While the Calendar app that Apple includes with OS X Yosemite is pretty good for casual, everyday users, it may sometimes fall short for those who rely on their calendar to manage their busier lives. Fortunately, there are alternatives, including Flexibits’ new Fantastical 2 ($40), a major update to the company’s calendar app that takes it beyond its menu bar origins and brings it to life as a full-fledged standalone calendar replacement.
Fans of the original Fantastical need not fear, however, as the menu bar option remains in place for quickly viewing your calendar from anywhere and adding appointments, but it’s back and better than before with the ability to detach it from the menu bar as a mini-calendar window that can be placed anywhere on your screen, and allow you to scroll through an infinite list of your appointments.
The new full calendar design fits right in on OS X Yosemite as well, with both light and dark themes included, and its own Today Widget and sharing and action extensions.
Fantastical’s popular natural language engine for adding new events is still here as well, and has been improved to handle repeating events, reminders, alerts, and even time zones. A new feature, Calendar Sets, allows you to easily group your calendars so you can switch between multiple calendar groupings without having to worry about constantly fiddling with checkboxes, and can even be customized to activate based on location — so your work calendars can show up when you get to the office, but can be automatically hidden when you’re at home.
