Not so fantastical
–
OQN1991 –
2023-04-08
Version 3.7.11
Price is obscene.
Updating
Re
iPhone Screenshots
iPad Screenshots
Description
Fantastical is the multiple award-winning calendar app with powerful features including intuitive natural language text parsing, beautiful full calendar day, week, month, quarter and year views, tasks, time zone support, and much, much more.
TRY FANTASTICAL FOR FREE
• Beautiful, clean, and easy to use calendar app allowing you to manage basic events
• The DayTicker and calendar makes your schedule look the nicest it ever has
• Full screen day, week, month, quarter, and year views
• Full task support including Todoist and Google Tasks
• 3 day weather forecast (powered by AccuWeather)
• 14 day free trial for Flexibits Premium
UPGRADE TO FLEXIBITS PREMIUM FOR EVEN MORE (requires subscription)
• Includes Fantastical on all platforms: Mac, iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad
• Openings: Schedule events based on your availability
• Proposals: Create meeting polls
• Add Zoom, Google Meet, Webex, and Microsoft Teams calls
• Extended 10 day weather forecast with RealFeel and MinuteCast up-to-the-minute weather data (powered by AccuWeather)
• Browse and instantly subscribe to interesting calendars, including sports, TV shows, holidays, and much more (powered by SchedJoules)
• Calendar sets - quickly toggle multiple calendars on or off with a simple click or automatically when you leave or arrive, based on location
• Event and task templates
• Sync calendar sets and templates across devices
• Apple Watch app with Up Next and Weather (and works over LTE)
• Parser autocomplete recommendations for invitees, locations, and calendars/task lists
• Propose multiple times to easily ask people when they can meet
• Combine duplicate events across multiple calendars
• Invitees and availability lookups
• Respond to event invitations
• Default alerts
• Time zone override
• Favorite time zones
• Push updates for Google and Exchange
• Set event travel time and receive time to leave notifications
• Custom event colors
• Custom home screen icons
• Custom alert sounds
• Hide events without deleting them
• Add attachments to events on iCloud, Google, and Exchange
• Priority email support
ADDING NEW EVENTS OR TASKS IS FAST AND FUN
• The easiest and fastest way to add new events or tasks
• Type in your details or use dictation and watch your words magically turn into an actual event or task!
• Powerful parser features, including:
- Create tasks by starting your sentence with “task” ”reminder", "todo", or "remind me to"
- Powerful and expressive repeating events such as third Thursday of every month, every weekend, last weekday of the month, and more
- Create alerts with phrases like "remind me tomorrow at 3PM", "alert 1 hour before", or "alarm 3PM"
THE BEST TASKS APP TOO
• See your events and dated tasks together in the main list
• Add tasks directly from the Tasks list or new event screen - just flip the switch to toggle between events and tasks
• Set dates, times, and geofences (when I arrive/when I leave)
• Support for iCloud Reminders, Todoist, and Google Tasks
WORKS THE WAY YOU DO
• Connects to your favorite calendar services including iCloud, Google, Exchange, Office 365, Todoist, Yahoo, and more
• Automatically add alarms to your new events
• Fantastical is fully localized in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish
• Start typing your event or task in any of these languages and Fantastical will automagically understand!
EVEN MORE FANTASTICAL
• Lots and lots of iOS and iPadOS widgets
• Background app updating enables events, tasks, and alerts to be pushed to Fantastical even if you don't launch the app often
• Birthdays - see your contact’s details or send a quick birthday greeting
• Handoff support between Fantastical for Mac, iPhone, and iPad
• Time zone support including floating time zone support
• Dark and light themes
• Stickers
• Accessibility support
• And much, much more!
What's New in Version 3.7.12
- Fantastical Openings can now be configured to request or require a phone number when meetings are booked
- Added ability to limit the number of guests allowed when using Fantastical Openings
- Added a setting to choose how tasks are sorted (by Priority & Due Date, Due Date, or Title)
- Added the possibility to see the event organizer's response message
- Added support for detecting PracticeBetter meetings
- Watch app now supports dynamic font size
- Fixed an issue where Zoom/Webex options would be visible in the Openings Editor even if they couldn't be set
- Fixed an issue where the organizer was incorrectly shown as having accepted the event, even though the organizer had declined it
- Fixed a crash when trying to hide an event from search results on an iPad
- Fixed a delay between opening the search view and the keyboard appearing
- Fixed an issue that caused tasks without a due date to appear as overdue in the watch app
- Fixed an issue where splitting a recurring event series would result in one extra event being created
- Fixed a crash on iPad when changing an event with an attachement to a different account
- Fixed an issue where certain types of delegated calendars wouldn't appear on Exchange accounts
- Fixed an issue where connecting to a server with an invalid SSL certificate would ask repeatedly after disallowing the connection
- Fixed a crash that could happen when toggling a Google Account
- Fixed an issue where adding some personal Microsoft 365 accounts wouldn't work
- Fixed free/busy lookups not working on some Office 365 accounts
- Fixed an issue that prevented some Microsoft calendars from being used for Openings Availability
- Fixed an issue that prevented travel time from being calculated correctly
- Various fixes and improvements
By the way, App Store reviews are very helpful to us. If you think Fantastical is worthy, would you mind taking a moment to write a nice review? We'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks for using Fantastical! :)
Seller
Name
Flexibits Inc.
Information
Developer
Categories
Version
3.7.12
Size
199.4 MB
Game Center
No
VPP Device Licensing
Yes
Rating
Rated: 4+
Compatibility
iOS 15.0 or later
Devices
iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone SE (3rd generation), iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro, iPad Pro (Cellular), iPad Pro (9.7-inch), iPad Pro (9.7-inch) (Cellular), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (10.5-inch), iPad Pro (10.5-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (11-inch), iPad Pro (11-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air, iPad Air (Cellular), iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 (Cellular), iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad Air (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini Retina, iPad mini Retina (Cellular), iPad mini 3, iPad mini 3 (Cellular), iPad mini 4, iPad mini 4 (Cellular), iPad mini (5th Generation), iPad mini (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (7th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi), iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi + Cellular), iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (9th Generation), iPad (9th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (6th Generation), iPad mini (6th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Air (5th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (10th generation), iPad (10th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPod touch (6th Generation), iPod touch (7th generation), Apple Watch Series 4
Languages
English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish
App Store: Customer Ratings
All Versions
3.4 (1,955 Ratings)
App Store: Customer Reviews
Too much, far too much
–
DTS1970 –
2023-04-07
Version 3.7.10
Sure, fantastical is a great app, but it’s only really great when you pay to upgrade. This became a yearly subscription I think 3 years ago, and £40 a year was a lot to pay for a calendar app! But a hike to £60 a year is crazy.
Don’t pay the price, there are other apps out there for less (BusyCal is one example) that offer very similar functionality at a reasonable price, often a 1 off payment.
Seriously, paying £60 a year for a calendar app is just crazy stuff and the developer should be ashamed of themselves
Too expensive
–
Emjw33 –
2023-03-28
Version 3.7.8
I loved Fantastical but it’s now unjustifiably expensive for a calendar app that is visually pleasing to me. I’m switching to a cheaper alternative that does the same thing.
So disappointed
–
errade –
2023-03-22
Version 3.7.8
Such a great calendar app. But the subscription cost just jumped 54% and it was already expensive before the jump. Really truly disappointed but I’ve cancelled. This was not a good decision from Flexibits.
Disappointing.
–
Mitzophrenic –
2023-03-14
Version 3.7.8
Yet another app that screws its users who paid and supported the app originally and then locking features behind a subscription after at a frankly, insulting, price.
It does you no good, I am deleting this app and turning away from this any any company who thinks they can justify this. Please don’t ask me to reach out because you clearly don’t care with these actions. Either honour your original supporters indefinitely and cut the price or accept this app is doomed.
Terrible pricing
–
Johnny377572974 –
2023-03-09
Version 3.7.8
The new price isn’t worth it for a calendar app
I’m out
–
Paul W Mather –
2023-03-09
Version 3.7.8
First, Flexibits moved from a paid app to monthly, which was a bit of a kicker but I decided the app was worth the amount being asked.
However, after the company decided to double the annual subscription for existing users and halve it for new subscribers, I decided I’m done. I don’t want to give money to companies who have zero regard for their loyal fanbase.
A step too much
–
gazzagadget –
2023-03-04
Version 3.7.7
As a very long time user of Fantastical, from before it changed to the subscription model, this latest annual price hike is crossing a line. Now unaffordable and not worth the rip off price. So like very many others I have cancelled my subscription.
Far too expensive
–
stenataar –
2023-03-03
Version 3.7.7
Seriously, this is far too expensive for a fairly basic calendar app. There are better and cheaper options out there, but I guess they are not hyped up as much because they don’t make as much money for the App Store.
Rip off subscription
–
Plastercraft –
2023-03-01
Version 3.7.7
What a rip off… £60 a year for a Calander app!!! Is this a joke? Paid for it in full years ago now they want £60 a year. … time for a new app
Ahahah. This must be a joke
–
Naymul –
2023-02-27
Version 3.7.7
£7 a month for a calendar app. You must think I’m stupid
The task management
–
BehnamIzadi –
2023-02-21
Version 3.7.7
The task section is just hopeless and miserable. Lack of list view, lack of a proper way to manage anything or navigate. To me its just an average overrated and overpriced calendar. The Mac version doesn’t show any of my local calendars. I have to directly sign in which is a misery again, since my company’s exchange calendar keeps asking for reverify.
I was a subscriber and big fan…
–
fision UK –
2023-02-19
Version 3.7.7
But £60 per year is now too much for a calendar app. Sorry, but my subscription is cancelled with this big price hike.
Unique, clever app
–
danscoular –
2023-02-12
Version 3.7.7
I’m genuinely impressed with Fantastical. It’s a calendar app that is very different and adds a lot of value.
I love how Fantastical parses text into detail, automatically finding locations, contacts, times and dates so accurately.
Openings is very useful, and removes the need for a third party scheduling service, and on top of this, I can specify multiple times for one off meetings which are “pencilled in” until the invitee accepts.
I wish the iOS icon showed the date, but that’s not the developer’s fault, and widgets offer an alternative.
I love Fantastical but..
–
Sbox65 –
2023-02-11
Version 3.7.7
I have used Fantastical for a number of years. However I cannot justify paying £60 per year for a calendar app, therefore sadly when my current subscription ends, Fantastical and I will go out separate ways.
Shame!!!
–
Bennlloyd –
2023-02-06
Version 3.7.7
I like many others purchased full price the pro version and had no issues. Then the subscription method came in to the app and the developers completely ignored that and made EVERYONE start from fresh. I purchased it literally just before the subscription method but hey that’s life. Deleted.
Edit:
I went back to Fantastical after a long hiatus thinking about cost etc but then succumbed to its amazing use and little extras that make this app great. Yes I subscribed to another year but literally after the year is nearly up I get email informing me hat the subscription is going up by nearly 60%. Again it seems it’s just about money money. I understand developers have to make a living etc and things cost but I cannot justify again more money for this calendar app. Sorry but yet again I’ll be leaving and deleting, but this time for good. Very sad day indeed.
Downgraded to a 2* app & deleting
–
allibloo –
2023-02-06
Version 3.7.7
I’ve found Fastastical to probably be the best Calendar app out there once you’ve added the subscription.
I used to find it a little painful to justify the high subscription cost of £38.99 per year. I’ve just been advised that my subscription renewal in a couple of weeks will be rising to £59.99…a whopping 54% increase. This absolutely dwarfs the rate of inflation. There can be no justification for this sort of money grabbing from loyal customers.
Do developers really think we won’t notice. This is definitely not a £60 per year app. In my opinion it’s perhaps worth £20-30 per year. Farewell Fantastical.
Dear developer, please don’t suggest I contact support like you have to the other reviews. I did this before writing my review & it’s pointless as you still plan on ripping me off. Please don’t appear to care via your feedback when you clearly don’t.
Excellent
–
Dekyras –
2023-02-06
Version 3.7.7
Best calendar application I’ve used with continuous improvements to keep it relevant.
A good App but …
–
Davman1 –
2023-01-27
Version 3.7.6
The subscription fee has just been increased by 53% per annum. It is no longer even reasonable value compared to its main competitors in my opinion. Subscription terminated.
System time zone shown two times
–
Rafkat –
2023-01-21
Version 3.7.6
System time zone time shown twice in the events. Please fix. Thanks.
Decent
–
Murkee –
2023-01-20
Version 3.7.6
Calendar apps: if all you want is a basic calendar app, use the stock app. But FC has lots of nice little power user features. If that floats your boat then devs need to earn a living for your app to survive - pony up. If you don’t want the features, don’t pay - move on. Simples.
UPDATE: A 60% hike in subscription is rather…. Grabby. Doesn’t seem justified.
Insulting Price Increase
–
dlhanson46 –
2023-01-16
Version 3.7.5
A very good product that was already expensive at £39yr. The new price of £59yr is ridiculous! The features it has does not justify this huge increase. Quite frankly it’s an insult to your existing subscribers. As such I won’t be using Fantastical or Cardhop in future in any way shape or form. There are cheaper options out there that perform perfectly well at less than half the price. Sad really as would’ve been happy to continue at the existing price indefinitely.
Pretty good but the price just isn’t justified
–
super frustrated student –
2023-01-16
Version 3.7.5
I’d be happy to pay like £2 a month but £5 is just too much.
Good Calendar but too expensive for what it is
–
Spaarta –
2023-01-15
Version 3.7.5
I’ve been using this calendar for a while now and although it’s not perfect I really like it overall (weather, usability, design).
Instead of paying monthly, which I’d done for a while, I decided to pay annually. I paid about £39.99, I think but recently you’ve upped the price to £59.99/year. Daylight robbery IMO. Way too much. The £39.99 was too much but tolerable (just about). Due to the price increase, I’ve now cancelled my yearly renewal. It’s just not worth it. I’ve given 3* , good product but too expensive for what it is. It’s worth £29.99/year.
Cannot repeat calendar events bug
–
Nicholas Revell –
2023-01-14
Version 3.7.5
Fantastical is probably the best calendar app and I have been using it for years but, as other reviewers have mentioned, the option to repeat events is now broken. You can set a repeat interval but it does not save it. I have had to stop using it because this is such a fundamental requirement. It needs to be fixed asap and then it can go back to 5 stars.
Prefer this to apples but noticed a bug
–
Frezz McMucc –
2023-01-13
Version 3.7.5
I’ve used this for a while. Far more usable UI design .
Bug
It appears that since the last update I can no longer set an event to repeat daily??
Calendar syncs to google
Bug report
–
REDastra110 –
2023-01-13
Version 3.7.5
Day Repeating events does not work since update.
Gutted really
–
ben_mw –
2023-01-13
Version 3.7.5
I’ve been a Flexibits user for years, Fantastical and Cardhop are brilliant apps that I will sorely miss. But the coming price hike I just can’t justify - I am completely happy paying for good apps/services and Flexibits are great developers that deserve to get paid well for their hard work. I just personally can’t justify the new price, as an individual and freelancer. And so I’m gutted I won’t get to keep using these amazing apps.
Subscription price gouging
–
GaryField –
2023-01-12
Version 3.7.5
I have been a premium subscriber since the beginning. I was notified today that the price will increase by 54% in the UK. I cancelled as I consider this to be price gouging. Not a good way to treat your customers.
Change to free version ?
–
EdinbGuy –
2023-01-11
Version 3.7.5
I have used this for a few years now and think it’s great but have you now changed the free version as I can no longer add repeating events. I can select the repeat but it doesn't save.
Increasingly bad
–
basiltheguy –
2023-01-10
Version 3.7.5
Have been using for about two years now and seems to be getting worse - sometimes all events disappear from view beneath calendar and I have to restart, repeating events simply don’t repeat, seems to be some kind of bug that isn’t getting fixed. Do I really have to input the same event every week for three months?? Why anybody would pay £40 a year for a calendar is beyond me - I already paid once when I downloaded the app but to see the same events on my laptop is apparently a premium service? Nonsense. I do love how intuitively the calendar takes info from the text title and applies it to the event (times, locations etc) but this thing is seriously slipping. Leaving a review in the hope that these problems are fixed. A few tweaks and a little less cheekiness in the pricing would make this a great product.
Deserves 5 stars and more
–
Mr. Michael Mansell –
2023-01-06
Version 3.7.5
I have used this app to run 3 to 4 Propertys I let out and it has been faultless over the years
Great syncing
Great Back up if there’s a problem
I could nit pick in some little issues but all in all it’s the best out there
And believe me I have tried them all .
Price Increase
–
bigg1103 –
2023-01-06
Version 3.7.5
Why have you decided to rob people by increasing your prices, it’s not like it’s costing you to run the app. Daylight robbery. I have cancelled my subscription. The world is becoming full of greed.
Incredibly annoying
–
I_EDitED_That. - YouTube. –
2023-01-03
Version 3.7.5
I’ve just downloaded this app and, like many other apps, it has immediately asked me if I wanted to buy its premium version. The only problem with this is that I can’t see a single close button. So, now, I’m stuck on a screen that is asking me to pay for a premium version of the app. Why would I buy a premium version of an app, if I don’t even know what the free version is like?
Great app but overpriced
–
J-1-M-B-0 –
2023-01-03
Version 3.7.5
Generally I think fantastical (3?) is a very good calendar app. It has plenty of good features. But paying for premium is also its biggest issue as its simply overpriced for what it is. If it were around £20 per year then I could justify it but at nearly £59 it is just to much.
Sad pricing increases
–
Sprinkletinkle –
2023-01-01
Version 3.7.5
This app used to be fantastic but price increases and constant features I’ve no use for being added have driven me away. It’s a shame because the app is good, but the value for the yearly cost is just not there anymore.
54% price increase is not ok
–
svsmailus –
2022-12-25
Version 3.7.5
It seems this app is increasing to £60 per year for a single user. That's a 54% increase in the current price. This is unrealistic in a global financial crisis and certainly not worth it.
I will need to look for another service when my subscription expires.
It WAS great, I’ve now deleted it!!
–
Stones1853 –
2022-12-24
Version 3.7.5
I’m really disappointed. I was previously a fantastical user, deleted it when it went to subscription.
However, I thought bugger it, I re-downloaded it as I’d read and seen some good reviews. I really tried hard to like it, but after about 24 hours I had deleted it again & went back to Apples reminder’s & Calendar. I found that nothing synced between Watch, iPad & iPhone unless the App was open. I also found the display to busy with all of the reminders mixed in with events. Some may like it that way, but it made productivity really hard for me.
Personally, I’ve found that the basic Apple stuff is great & I supplement it with a daily planner in GoodNotes. It’s cheaper & far more effective for me.
Sorry fantastical, I really tried hard, however, for £40 a year, I’d expect something far more slick!!
Good customer support
–
Fatkitty388 –
2022-12-06
Version 3.7.4
After I Email the customer support team with the issues they took it very seriously and investigated the bugs in the app.
Keep me updating and let me know when the update is released to fix the problem.
Appreciate it that they kept they promised to keep me update.
I will definitely see if the problem has solved and let the customer support team know 😁
Great calendar app
–
HaiMacDuy –
2022-12-06
Version 3.7.4
This is my main calendar app now as it comes with great customisation options and useful widgets. I don’t get the negative 1 star reviews, I’m happy to support the developers to keep improving such a useful and fully featured app.
One star off for the current full screen month view though - it’s not easy to view what’s on a day, the popover is only available when there are more events that can fit in cell. I would welcome if the popover were available on any day, so that it’s possible to view the full details of a day without having to click on each event one by one.
I want to love it again like I did v2
–
Le_re –
2022-11-19
Version 3.7.3
It’s so beautiful
Works the way I want to work
–
westy_uk –
2022-11-19
Version 3.7.3
I guess I use only as small portion of Fantastical's features but I love the integration with Apple reminders and the option of being able to change reminders to events. The ability to easily input events using natural language works very well and the modification of events on the ipad is smooth. So far I have found support very responsive too when I have had questions not in the FAQ. Best calendar I have found to date.
Love the tasks alongside calendar…but no Zoom!
–
BClark1902 –
2022-11-11
Version 3.7.3
I have been searching for a decent calendar + task app and this is really it for me. Thought I’d regret the yearly subscription but really don’t 3 months later. Easily joining meetings is good. I have multiple calendars and they appear well on the screen better than the iOS app.
My BIG BIG bugbear is only being able to set up Google Meet links in the app, would make such a difference to me to be able to have Zoom integration. If you don’t need to schedule Zoom meets all the time this is the perfect app for you. But misses a star for me.
Lost all my data
–
ADinHastings –
2022-10-30
Version 3.7.2
Been using Fantastical for years but for the last few days it’s not opening, have tried reinstalling etc but it either won’t load at all or loads but nothing is clickable.
Better than Apple’s own but lacking a couple features
–
ktm1994 –
2022-10-15
Version 3.7.1
The interface of this app is great - it trumps Apple calendar easily. With that said, I would appreciate a “dim past events” feature across platforms. You can run a script to achieve this on Mac but it doesn’t work for iOS. You can also choose to only show timed reminders on Mac (or perhaps in widgets, I forget) but this option is lacking for iPad and mobile. I feel like the reminders functionality is too limited for this to be your primary reminders app, so it would be better if it only showed timed tasks as those are the ones you’d want to see integrated with your calendar. That said I am enjoying this app and if these features were implemented would be happy to pay and switch over permanently.
Almost perfect.
–
AndyGlaws –
2022-10-06
Version 3.7.1
This has been a revelation for me, combining two different outlook calendars, multiple apple calendars and gmail calendars that other people insist on using! Best function is the ability to show an event in multiple calendars eg shifts in a family calendar as well as a work calendar, but is only shown once so doesn’t clutter the view.
My only request would be the ability to select / deselect different calendars on the fly rather than switching calendar sets.
Each release just brings more bugs!
–
Gareth17712 –
2022-10-03
Version 3.7.1
1. Remove this rubbish that loses half the meeting title if you dare to add the words ‘at’ or ‘in’ or a load of other popular words in the meeting title! Whatever you’re trying to achieve with this ‘feature’, IT DOESN’T WORK!!!
2. Why is it now the case that clicking the meeting title to edit it changes the whole event to an all day event?? Bugs like this should be caught before you release!
Get a decent QA and product team! - it’s all too sloppy at the moment.
Hands down the best
–
joinlygraff –
2022-10-01
Version 3.7.1
The best calendar app you can get.
Looks great, has a comprehensive feature set that keeps getting added to (weather data, groups, focus filters spring to mind).
The sentence-parsing is my favourite feature, type out the event details in a natural language way and Fantastical puts it all into an event. Inferior apps have tried copying this without success. Even though Fantastical’s parser doesn’t always nail what I’m going for, it’s miles beyond what anyone else is doing!
Complaints about price seem to misunderstand the cost of continuous software development (even on largely dormant apps) and ignore the value for money in this.
A comprehensive, constantly-updated, feature-rich, well-designed productivity app that costs less in a year than you spend on coffee in two weeks? Buy immediately!
Brilliant
–
Mick Brookes –
2022-09-21
Version 3.7
I cannot understand where all the 1 star reviews come from. I used to use calendar 366 which was very good but this is so much better. Just try it.
Way too expensive
–
mtts123456 –
2022-09-15
Version 3.7
It’s a good app and the premium version feels decent as a daily organiser. However, it is not good value at all and so I have to use another app. Would pay half the price per year for it, but the current cost is crazy.
Not as good as others
–
seraqua –
2022-07-06
Version 3.6.5
I made a genuine attempt to try this because it works with the Apple Watch, but it’s super-complicated to set up. What’s worse is that you need to open the iPhone app to refresh the data on the Apple Watch app, which is useless for an app which is supposed to be for reminders and events, where data is constantly changing! Also your data goes through their servers (not sure why) which leaves me feeling decidedly uneasy, despite the bland assurances. It really is not as good as BusyCal, though it’s more expensive.
Update: re developer’s response below: if you read my review you’ll see that it’s got nothing to do with the subscription! Your ‘boiler plate’ response doesn’t inspire confidence either!
It used to meet my needs
–
I, touchy –
2022-06-17
Version 3.6.5
I paid for this and valued it. Well, nothing lasts forever and I didn't expect all the fancy new features of the newer subscription versions, but I expected not to have ads for all the things I can't do shoved in my face while I try to use it. It's a shame as the endless quest for subscription cash - well beyond my means - sours my whole relationship with the app. I am now mostly back to using Apple calendar, which has improved in the meantime. Perhaps fantastical filled its niche, did its job, and now it's time to delete.
**Response to devs** yes, I can still do everything I used to do, and thank you for keeping it updated for free when you could easily have abandoned it for a whole new app and left me behind two iOS versions ago. But I'd like an option in settings that hides all the things I haven't paid for because I seem to trip over paywalls all the time, which is the irritating part.
I hate this “upgrade”
–
Cosy WAFU –
2022-06-10
Version 3.6.4
I paid for the full version of Fantastical, now this new version constantly prompts me to pay for a subscription, shows features that I cannot use unless I pay more and has generally ruined the beautiful compact nature of the previous Fantastical 2. I paid for Fantastical and effectively you’ve decided that payment no longer entitled me to my unrestricted version. This is pure money making at its worst. Shame on you.
An update on this review, I still feel like I’ve been robbed of my paid for version of Fantastical. Apple should fine the company for selling an app and then changing to to a subscription service in the future therefore negating the previous purchase. It’s not like I’ve been given a refund on my original purchase?!
Good, not great
–
carmour24 –
2022-05-11
Version 3.6.4
Fantastical is a nice calendar app, definitely better than the built in offerings. Not so much so I’d pay 40 quid a year for it though. I did try out the openings feature which I thought might have been worth the money but it seems to do half the job it ought to. It cuts your day up into slots of the size you specify but that seems to suppose you want to have multiple meetings of the same type every day. For example, I’m trying to set up a single 4 hour meet up in an 8 hour window. That only allows the option of two times. Whereas if I was scheduling that myself I could suggest the meet up start anytime between the first slot and 4 hours from the end. Perhaps the use case is only for people who make business meetings of exactly 1 hour slots but I already have teams for that and would like something to help organise my social life.
I don’t appreciate being lied to
–
NDavidBrown –
2022-04-28
Version 3.6.4
On the Fantastical website it says, and I quote: “If you’re using Apple Reminders, Todoist, or your calendar service has tasks built in, then you can get everything into your calendar. If a task has a specific time it’s due, then it will appear on your calendar exactly when it’s due”.
If you try to use Google Tasks with the app, this isn’t what happens. A task with a time set always appears at the top of the screen, not at the time it’s set to. This is on the Apple Watch. On the iPhone app, Google Tasks simply don’t show at all in the day view, even when the option is specifically enabled.
However, if you use Todoist (another subscription based app) everything works fine. What a surprise.
I recommend not supporting yet another subscription based app that doesn’t need to be, especially one that’s prioritising development features for paid apps over free ones.
You can use Google Calendar + Google Tasks to provide equivalent functionality for free as this and Todoist, and those two apps are cross-platform and completely free.
A Whisper of Perfection
–
Chroniclethis –
2022-04-18
Version 3.6.4
What makes this app above and beyond for me is the slickness. It’s a dream to use and maximises the functionality of the iPhone using swipe, portrait and landscape (rotated giving the full view of the week ahead). It’s a super-smooth user experience and interfaces with natural language parsing which makes the app enticing to use despite its feature-rich disposition. In dark mode, these features just pop. I know what the weather is and what the time is thanks to the constantly updated red timeline across the day.
I like to regularly attach links and attachments to meetings, and the app has all the tools to allow me or others (via Openings) to schedule a meeting via Google Services including adding Meet links. The ability to create templates from an event and or share tasks with the Reminders app adds powerful geofenced reminder options.
I won’t say there is no learning curve with it as there is a good deal of settings but I find that I enjoy tweaking these over time to improve my flows.
When an app becomes this intuitive, it has matured into something else; Fantastical has reached the ‘where would I be without this?’ app status in my everyday productivity app survival kit.
And the icing on the cake is tech support. The turnaround times with subscription priority support are pretty breathtaking. Worth every penny/cent.
Loved v2, problems after "upgrade" to v3 now resolved
–
mrbigbear –
2021-12-13
Version 3.5.1
I bought both the Mac and iOS versions of Fantastical 2 and loved them. Just perfection. Combined reminders and calendar, great interface, the works. Then the upgrade to v3 - which had taken away some basic capabilities like invitations to my iCloud contacts and certain views unless I subscribe for £40 a year - and broke my Mac version too. Initially deleted the app and went to stock calendars but just re-tried Fantastical and pleased to say the current version has restored all my v2 functionality on iPhone and Mac without having to subscribe.
It’s excellent
–
mac98aop –
2021-10-02
Version 3.4.5
I’ve used Fantastical on iOS and Mac for years and like many was so disappointed by the move to subs with v3. I didn’t update and saw all the one star rants and quietly agreed.
I decided to finally update last week and see what all the fuss is about for myself, and presumed to simply revert to Apple calendar app. I was wrong and have delayed this review for one week just in case I missed something.
The free version is great (I won’t be subscribing) and works brilliantly. I haven’t been asked/forced to set up an account, nor nagged to upgrade, not once. Sure, the UI shows the Pro features all the time, but I just don’t tap them.
It works brilliantly and I can’t help but wonder if many of the reviews are trolls? For me at least, I can’t see quite why the level of hate is so high, as v3 has given me all the v2 features. It really is just such a lovely and reliable calendar app to use. And of course, the natural language input really is second to none.
After all this time believing the one star reviews and stuck trying other apps, it’s a joy to be back. I can’t justify the subs model, and always prefer one off payment apps anyway, but v3 for free is super.
One star less than 5 as hey, nothing is perfect ;)
Great app.
–
InstantTea –
2021-07-15
Version 3.4.2
I have recently returned to the Apple ecosystem and was surprised at the standard of the preloaded apps. Having tried a few Calendar apps I discovered Fantastical. I have only been using it for a month but would have to say it is GREAT. It is very easy to use with a great UI. This is the standard of app Apple should per load. The only hitch I have found so far is that the watch sync does not always work and needs a reboot to work again. The biggest issue is the annual price which is steep but as it also covers the equally good contact app Cardhop I was convinced to pay up. Two great apps well done!
Fantastical & Cardhop
–
mycomputech –
2021-05-26
Version 3.4
I’ve been using fantastical for many years and have had Cardhop on my iphone since it’s inception they are both great apps and the recent updates to the design are really very nice it has made them both look a lot more slick and professional. My only gripe really is the app icons they look very cheap and nasty very childlike, maybe it’s just me and there trying to make them look kind of amusing but definitely not as professional looking as I think they should be for a very professional apps, the dark icon is just the worst it would be great if they could use black and greys, which in my opinion would really make it look high end. Maybe I’m just being petty. Otherwise though they are very good apps and would highly recommend them to anyone who wants a really good alternative to Apples calendar and contacts apps.
A great apps for professionals
–
theNebbles –
2021-05-06
Version 3.3.10
Are you a casual user? Yes. Should you pay for a calendar app? No. If you’re just looking for something slightly more interesting than Apple's built-in calendar (which is perfectly fine) this will be the wrong fit.
But I live in my calendar. It is my meetings, todo, reminders all in one. A single source of truth. If it’s not in my calendar it won’t happen or be remembered. So as a power user, yes, it’s worthwhile value for a subscription. There are great features which really makes it a breeze to manage it all - it’s just the kind of design I like: clean but powerful.
I’ve dropped a star because it can be a touch buggy in places and I’m constantly having to reauthenticate Zoom, but no showstoppers.
Expensive but the best
–
EddMol –
2021-03-01
Version 3.3.5
This calendar app just seems to work for me. It’s one of the few that do, including Apple’s native calendar app. The exchange/outlook integration is solid which is the most important thing. The Apple Watch complication options are excellent, which is also key for me.
The only thing I’d fault it on is that sometimes the natural language input is too clever for itself, and isn’t as intuitive as it should be. Having used previous versions of this app for multiple years I thought I would be used to it by now, but I still end up creating events with part of the title in the ‘location’ field. Annoying.
But overall 5*.
Exceptional
–
Crinfish –
2021-01-04
Version 3.3.4
I genuinely can’t believe a calendar app could be so useful! After struggling for years with the iPhone calendar and Outlook app and trying to force them to do what I needed I was happy to stumble across Fantastical :)
I’ve now been able to set it up so my work calendars automatically hide for the weekend, which helps me stay switched off. Huge help! I’ve always needed everything in one place but with this sort of option so I’m very happy :) highly recommended app.
I can’t comment on the desktop version as I haven’t really used it.
Great app
–
greu79 –
2020-11-19
Version 3.3
I, like everyone else, am not a fan of these endless subscriptions. I think people are going to have enough and start becoming super picky about what they are willing to pay our money for. But, that may be a good thing. For apps to survive in their subscription based revenue stream they are going to have to constantly provide value.
For me, this is doing that, even though at first I wasn’t sure it would. I work with clients in short appointments all the time. I have two businesses with this set up, one of which has room resources that can be booked by other people. This is all handled in Gsuite accounts. I have a personal calendar and shared family calendars in iCloud. I have reminders in iCloud for personal and Todoist for work. Everything is pulled together into one place and it is handled well.
For me two features stand out and make it worth the money. Templates for appointments that make it quick and easy to create multiple entries and not leave clients waiting for me to faff around. Secondly, a quick view switcher. You can create calendar sets that show you just the bits you want at any given time. Neither of these mean you can do something you couldn’t in any other app, but if streamlining and speeding up the workflow has value to you, this app is worth the money.
Disappointed
–
hannahlovesthis❤️❤️❤️ –
2020-09-12
Version 3.1.6
As I saw this used somewhere, I thought I would download it and try it out. It went well for the first 30 seconds.
I signed in, made an account and allowed notifications etc.
However, then it asked for me to verify my email. That’s totally okay, so I send the verification email. I received the email and pressed the very large VERIFY EMAIL button. This just took me back to the app. I then pressed (on the app) ‘I verified my email.’ All this did was make a pop-up appear claiming that I hadn’t verified my email, and that I needed to ‘press the link’. I then did this same dance for a while before giving up and deleting the app. VERY disappointed, as I would’ve quite liked to try the app out.
PLEASE fix this stupid issue, as I cannot even access the actual purpose of the app, as it claims I didn’t verify my email when I clearly did.
Fantastic
–
Norman-Prahm –
2020-06-30
Version 3.1.1
I am new to fantastical - missed the whole transition debacle, And was curious to see what the fuss was about.
I quickly learnt that fantastical was a brilliant app, carefully and thoughtfully made, that despite being packed with features was not overwhelming, just only empowering in terms of controlling ones workflow. Controlling reminders in the calendar is brilliant, as is natural language input. Generally the design and layout work incredibly well, with lots of ways to see the shape of ones time and tasks. I want apps like this and am happy to pay for the hard work that clearly goes into them, especially if it allows the developers to keep improving the app and offering such great support. Nice work.
I am not sure 🤔
–
Upthehill –
2020-06-20
Having read all the pointless moaning about subscription costs etc it’s clear that there are a lot of people who just score one star because they have to pay!
You pay your money or you don’t! It’s simple. However scoring 1 star because you want it free doesn’t mean the app is rubbish!
I have used this for 2 months now and generally it’s a good app and does (mostly) what it says on the tin. It’s true the watch syncing can be a little flaky at times not sure why that is? But the app is OK. Is it worth £4.99 a month I was say yes if you are a busy calendar user but may be not it you any use your calendar every now and then.
It’s way ahead of the old outdated Apple calendar but we don’t know what IOS14 will bring.
So if you want a free calendar and don’t want to pay £4.99 don’t bloody download it. If you do it’s not bad..enjoy!
Really helped my workflow
–
Aliboabayay –
2020-05-15
I have never been someone who used a calendar effectively, but after making some changing I decided to add a calendar into my daily process.
After some research i settled on fantastical as the best calendar for my needs and I have not been disappointed! The defining feature for me is the natural language parsing, combining this with Siri Shortcuts makes adding tasks really simple and efficient.
i use fantastical with things 3 to plan my days and I have to say its massively increased my productivity.
I understand some people are unhappy with the subscription model, but as a software developer myself i understand what goes into maintaining high quality software, and in my opinion fantastical justifies the cost, as an example i raised a bug with the team a few weeks back and received a response letting me know they were looking into it, a few weeks later and i got a response confirming the bug was now fixed.
Keep up the good work
The best calendar app on iOS
–
COYF Lad –
2020-05-12
Ignore the negative reviews as that’s just people moaning because of the new subscription model. In my view if you want a premium product you should expect to pay for it. I paid for previous version and still got all those original features in v3. By subscribing there has been a vast number of additional functionality added and the pipeline looks full too.
This is a first class app that I wouldn’t be without. The watch complications and app are brilliant and the Siri Shortcuts are part of my daily routine.
Still the very best
–
shahidkamal –
2020-02-27
Version 3.0.6
I’m delighted that an app I’ve used since its genesis will continue to grow. I was initially wary of the subscription model, but there was no downside as I could continue to use all the features I was already using in the previous version. I paid for the subscription almost immediately and within a few days, it had paid for itself when I was able to use the “choose a slot” invitation model for the first time. It worked flawlessly and saved me a ton of back and forth.
It looks great, it feels great, it’s there on my Macs, my iPads, my iPhone and my Apple Watch for the same price. Superb.
Used to love it, when it worked
–
Eagle eyed bill watcher –
2020-02-19
Version 3.0.6
I have been a fan and user of Fantastical for 5 yrs+. I use it on a Mac, iPhone and IPad. Recent ‘improvements’ since IOS 13 have made it unusable and I’ll be looking for a replacement if the next update doesn’t return the functionality back to how it was. It’s desperately slow to acknowledge inputs, if it registers them at all. It’s slow to launch, it freezes, it gives error dialogs to say it cannot update items due to the ‘helper application’? I have really enjoyed using this and the benefits for me were huge in terms of organisiaon if tasks and calendar in one place. Today it simply doesn’t do what it is supposed to be for. I am using Fanrastical 2 on an iPhone 8. It’s frankly pitiful so I won’t be spending any more money on it and waiting for an improvement. I have waited long enough to make this judgement: it’s broken and there is no serious will on the developers part to fix it.
Awesome... Gets me and keeps me organised!
–
RaveBell –
2020-02-18
Version 3.0.6
I have been using electronic calendars for over 20 years and I have to admit Fantastical version 3 is the best yet! 📆
I started with Fantastical version 2 only several months ago, have been using the Apple Calendars on Mac iOS and iPhone/iPad iOS until then. I am so glad I made the switch because Fantastical is great. There are so many features and once you get use to the small changes in the layout etc then it just works. But it feels intuitive and fluid to use. 📆 📝
Love the new “Propose an alternative time” feature, so useful when arranging meetings with a group of people, allowing all guests to select the best dates and times. Until now I was using an alternative solution, now this is part of my calendar and makes my life simplistic but also saves money! 💓 💰
Also with version 3 Pro the risk is so much less to try the Premium suite as you can pay monthly for all platforms (MAC, iPhone, iPad, watch), no need to buy separate packages and pay a larger cost upfront. 👍
And finally the technical support team were great at sorting an issue I had, they listened and actioned the change and went above and beyond my expectations. 🤩
Look forward to upcoming features! 😎
Time to move on?
–
Circuscarny –
2020-02-10
Version 3.0.4
UPDATE 3.0.4: You still have a lot of unhappy people because of the core functionality removed. Please rerelease Fantastical 2 for all of the paid users and keep Fantastical 3 for all that want to new functionality with a different pricing model.
UPDATE 3.0.3: You still haven’t returned the basic functionality you had right in v1 and v2. You’ll be deleted soon if this doesn’t happen. Read everyone’s reviews and realise what a mistake you’ve made.
UPDATE 3.0.2: I don’t want to add my calendar accounts directly to Fantastical. The functionality worked before through the iOS integration so please update again or lose this customer.
Having been a long time user of Fantastical and singing it’s praises wherever anyone needed a good calendar app, version 3 has completely changed my perspective.
One auto update later and I can no longer invite people to meetings without changing the setup that has worked for years?
And seeing that half of the functionality requires more money from me but I can’t hide that functionality is a sure fire way to get me to look elsewhere.
I’ll keep the app for the next month to look for future updates to rectify this. Otherwise it’s getting deleted.
Look at all the 1 star reviews!
–
Beefmagic –
2020-02-07
Version 3.0.3
Does anyone else think it suspicious that there are so many 1 star reviews and then out of the blue a random 5 star saying that all the other reviews are just whingeing. Hmmm yeah. Its not. Devs got greedy and now they are feeling the backlash. Already using a better alternative so hopefully the entire operation goes down the toilet and they can learn a lesson on not stealing from customers. Because thats what they did. This isn't about paying devs fairly because everyone already paid £10 for the app. If thats not enough to cover your costs then it should've been freemium from the start. You don't change once already out there and remove functionality from the people who paid for those functions.
RIP off
–
Milescccc –
2020-02-06
Version 3.0.3
Thanks team! Great your took my money for an app that no longer works as it did.
Thanks team! Version 2 was great worked great with my Apple Watch. Upgrade to version 3 and no longer works on Apple Watch. Day or so later new version of upgrade 3. Works on Apple Watch but not in the same way as before. Only one calendar now available. I need the two calendars that worked before on version 2. Ha! If you want that then pay £40 a year for software you already bought before. Thanks Team!!
New upgrade again this morning. Apple Watch again stops working . Thanks team!!
Want to see the whole year on your calendar - well you can’t until you pay !!! Thanks team. Congratulations on extracting money from people who have already payed. Uninstalled. Well done team!!
Not so fantastical
–
AFDenmead –
2020-02-06
Version 3.0.3
I used this app all the way up to the point of version 3. When out of the blue came a £40 pay wall with the year view locked behind it.
I mean come on what possible value can you add to a calendar app for £40 a year because going on what the app can do right now no value at all. I did pay for fantastical 2 because at the price it was it brought enough value to be worth it.
So why could they of not done a new app and left me alone. As for customer service well I sent off an email as I needed help you see if you had version 2 you got to keep all what you had in version 3. But I had to delete the app because at the beginning I was having real problems with the watch talking to the phone. But when I went to reinstall I lost all what I had paid for with no way of getting it back because I can’t load up v2 so v3 knows I paid for in. All I got back was a standard please visit website for answers with no answers. So I’ve deleted the app and will stay with Apple at least that works. If you’ve read this far please save yourself some money and don’t waste your time.
Another App Ruined By A Subscription Model
–
Radar68 –
2020-02-05
Version 3.0.3
Been using this for years and it’s always been my go to calendar and watch complication.
Barring a few update glitches it has performed admirably.
Now the latest update removes features I’ve already paid for in a previous version and new UI aside this just isn’t worth the monthly charges. Why remove the watch app or the ‘time to leave’ alerts when they were there before?
Why couldn’t you just leave it alone or charge another one off for v3 with the ability to buy your new features as in app purchases? Your desktop app was nearly £50 and now you want nearly £39 (per year!) to use an app I only want on my iPhone. I’d happily have paid again for a standalone iOS app.
Right now the in built Apple Calendar is looking like I might be dusting it off and trying again. It’s come some way since I stopped using it to go to Fantastical. Maybe it’ll do. And it’s free.
Update: Switched to the £6.99 Readdle Calendars 5 and it’s like having a proper calendar back again! No nagging, no accounts, working watch complications. All good. Apart from a couple of functional differences I’m really pleased and won’t be going back.
Killed the app with subscription
–
OnTheBandwagon –
2020-02-04
Version 3.0.2
Firstly, ignoring the actual 3.0 changes... whoever is in charge of Marketing at Flexibits wants firing. Basically rolled out a HUGE change to the fundamental premise of the app (an app funded by long-term users), without telling anyone, or giving them the chance to opt-out.
As for Fantastical 3.0, I’m sure it will be remembered as an example of how not to do business and instantly kill your app. Most users loved version 2, and would happily have paid for an upgrade. Just needing a separate Flexibits account is too much, the beauty of Fantastical is that it sits on top of iOS Calendar. I don’t feel confident putting all my data in their hands.
The less that’s said about the subscription model the better – sure there are power users that might want extras features, but most people don’t. They’ve clearly backtracked slightly already, but it’s too late for me, I’m deleting my account (which incidentally there’s no way to do easily) and, unbelievably, switching back to Apple’s Calendar app.
Satisfied with the new look.
–
nickgt7 –
2020-02-02
Version 3.0.2
I do not usually write reviews but after the new update I cannot understand all the negative reviews. The updated version has all the features we used to have for free. When I read all the negative reviews I was panic and start looking for changes. As the developer stated nothing changed. Ok I cannot see the monthly view or weekly view but this is an upgrade feature. In the previous version we couldn’t see these views. So why all these people are complaining. It is so unfair for all these people trying to give us a better application, which they did with the new interface. But people are reviewing without even reading. Personally I am very satisfied with the new interface but I will not buy the subscription. It’s so simple.
Wow!!
–
djtouchuk –
2020-02-01
Version 3.0.2
I never write reviews for apps. But I felt the need to having read some of the reviews following the 3.0 update.
Firstly I get it, it wasn’t the cheapest app before and now it’s moved to a subscription based service. I can see why people might be slightly upset.
However having paid myself on iPhone, iPad and macOS. I have now also subscribed.
Firstly I’m getting 6 months free (on the annual subscription). So I can see what it’s like and cancel the auto-renew if I don’t want it.
I love the fact that the subscription works on all my devices. A separate sub for each device would have been harsh.
Everything just works. I use Fantastical as my calendar app of choice each and every day on all my devices and have done for years.
With the free 6months it works out at 7p a day for the first 18months. Then it will be 10p a day after that. I really don’t think that’s unreasonable.
The added functionality- true most of it is available in other apps. But now it’s all in one. I can now delete some other apps from my systems.
Finally. I totally understand the subscription model won’t be for everyone. So for you people, uninstall it; there are alternatives. But if you love fantastical then it really isn’t that expensive.
EDIT: looks like the cry babies got their way.
In all seriousness, well played developers for keeping everyone happy. But I’m still.m a happy bunny and have no issues subscribing to support future development.
Not a good upgrade
–
Henson Man –
2020-02-01
Version 3.0.2
Like other posters, I found Fantastical 2 very good. As the only combined Calendar and Task list across all three Apple platforms, it’s unique. The iOS Calendar is cross platform but its task list Reminders (clunky in my view) is separate. Calendars 5 does calendars and tasks but not on Mac - and isn’t as user friendly as F2. Initially I thought F3 was an improvement but I now realise I have to pay a large recurring sum to get two things I would like, coupled with many things I wouldn’t . Why not adopt a more granular, one-time charge approach e.g. £3 for colours, £2 for templates, etc ? (I do think the monthly / yearly views should be free as standard F3 upgrade). I did actually upgrade to F3 Premium but cancelled it today having realised I’m paying for 90% of things I won’t use. I’m sure there will be others like me. Please re-consider before I start experimenting with iOS Calendar again....
Not so Fantastical 3
–
WinkyCutto76 –
2020-02-01
Version 3.0.2
I had everything I wanted from version two. Version three is just giving me sooooo many issues. I have Aspergers and use this app to organise my life so when it suddenly changed, I did not deal with it well.
For one, all of a sudden there is a weather forecast in the corner. Helpful, you might say but alas no. There is no way of changing it from Fahrenheit to Celsius so I have no idea what temperature is showing!
For every reminder I have set, suddenly I am getting TWO notifications making different noises! I used to be able to mark that I had actioned my notification and had the choice if I wanted to delete it or not but now once marked it disappears so I have no record of it anymore! Honestly, there are so many things I hate about this now that I’m seriously considering seeking a different app.
Ruined by the subscription model
–
Nklv –
2020-01-31
Version 3.0.1
Oh great now you can’t set what day of the week you want the week to start at. I paid good money for this app last year for you people to ruin your app just so you can make your business more ‘sustainable’.
I want to know – for £40/year, what possible improvements are you going to add to the app? How? You can’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to apps, so I sincerely doubt you’ll be adding any good new features or that I’ll be paying for ‘continued development’. So this is basically just a racket – sorry ‘access’ to a ‘service’.
Well I have bad news for you: the reason why Microsoft and Adobe can get away with this business strategy is that they are monopolists. They can and do exploit their customers without consequences. By punishing your long term customers (like why not just publish Fantastical 3 as a new app and let me keep my purchase of Fantastical 2?) you’ve guaranteed myself and many others will *never* spend money on your app or company again. A shame as you used to have a great app
I agree with everyone else
–
Moriarty2302 –
2020-01-31
Version 3.0
New design - OK, I guess, but not necessary. The subscription model is a joke though. While the features I had are still there, I am now plagued by things I cannot do which require a subscription. This is bugging me a lot. The update was pushed on my iPhone, so I cannot revert to what was working for me. So it’s been deleted. Back to Apple Calendar, I think.
Options might’ve been: release this as a separate App and offer the benefits for existing users if they upgrade (see how Omnifocus moved from one version to another for hints). Or, at least make the ‘upgrade’ to 3 optional (not pushed) so that users could make the choice (see 1Password). To force users to use a subscription-based app when they’ve paid for something else is just not thinking about customers.
So, flexbits. You’re on the list now...
User-hostile. A shameful step backward
–
dbw831 –
2020-01-31
Version 3.0
A subscription so I can see the whole year? What a joke.
I’ve been using fantastical since Sunrise died. I paid for the v2 happily, and would’ve considered paying for a v3 upgrade. Unfortunately, v3 seems to just be a way to force people to pay a subscription. It interrupts you with giant pop ups constantly, like when you try to view more than a month. Just trying to learn the new version I was interrupted so many times I quit. Free/premium is a fine model, but you have to actually let users use the free version.
Fortunately other calendar apps have made many improvements in the past few years and this app offers nothing that you can’t get for free elsewhere.
I’ve enjoyed watching the rating of this app plummet in the past few days. Hope flexibits learn their lesson for their next try.
How to alienate long-standing and loyal users
–
moscowmac –
2020-01-31
Version 3.0
Update 31 Jan 2020: I don’t like the new look at all - I need a single line for each event, don’t want each event to take up so much space. But the killer is the subscription model. This is a calendar, for goodness sake! I echo the dissatisfaction of other reviewers of this app following the update. Have reduced the rating to 1* for such a bad business decision, in terms of the redesign but particularly the subscription model. I shall not be upgrading my MacOS version, and will not be
subscribing.
—-
Love the app on iOS and MacOS - a minor gripe: please give the option to open locations in Google maps as well as Maps in iOS.
Edit: Kudos to developer who were in touch by email within a few hours of this review, with information about the (very simple) way to do this which I had overlooked in the app’s settings. Thank you.
Subscription= Deleted
–
polystirenman –
2020-01-31
Version 3.0
Another app destroyed by nonsense subscription model. I gladly paid for every update when it was one off price. now you want me to pay monthly to be able to see a year overview? insane! there is definitely type of software that can justify subscription. Those are complex packages that are for professionals which make them money or help them run business! Fleet vehicle tracking, Photoshop, MS Office, etc...
Before Apple allowed this idiocy on the app store, developers were happily making apps for one payment. Now they all think they deserve to be paid monthly. You want more money??? Make more good simple apps and let people buy them.
Why should i pay monthly for calendar app? Which i already paid for, anyway?
This totally puts me off from buying any app these days. I pay now and tomorrow devs decide to flip the switch and start asking me for money all the time.
Garbage approach to customers.
Heading in the wrong direction - App deleted!
–
martinbennett88 –
2020-01-30
Version 3.0
Sorry state that all apps are turning towards essentially micro transactions models. Whilst I understand the direction that developers have taken to create a sustainable business model, I don’t think that this, or any calendars are worth £40 a year!
Fantastical is just the stock calendar and reminder apps rolled in one. The reason I used it was for natural input, nice widget and watch complication. A one time purchase I can live with. But £5/month, or £40/year to keep up with the latest update is just greed.
I shouldn’t have to open an additional account to use a watch complication. I am sure that within the next iOS update there will be deeper Siri integration with natural language input so that just leaves a nice widget for the rest of the money. And there are now two calendar apps that have better widgets for £5 or less on one time purchases.
Where every app is trying to grab a bit of money from, I cannot justify this price, I can see other apps premium models with upwards of £10/year, looking at certain weather and note taking apps, they garner returning revenue and a higher likelihood of subscription due to fairer pricing.
Good luck with your app, but I currently be a part of this.
Frustrating
–
Roller138 –
2020-01-30
Version 3.0
I’ve loved Fantastical since version 1 and have paid for it on Mac, iPhone and iPad. I paid again for version 2 and it was worth every penny. Now I’m being hounded to pay £4.99/month to avoid constant nag screens to “upgrade” to features I used to have before.
Despite the promise I would loose no functionality I find myself coming across the upgrade screen constantly when performing basic tasks. Although this is more so on my iPhone than on my iPad which has more functionality. Perhaps this is just a bug in the system.
At the end of the day it’s just a calendar. £40/year is out of the question. Plus it no longer works on my Apple Watch. Flexibits you risk ruining your reputation.
Calendars 5 from Readdle is the way forward for me.
Why ruin a good app with subscriptions?
–
DavidHepworthh –
2020-01-29
Version 3.0
I have been using Fantastical for at least 5 or 6 years now on my iPhone and iPad. I hate the stock calendar app on the iPhone and Fantastical has been great up until this point.
I like the new interface but I’m not paying any subscription especially £40 a year after paying £12 for the apps for my iPhone and iPad in the first place that I’ve been using for years now.
The old Mac app used to be £40 or £50 but that’s included in the subscription now. It’s stupid how on the free version of the Mac app you just get a list of events on the left hand side and the rest of the screen says please upgrade to premium to get a full month view.
I’ve always been happy with the stock calendar in macOS but not on iOS so that’s why I bought fantastical for them. I thought £12 for both my iPhone and iPad was reasonable because I hate the stock calendar so much. I never bought the Mac app because £40 or £50 is just ridiculous for a calendar. The new fantastical app is ok and I’m going to keep using the free one for now.
I am going to look for an alternative calendar app though because I’m not happy with the direction it’s fine in and I feel limited not being able to use all the features that I previously paid for and I can’t get the new features without paying more. Especially not £40 a year for a calendar!
The best
–
egeksh –
2019-08-31
Version 2.10.8
I’ve tried a lot of calendar or day plan apps, but none of them are good enough for me to use longer. Fantastical 2 is the best so far. It allows me to speak to it and it will automatically set the time, the event and the location. And if I wanna do certain things everyday, I just tell my Siri “everyday” then all the things are set!
There are lists which allow you to manage events in different list. And the “detail” part allows me to write notes about the event.
The layout is good as well. I can see my calendar clearly and go back to “today” by click “today” button. Also, I can set my event duration and alarms for it, which alarms me to start doing it.
And after I bought the Mac version, I can sync all the events to my computer, and when I write sth on computer in this app, it will appear in this iPhone app.
It’s a brilliant app! Love it!
Simple and almost perfect
–
LobsterLament –
2019-07-12
Version 2.10.7
This app has been beautifully stripped back to it’s logical conclusion. The way it combines a simple list of entry’s which, as you scroll, correspond to a little overview on a traditional calendar page is genius. The process of adding entry’s is faster than anything else I’ve tried. And I’m glad I can just buy it rather than relying on a subscription that I never finish paying for.
This app deserves 5 stars regardless but there’s one more simplification that would make it perfect (besides a slightly less garish icon). I quite often scroll accidentally up past the current day into the previous week. No big deal! I just scroll down again. But this happens everyday. Wouldn’t a history-lock option be really nice? So you can land neatly in the present with a single, clumsy swipe.
I would really appreciate that ☺️
Edit: tapping on the plain red bar at the top easily returns you to the current day- fantastic
Nearly perfect
–
Nikko Bee –
2018-12-21
Version 2.10.3
Great app and widget. I love that the are multiple coloured circles on days so I could see which calendar have events and how many. The search feature is a little hard to find with a half swipe on the calendar and in week view if past the start of the event you can’t see what the event is as the title does not stay at the top of the screen over that event period. Is annoying the logo cannot show the day but only a notification, however I know this is a limitation put on by Apple sadly. Generally small features making it better than Apple calendar with a couple of small tweaks to make it perfect calendar app for me.
Great calendar....one request...
–
Successful Slimming –
2017-12-30
Version 2.9.3
This really is a very good calendar and does pretty much everything I need. What would turn it into 5 stars for me though would be to be able to change which calendars I’m viewing from a button directly on the main screen. At the moment, I have to click on the settings cog, then go into calendars, click which ones I want to view and then click done. It doesn’t sound like much but we switch calendar views all the time in our business and so if there was a way to directly access the calendars setting from the main screen like you can on many other calendar apps, it would be great. Other than that, we think it’s fab 👍