Until Apple launches iOS 7, we are stuck with a native calendar app that looks like it was designed in 2007. Oh wait, it was. I know I’m tired of those gray blocks and blue tabs. App developers are quickly releasing attractive new calendar apps that are in sync with iOS 7 and offer functionality beyond what Apple can do.
Agenda Calendar 4 is one of those new apps that has turned event creation into a two-touch action and the look of your calendar into something livelier…
Design
Of course, as is usual with calendar apps, the design is one of the most important reasons to switch from Apple’s native calendar app. Most of them perform the same functions, but the design and user interface are what makes them stand out from others. Agenda Calendar 4 (let’s shorten that to AC4 for now) has what it takes to turn heads in a crowd.
First off, the base color is white with grays and blacks for the font colors. The text is simple and bold. The calendar dates don’t include any grid to separate them, giving the overall look a very minimalist impression.
The app is heavily gesture based. Swipe up or down and left or right to see more options and access more features. In the daily event section, you can even swipe the calendar separated from the day’s events.
Tap anything to see more. Tap a day to see its events. Tap an event to see its details. Tap addresses to see a map, tap names to send invites. Tap the monthly view to shrink it down and increase the size of the current date instead. The user interface flows nicely.
Some of our readers have expressed a desire in the past for a calendar display that shows dots when there is an event on a date. AC4 has dots like a boss. Not only do dates with events include a dot to let you know you have something going on, but there are also multiple dots in different colors to represent the various calendars you are connected to.
App Use
When you first open the app, you’ll be asked permission to access your iPhone’s calendar. The syncing process for AC4 is faster than any calendar app I’ve ever used. The sync was instantaneous. I was able to access all of my Google Calendar and iOS Calendar app information in a split second.
It goes both ways, too. Any time I added an event in AC4, it immediately synced with my desktop Mac calendar and my iPhone’s native Calendar app.
To see the day’s event, swipe from left to right or right to left, depending on which view you are currently in. You will hear a satisfying “swish” sound as you swipe from section to section.
In the daily event view, scroll up or down on the events list at the bottom of the screen to switch from the current date to days before or after. To see a different month, scroll up or down on the monthly calendar at the top of the screen.
To add a new event, tap the plus (+) button in the upper right corner. The app will be defaulted to “Agenda Mini” which is the bare bones version of the event creator. Here, you can title the event and change the date and time. If you want to edit the event further, you can tap the expansion icon at the bottom left of the window. This will turn Agenda Mini into “Agenda Expanded,” which includes controls for adding two different reminder alerts, adding a location, including attendees, and altering the repetition of the event. You can also add a note to your event.
In the settings section, which you can access by swiping from left to right until you reach the end, you can switch the default from Agenda Mini to Agenda Expanded, or iOS (Apple). The iOS (Apple) view looks exactly like Apple’s native Calendar app event creator.
In the Event Creation portion of the settings section, you can change the default time to receive alerts. It is set to automatically send you your first reminder 10 minutes before an event starts, but you can change that to between five minutes before and one month before.
You can also remove calendars you don’t want to see in AC4 and adjust the default duration of an event from one hour to as long as 23 hours and 55 minutes.
To see a six-month broad view of the year, swipe from right to left. You can scroll up or down to see the previous six months or the next six months. You can also tap on one of the months to see the daily events close up.
If you swipe from right to left again, you will see a list of your daily events in an endless scroll. They will be divided by dates and have the location right under the title and the time of the event on the right side. This feature is great for a quick glance at event that you have planned throughout the week, or month, or year.
The Good
You can have multiple reminder alerts set for individual events. You can send emails or SMS from within an event to let attendees know about it. The app syncs with your native iOS calendar app and Reminders app through iCloud. Seeing events at a glance with the scroll down list makes checking your schedule easy. The Agenda Mini makes it easy to add an event with only two actions. Everything in this app is easy to use.
The Bad
In the settings section, you are supposed to be able to select which apps you want to connect with, but I had trouble getting the mapping service to switch from Apple’s native Maps app to Google Maps. I would love to be able to link Google Maps to my calendar instead of Apple Maps.
UPDATE: The dev. contacted me with the following information- “For Google Maps, you did encounter a bug that has since been resolved; v4.0.1 has a fix and should be in the App Store shortly; the immediate workaround is to install Google Chrome and Google Maps will then be available.”
Additionally, the badge icon feature doesn’t seem to work properly. It showed that I had 24 events for the current day. I only had three. I switched to “Today’s Remaining Events” and that worked correctly.
Value
Agenda Calendar 4 is only $1.99, which is a great value for an app that offers so much. Sure, free would be a better deal, but an indie developer has got to eat, right? The app offers a beautiful interface that will work well with iOS 7. It features multiple event creation and editing options to make your daily schedule easy to keep track of. It is well worth the price tag.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a new calendar app that syncs with your iOS Calendar app and Reminders app, as well as offers an attractive new look with multiple event creation and editing features, Agenda Calendar 4 has got what you want. It is reasonably priced and a great app for calendar buffs. Download it in the App Store today.
Related Apps
I’d have to say that Agenda Calendar 4 most closely resembles Fantastical thanks to its multicolored event dots for the monthly viewing and multiple alert reminders. However, it is also similar to Cal because it has a similar design theme and a friendly gesture-based UI.