Finding the right calendar + to do list combination for your iPhone
Calendars and to do lists are essential to time management and making sure you get things done. However, calendars and to-do lists are very often used very separately even though they really should be two pieces of the same thing. For example, when you need to clean your dishes at 4pm, do you add it to your to-do lists or calendar? If you add it to your to-do list, if just feels strange seeing your calendar telling you that you are free at 4pm. If you add it to your calendar, it just feels strange to see that your to-do list tell you you have nothing left for the day. Adding it to both? Now that’s just tedious and extra.
Apple Calendar + Reminders: Big No-No
Costs: Free (built-in)
This is the option that came long with your devices. These are two separate apps that don’t talk to each other at all. Calendar will send you notifications when an upcoming event is approaching, and the reminders app wold show notifications too when the designated time for a reminder is approaching. These two don’t work together at all.
Fantastical: Absolutely Yes
Costs: Free (basic functions), Subscription (premium functions)
Fantastical is widely regarded as the best calendar app in terms of functionality. It has a lot of fancy functions like natural language input and meeting time proposals but that’s not the point for this article. Fantastical displays reminders as part of your day view in the calendar. It syncs directly to the reminders app. Trust me, it really helps a lot to have your reminders show up alongside your events for the day, which is exactly what this app accomplishes.
Moleskin Timepage + Actions: Yes, with a catch
Costs: Free to download (goes into view-only mode after 14-day trial), Subscription
Moleskin Timepage is the sexiest calendar app alive, while Moleskin Actions is the sexiest to-do list app alive. When you are using both apps, the Actions’ “cards”, which basically are your to-do stuff would be displayed in the Timepage app as well. However, Actions doesn’t fully sync with Reminders. You have the option to import lists from Reminders but ultimately you would still have to use Actions as your to-do list for this combination to work. If you are fine with using Actions as your to-do list, you get the sexiest calendar and to-do list combination alive.
Vantage Calendar: Yes
Costs: Free (for a certain amount of actions), One-time purchase
Vantage calendar introduces quite a fresh take at what a calendar cook look like, while also integrating the to-do list into the app. If you are a fan of how you navigate through this app then you would enjoy this app a lot. I especially like the different themes you could apply to the app.
Dawn — Minimal Calendar: Yes, also with a catch
Costs: Free (with limitations), One-time purchase and monthly subscription options available
Dawn is a relatively new addition to the market. This is a minimal calendar that put your timed events and your to-dos all in one beautiful interface. However, just like the tradeoff with using Actions, the to-do list on this app exist solely within this app and does not link to the Reminders app. If you don’t mind ditching the Reminders app for a cleaner approach to getting things done this is definitely for you. In fact, if you never really used Reminders anyway it is not a tradeoff at all.
Verdict
Calendars and to-do lists are both great tools to help you manage your life. It doesn’t affect your productivity that much if you don’t use a to-do list that talks to your calendar, but having those two in a single view does make a difference.
