Fantastical is one of the first applications I install on my iPhone, iPad or Mac. I have had this practice for many years for a simple reason: Fantastical is a great calendar app for Apple devices. Point. Now, enough reason to go for a subscription model? It did so with the arrival of Fantastical 3 at the end of January and I've been using this version for almost its first beta months before its official release. Now I can answer the question.
It's one of those apps that gives you the benefit of upgrade something Apple already has while preserving the ecosystem. Follow Apple's style guide and it would look like an app from Apple if it wasn't for adding a series of features, most notable for a combination of tasks and calendar, for example. To me, the secret to success as an app is when the user learning curve is small and it offers something that is not automatically available. The most obvious and clear example was WhatsApp (in its early years), which provides new functions in Messages without having to change a lot of formats and what the user was already using.
The feature I most admire about Fantastical that I mentioned, is the compilation of reminders. In this way in hindsight you see almost everything in front of you one day or the next days of the week. If you add a natural language view to this, for example, it means you don't have to leave the app to edit it.
So there we have it Calendar and Reminders combined in the same app. Can you use these two apps separately? Sure, but I have a problem, and it's called "Reminders". The Apple Calendar is an excellent and useful app (though it may add a few things) but Reminders? It is one of the most abused apps by Apple for nearly a decade. Until last year he received a facelift to get rid of skeumorism. This does not mean that you now have consistent collaboration. On the other hand, it does not have the essential functions of the task manager, or that is another matter. Either way, I've never been able to use Reminders without frustration, which is why I use third-party apps like GoodTask or, in this case, fantastical.
I accept that my Fantastical use has varied over the years and it varies from time to time, depending on how much you need. For example, the university has been an important factor in managing schedules and tasks. When I have a lot of tricky months I just set it aside and only look at it to see where the particular day has gone. It was a while back, but the fantastical 3 came time I should, I had just moved to a new country, different time zones, new jobs and many other changes. It was time to reorganize time, to get back to Fantastical. And unfortunately, try all the Fantastical 3 stories.
What fantastical 3 brings
The first thing that stands out in Fantastical 3 is the design and care that Flexibits (app developer) put into their look. It is Limited and unified rating on all three Apple operating systems (macOS, IPOS and iOS), on the Apple Watch, because of its obvious limitations, the interface is different. If you use the app on iPhone you know how to use it on Mac, and iPad. In addition to the interface, the fact that it stores all the functions on all three systems, is interesting.
In this third version they've added one of the most sought-after functions of users this month, dark mode. It comes built-in to be modified depending on how the full operating system works. You can choose between light mode, dark mode and mixed mode where the list of events and functions is dark and everything is bright. I am a lover of this last, day and night. By the way, there are also many icons to choose from.
This version is new and is developing a feature that I really like and that was previously available on Mac, Calendar groups. Let me explain. At fantastical you can select which calendars and list of to-do lists you want to display at all times. By grouping you can switch between groups and do it automatically depending on your location. For example, when I work on my fantastical, work-related calendars and task lists appear. However, when I get home I see holidays, chores or calendars that I subscribe to for special events.
Special Events is one of the new features to be noted. It's about default calendars to subscribe to to know about football games, F1 races, series, holidays or anything else out of the tens (if not hundreds) of them. Of course, these calendars can be found online and are easily registered, but it's easier if you have everything in the app to find them by category and register directly.
Fantastical 3 is also a plus time integration. It does it with AcuWeather and shows a simple icon next to each day in the list to know the weather. Clicking on it gives you more details of the day per hour and temperatures among other things. Well, it's pretty cool, as I said before, looking at all expectations during the day. Of course, I still use a different time app that gives me more information and, although this is my particular case, the data is much more accurate than AcuWeather for my location.
The app has added another feature that, for better or worse, I can't live without it now. It's about templates for events. Events are often repeated but you don't know in advance what the dates are, they are templates. When you create a new event a list of templates appears, by clicking one of them we automatically create an event with that data and you must provide or change any specific information.
Eventually there is an important development integration of affiliated calendars and other crowdfunding activities. At regular events, for example, it allows you to show others the different options you have so you can easily choose a regular time. Speaking of hours, if the event is in a place with a different time zone it shows you the local time and the location of the event. You can also add multiple time zones to indicate the location of each event. You do not value this enough until you work for a company whose time period varies from yours between 11 and 13 hours throughout the year.
In particular, these are the most notable changes in Fantastical 3. Not important for an app designed to manage calendars and tasks. Depending on the individual user, some are basic, some not true and some say "how have I lived without them so far? For me, the changes that allow me to continue to claim that the best calendar app in the Apple ecosystem. It's not an app for everyone, it's not an app for anyone to pay for a subscription.
"Pay for Calendar app subscriptions"
This statement bothers me, a lot. Here there is a basic problem related to how the registry model is used in the App Store, how developers have responded to it and in particular what the consumer market is like. But before I get into all of that and without looking at that, this statement bothers me because we don't think which app contributes, whether it's a calendar, camera, email app or what a developer might come up with.
I do not protect subscriptions for nails and teeth (some are not available there), however fantastical should or should not be, as I said, a major problem. Through my career interacting with technology as a designer I have connected with many, many people, for years. Indie developers, famous companies and multinationals. Apart from the fact that they also need you periodic income
When the app store arrived in 2008 the number of software from tens / euros to 0.99 euros / fairy tales or directly for free. There is a problem, this is how it has always been in the minds of users, who are always pushing the price increase by 10 cents with a change in price or when a developer asks about 1.99 or 2.49 or even 5, 49 of their own software. Now that complaint is being used for registration. All of this is to have developers offer updates and new features for years, because there was no way to pay for it. In addition to jumping into so many developer subscriptions, it really surprises me that they survive ten years without them.
I think first of all it must be considered that no one is obliged to pay for this registration. First of all, because no one is obliged to buy an app and the developer is free to request what he wants, through the supply market and demand the release of accounts as to who is right. On the other hand, in the case of Fantastical it is mostly users who have it Fantastical 2 has all features from the front as well as some new ones at no charge to register.
Regarding the million dollar question, yes it is worth paying for the fantastical 3. Of course, I would have no problems explaining and recommending an application that I think is inappropriate. This is, obviously, a priority for each other and for their situation and needs. In my case, how busy I know my days and days can be by order, the order that fantastical gives me and the pressure that takes me 5 euros a month or 40 euros a year is more than practical. On a day when I no longer need a great app and just look at it to find out which day it falls on, I probably won't be compensating myself anymore. But that's the subscription you have, that you can stop paying at any time and pay again if you use it again.
Another factor to consider when deciding whether or not to register is the fact that fantastical is an Apple ecosystem app. If you only use iPhone and Fantastical, it ranges from paying 5 euros for the entire app to 5 euros per month. But if you use a Mac, an iPad and an Apple Watch it pays too much. As with all registrations and many things in life, it is a choice of all people and according to their needs. And I didn't go into that article Flexibits have an excellent record reviewing their applications and adding tasks from time to time.
If you check the calendar for more than three times a week for work or productive work and have several Apple products, I suggest you try the fantastical 3 14 days for free. And you'll see why I say that the best app for managing calendars and tasks. If the calendar is not relevant to your daily organization, the app may not be yours and it is too low for your subscription.
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