August 22, 2010

Everyone knows how much I depend on my calendar, and that it was one of the big disappointments moving to the iPhone. I started out with PocketInformant while waiting for Agendus to catch up, and while the new owners seem to be dropping the ball on Agendus, PI hasn’t really done it for me. And then @jjb70 suggested CalenGoo. Since I sync only with Google, it seemed worth the try. For $6.99, it’s a mid price app from iTunes, but still a far cry cheaper than what I used to pay for apps on Palm.

It has now taken a place of honor on my application dock.

What CalenGoo does that the others don’t do

CalenGoo gives you drag/drop just like you have on your Google calendar on the web. There is no fumbling, no menus, just drag and drop. Once you have dropped the item, you get a pop up asking if you are moving or copying. I like that! Other calendar apps have promised drag/drop, but none have delivered – at least not as effectively as CalenGoo.

I love the month view for spot checks, but I hate to have to go to a day to find out what all the squiggles in the month view mean. CalenGoo has taken care of that as well. You can pinch to zoom in the month view! Talk about something that makes sense – why does no one else do this?

CalenGoo also does tasks. Google tasks. Not tasks from some 3rd party solution that you didn’t really want to subscribe to in the first place, and then discover it doesn’t do what you want for free. (I’m talking about you, ToodleDo!) Google gave us tasks, why not use them? Your Google tasks can be visible in all views (or the views of your choice. You can see an example in the month view screenshot above. You even have the option of making your tasks some other colour. I’m very impressed, and very happy with this!

What CalenGoo just does better

I would show screenshots of all CalenGoo’s options, but I don’t have enough free time to take that many – yes, there are that many options. They seem to have thought of every detail, from header colours, to the colour of the background behind specific days of the week. Incidentally, this is a great calendar if you’re one of those people who don’t work a regular Monday through Friday kinda job, and your “weekends” fall on different days than Saturday and Sunday.

Ok…so I’ll show you one option that I really like. Any time you get a date picker (the above screenie is for jumping directly to your desired date), you have a choice between using the default Apple’ish wheel, and your keyboard. The wheel is great if you’re already in the ballpark, but sometimes you just want to get where you’re going fast!

The search function is something I’ve been missing since I retired my Centro. Sometimes it’s important to know when that last haircut was, or how long it’s been since the cat went for an “annual” checkup.

Icons! Yes, silly, I know, but I do love my icons. They don’t provide a huge number, but they do offer a method of adding more if you’re so inclined.

Did I mention it’s a universal binary app? That means it works on both iPhone and iPad, with special features available from your iPad.

If you also sync with MobileMe or an Exchange account, you have only to sync them with your native iPhone calendar, and then turn on local calendars within CalenGoo.

What CalenGoo does not do

CalenGoo has a view that I have always referred to as List view, that it calls Agenda view. That’s ok with me, as I like to see what’s coming up as well as what I’ve got today. But there is no view that only shows an overview of today. Neither is there a year view. Personally, I have never used a year view, and having a Jump To button resolves any possible need I would have had there.

If there’s anything else that CalenGoo does not do, it’s not something I use.

Oh and one more thing

When I started using CalenGoo, I kept getting the error you see in the above screenshot. So I emailed the dev. I had tried the workaround the popup suggests, but it defeated the purpose of having Tasks. They replied very quickly, and offered me a solution that worked. Responsive devs make for a better product!

Maybe active devs also means there’s a chance for the one and only other thing I still want: a better selection of notification sounds. Since I now have an alarm clock that works in the background (yay iOS 4!) and will use any mp3 in my iTunes collection to wake me, maybe something similar can be done with a calendar. Here’s hoping!

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