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We pit the best calendar apps for Mac and Apple devices against each other to find out which is best

REVIEWED BY KENNY HEMPHILL

GROUP TEST

APPLE’SCALENDAR APP for Mac, iOS, iPadOS and watchOS has plenty going for it. For one thing, it’s deeply integrated with Apple’s other apps and the operating systems themselves. And for some people, it may be all they need from a calendar app. However, for those of us who want more — good natural–language entry, for example — it doesn’t offer enough. Thankfully, there are plenty of alternatives, from Google’s free, but powerful app, to Moleskine’s stunning Timepage.

In testing these apps, our key concern was that they should offer enough over and above the features in Apple’s app to make them worth the cost. We also wanted to know how well they sync across platforms and how easy they are to use, particularly when it comes to adding appointments and other entries.

Additional features such as the ability to manage tasks and support for Shortcuts are the icing that sweetened the deal for some apps compared with others. And if a paid–for app offers a free trial, so much the better.

How we tested

Our testing process was simple. We added the same appointments and events to each of the six apps in this round-up using natural language, such as “Dinner with Carol at 8pm on Wednesday.” For those apps that needed it, we also manually entered dates and times. We then tested how quickly the appointments and events we created were synchronized with our other devices. If an app supports Shortcuts, we also checked what pre–made actions are available. Finally, we looked at presentation and how easy it is to see appointments and events in different views on each app.