Meetings, doctor's appointments, get-togethers with friends - our days are always pretty packed. I have tried many different analogue planners and calendars myself to keep track of everything. But they were too cumbersome for me and quickly became annoying. At some point, I decided to download the Google Calendar app instead to manage my appointments digitally only. However, I am not completely satisfied with this solution either. In order to find a calendar that really convinced me, I tested a new calendar app for six weeks.
It was particularly important to me that the calendar is clearly laid out so that you can see what is coming up at first glance. Appointments should be quick and easy to enter and the calendar should be customisable according to my needs (e.g. by colour coding or repeating appointments). It's also important to me that I can synchronise existing accounts, such as my Google account - after all, I don't want to have to enter all my appointments from scratch. And best of all, the calendar app should of course be free.
The Google Calendar is familiar to many, especially since it is preinstalled on Android devices. The calendar app is clear and intuitive to use. Appointments can be entered quickly and individualised, for example through colour coding or customisable appointment repetition. What is missing, however, is the possibility to move appointments via drag & drop. On the other hand, the calendar offers many other features and scores particularly well with the integration of other Google services, such as Drive, Maps or Gmail. It is also very easy to create a group calendar to which events and participants can be added. Events are also displayed with a picture or map.
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Price: free of charge
Tiny Calendar is becoming increasingly popular. The calendar app offers up to eight standard views and a user-friendly design that already shows in the month view how many events are entered on a single day. These are highlighted by means of colour coding. The app supports events from iCloud, Exchange and other calendars. The iOS and Android versions differ in terms of the free functions. The iOS version offers less and also costs more in the premium version. Android users can get by with the free version, iOS users will feel somewhat limited. All in all, very simple and clear, which makes this calendar very practical and clear for me.
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Price: €4.29 (Android, one-time) or €7.99 (iOS, one-time)
Calendars by Readdle for iOS is one of the most intuitive calendar apps for me. It, too, is similar to Tiny Calendar in the month view and thus clearer than Google Calendar, for example. The possibility of copying appointments or moving them via drag and drop, as well as the four different views, make it easy to manage appointments. Interesting: appointments can be created with voice recognition and the app is optimised for the iPad. On the other hand, invitations, recurring appointments and the task planner are only available in the premium version. It supports Outlook, Exchange, Yahoo, AOL and other calendars for effortless syncing between platforms. Unfortunately, too many features are missing for Calendars to be useful for me - and €9.99 for the full version is too expensive for me.
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Price: 9,99€ (one-time)
TimeTree is especially suitable for families, friends and groups. The calendar is very clear and can be personalised. After installation, other members can be invited via email and various messengers. You can use individual calendars for each group, for example for appointments and coordination with family and friends. You can see everyone's schedules in one calendar and always know exactly what each group is planning. You can display several calendars at once or sort all schedules by date or updates. Special feature: Notes, pictures and photos can be stored for each appointment. Appointments even have a chat function. Updates are made in real time, data can be imported from Google Calendar and a drag and drop function is also included. What I like best is the menu item "Feed", which directly displays news that can be liked, commented on and shared. You can also search for events and filter them by participants or the tags set. My favourite!
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Price: free of charge
The PocketLife calendar stands out above all because of its unusual and colourful design. It offers many display options, for example, you can set your own pictures as the calendar background and even change the font. Appointments can be copied and moved without any problems. However, you should invest €5.49 in the full version to be able to create unlimited events and not have any advertising displayed. After the purchase, public holidays and school holidays are also stored depending on the federal state. The app is easy to use, very clear and easy to configure. Appointments can be copied and moved without any problems, and it is also very easy to access the calendar with several people. In my opinion, this is the most creative calendar, and the one-off price of €5.29 is also reasonable.
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Price: 5,29€ (one time)
Although the Google Calendar offers a lot, except for a drag and drop function, the free TimeTree Calendar convinced me with its diverse functions and its appealing design. Ultimately, everyone has to decide for themselves which functions are important to them and which calendar best suits their needs, but you can't go far wrong with the calendars tested here.
