calendar and BusyCal. You can try the app free for 14 days or purchase it for $2.99.
Features:
TimeWorks
TimeWorks displays all of your iCal appointments simultaneously on your desktop in an easy-to-read visual. iCal events appear on your desktop in chronological order (moving left to right), and a vertical yellow line on the screen tracks progress as events pass. You can choose to display events from a single day or a longer period. TimeWorks’ Exposé setting brings all the events displayed on the desktop in front of all currently open windows. Instead of having to minimize windows to see what’s happening next, hit F9 and you’ll see them immediately. It’s a helpful feature for those who often have multiple windows open while they work. TimeWorks is available for $9.99.
Features:
Calendar 2018 App Mac DownloadDateLine Calendar 2018 App Mac Ios
DateLine copies your calendar events and tasks from iCal to your desktop, and offers additional customization features such as color, font, size, themes, and transparency. You can view up to 69 days at once in a calendar dateline. The DateLine app costs $4.99.
Features:
Want a Calendar for Mac that Does So Much More?
Smartsheet, a spreadsheet-inspired work management tool, features a powerful calendar designed to help you track tasks, reminders, and events. You can overlay key dates from Smartsheet on iCal or Google Calendar, and also import Google Calendar events straight to Smartsheet.
Easily switch between calendar views (like week or month) and keep your calendar organized by customizing events with colors and fonts. Add, edit, or delete events directly within the calendar, or switch to grid or Gantt views to see additional event details. Share your Smartsheet calendar with anyone to edit or simply view the calendar. And, with Smartsheet’s mobile app for Android and iOS, you can access your calendar from anywhere, on any device.
See how easy it can be to manage your events and schedules with a calendar in Smartsheet. Try Smartsheet for free for 30 days.
![]()
If you found this post helpful, visit our Resources page to learn more about managing your work on a Mac.
The 5 Best Calendar Apps for Mac to Manage Your WorkComments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |