Calendar User Guide
If you publish or share calendars, you may want to refresh them so that others can see your latest changes. Or, if you subscribe to calendars, you may want to check for updates periodically to be sure you have the latest information.
- Cozi Family Organizer: Best for Busy Families. Well-organized setup. Built-in shopping and to-do.
- Google Calendar. Overview: A dependable calendar app that integrates with most productivity apps.
A published, shared, or subscribed calendar has a Share Calendar button next to its name.
Refresh calendars
Fantastical is our pick for the best calendar app for iPhone and iPad, for Mac, and yes, even for Apple Watch. — Staff, The Sweet Setup. You can throw all your other calendar apps in the trash. — Lory Gil, iMore. Conference Calls. Easily identify and join conference calls. Fantastical has automatic conference call link detection for Zoom.
In the Calendar app on your Mac, choose View > Refresh Calendars.
Refresh a subscribed calendar
Subscribed calendars can be refreshed automatically.
In the Calendar app on your Mac, Control-click the calendar’s name, then choose Get Info.
Click the Auto-refresh pop-up menu, then choose an option.
Refresh shared calendars in an account
In the Calendar app on your Mac, choose Calendar > Preferences, then click Accounts.
Select the account, click the Refresh Calendars pop-up menu, then choose an option.
If you choose Push, the account is updated automatically when you make a change on any of your devices that use the same account, or when someone makes a change to a shared calendar in that account.
Refresh a calendar you publish
In the Calendar app on your Mac, Control-click a calendar below On My Mac in the calendar list.
If you don’t see the calendar list on the left, choose View > Show Calendar List. If your calendar list doesn’t have an On My Mac section, your calendars are in an account, such as iCloud.
Choose Get Info, then select “Publish changes automatically.”
If you see a warning symbol next to a calendar you published, shared, or subscribed to, Calendar is unable to connect to the calendar account. Check your internet connection and try refreshing or updating the calendar again.
Also, make sure the calendar hasn’t been deleted or moved. To see the calendar’s web address, Control-click the calendar’s name, then choose Get Info.
Keeping a calendar can change your life. A calendar will keep you from missing meetings and appointments, as well as make your life a lot less hectic. Plus, having all of your appointments on your calendar frees up your brain to work on more important tasks.
In our experience, digital calendars are far easier to manage than paper ones. Still, there are lots of calendar apps out there. Which one should you choose? In this article, we’ll help you decide.
Below, we’ve put together a list of the best calendar apps out there. Whether you’re looking for an app that gives you lots of control, or you just want a simple calendar that stays out of your way, there’s an app for you on this list.
Google Calendar
Overview: A dependable calendar app that integrates with most productivity apps.
Google Calendar is an excellent cross-platform calendar app. It’s the default calendar on Android phones, and it also works well on iPhones. It’s simple to create new events whether you’re on your phone or computer, and everything always stays synced no matter what time zone you’re in.
Plus, Google Calendar integrates with just about any other productivity app you can think of, so it will readily fit into your existing productivity system.
If you also use Gmail, then it gets even better, as Google Calendar can automatically create events based on emails you receive. This is a lifesaver when booking things like flights or concert tickets.
Price: Free
Platforms: Android, iOS, Web
Apple Calendar
Overview: A basic calendar app for Apple enthusiasts.
If you’re all in on Apple products, then Apple Calendar is an excellent choice. It keeps all of your events synced across your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, and whatever shiny device Apple will dream up next.
As far as calendar functionality, Apple Calendar offers all the features you’d expect, including a strong integration with Siri that allows you to add events with just a few words.
Price: Free
Platforms: iOS, Mac, Web
Outlook Calendar
Overview: A decent calendar app that’s likely the default at your office or school.
Love it or hate it, you’re probably familiar with Outlook Calendar. It’s more or less ubiquitous in large companies and institutions such as universities. In fact, this is the app’s main advantage: lots of people already have it and use it.
The app itself is certainly solid. You can create events and reminders, send meeting requests, and view multiple calendars at once.
There aren’t any additional “fancy” or otherwise noteworthy features, and that’s fine. If you just want a basic calendar for keeping track of your meetings and work events, Outlook Calendar is perfect for the job.
Price: $69.99/year as part of Office 365 Personal, though your employer or school probably provides free access.
Platforms: Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, Web
Woven
Overview: Flexible templates and built-in scheduling tools help you save time.
Moving beyond familiar calendar apps, we have Woven. The app markets itself towards “busy professionals,” and it has a lot of interesting features that you won’t find in basic calendar apps.
To start, Woven offers “Smart Templates” to help you save time when scheduling common types of events. For instance, if you regularly have lunch meetings at the same restaurant, you can create a template that includes the restaurant location.
Speaking of meetings, Woven also includes a built-in meeting scheduling tool. This can help eliminate the back and forth emails normally required to schedule a meeting. They even offer an integration with Zoom, allowing you to easily schedule and manage your Zoom meetings from within Woven. And they recently launched an iPad app as well.
Really, the only thing Woven lacks is an Android app, though the company reports that this is in development.
Price: Free
Platforms: iOS, Mac, Windows, Web
Meetingbird
Overview: Schedule meetings without endless email exchanges.
Whether you’re a student or professional, scheduling meetings is the worst. You can spend weeks sending emails back and forth trying to find a time that works for both of you, to the point that you forget why you wanted to meet in the first place.
Meetingbird aims to solve this problem. The app syncs with Outlook Calendar and Google Calendar so that your availability for meetings is always up to date.
When you want to schedule a meeting, all you have to do is send a link with a list of times you’re available. The recipient then picks the time that works best for them, and the meeting they schedule is automatically synced to both of your calendars.
We also like that Meetingbird integrates with Zoom, our video call tool of choice, as well as Zapier, Slack, Trello, and more.
Price: Free
Platforms: Web
Fantastical 2
Overview: A multilingual Mac/iOS calendar app with one of the best Apple Watch apps we’ve seen.
If you’re an Apple user looking for an alternative to the default calendar apps on Mac/iOS, you should check out Fantastical 2.
The main strength of Fantastical 2 is its deep integration with the Apple ecosystem. Whether you’re on your Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, Fantastical 2 offers a beautiful, simple calendar that always stays synced.
The app has especially strong natural language processing, letting you quickly create events whether you’re at your desk or on the go. You can even do some more sophisticated things such as setting geofenced reminders (allowing you to get reminders only when you’re in a particular location).
Finally, Fantastical 2 also integrates with iCloud, Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, and a variety of other apps. And the app is fully localized for English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese, making it great for multilingual users or workplaces.
Price:
- Mac: $49.99 (after a 21-day free trial)
- iPhone/Apple Watch: $4.99
- iPad: $9.99
Platforms: iOS, Mac
My Study Life
Overview: A calendar app built for the unique scheduling needs of students.
While most calendar apps target busy professionals, My Study Life is different. It’s a calendar app built specifically for students, and it has some features you won’t see in other calendar apps.
To start, My Study Life includes smart scheduling features to help you keep up with your classes and extracurricular activities. If your class schedule varies with the week, My Study Life can account for that, ensuring you don’t forget a class. There’s even a special section for scheduling your exams.
Plus, My Study Life syncs your schedule across devices and works offline. This means you’ll always be able to keep track of your classes and assignments no matter your location or internet access.
Price: Free
Platforms: Android, iOS, Web
Timepage
Overview: A beautiful calendar app with handy weather and travel information.
If you love the design of Moleskine notebooks and planners, then Timepage is the calendar app you’ve been waiting for. This iOS-only app is truly beautiful, featuring an elegant, uncluttered interface that you’d expect from Moleskine.
Apple Calendar App
Beneath the aesthetics, however, Timepage is a powerful calendar app. It includes natural language processing to let you easily type in events, as well as a “heat-map” view that shows how busy your month is at a glance.
Best of all, Timepage integrates with a variety of other apps to show you weather alerts and travel times to events. This way, you’ll not only remember that you have to be somewhere, but you’ll also get there on time.
Price: $1.99/month or $11.99/year (after a 7-day free trial)
Platforms: iOS
Business Calendar 2
Overview: The best calendar app for customizing your calendar’s appearance.
I’ll admit, “Business Calendar 2” sounds like something straight out of Office Space (if they had calendar apps back then, that is). But while the name might be a bit weird, the app is anything but.
Business Calendar 2 is great if you want a lot of control over the way your calendar looks. In addition to the standard day, week, month, and year views, you can adjust the calendar view to show anywhere from 1 to 14 days. And you can quickly swipe between these views so you can always find what you’re looking for.
What really makes Business Calendar 2 shine, however, are its event scheduling features. You can easily drag events around on the calendar and quickly enter event details without excessive swiping.
Plus, the app’s natural language processing lets you enter events just by talking into your phone. The app will even learn your preferences over time, automatically suggesting common locations or attendees.
Price: Free (with ads). Upgrade to the Pro version for $6.99 to remove ads and get additional features such as file attachments and event templates.
Platforms: Android
Calendar Apps Help Keep Your Life Organized
I hope this guide has helped you find the best calendar app for your needs. Whether you stick with a popular calendar app such as Google Calendar or go with a less conventional pick such as Timepage, keeping a calendar is just one part of being productive.
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Image Credits: Outlook Calendar, Woven, Timepage, paper calendar