If you use iCal to manage your to-do list you may want to consider Mindful. This app creates a desktop view of your events and reminders for the day similar to the daily view function of most calendars. More »
Google Sync can keep your Google Calendar changes in sync with your brand-spanking-new iPad, but only through one primary calendar by default. You can switch on multiple calendars by emulating an iPhone browser and heading to Google Sync’s mobile page. More »
Mac only: A few weeks ago we detailed how to add Facebook events to your Google Calendar, but if you’re an iCal user, free utility EventSync is a good alternative, especially if you want to filter which events are synced. More »
Twistory is yet another free tool to back up online accounts, specifically Twitter posts. It goes beyond a simple data dump, though, by plotting your tweets in an easy-to-import iCal feed. More »
Mac OS X only: Most good calendars apps have some sort of natural language quick-add feature so you can type “dinner tomorrow w/jerry at 8″ and expect semi-accurate results. QuickCal is like that, but much, much better. QuickCal integrates with iCal, so each time you enter a new event, it’ll show up in its respective spot in iCal (and, if you’re syncing Google Calendar with iCal, it’ll go there, too). Probably the best thing about QuickCal is that it analyses the appointment as you type, so you get a preview of the accuracy of the natural language interpretation before you create the appointment. (I’ve run into a lot of natural language failures when creating events using other tools, but I never knew it until after the bum event hit my calendar.) Its translation—in my tests, at least—have been dead on, but it’s nice to verify the outcome of your event before you create it.
If you’re looking to combine all your iCal-feeding calendars—and you’re not, say, a Google or Yahoo Calendar user—MashiCal could be your solution, as well as a way to separate your shared feeds from personal stuff. The site claims to be able to handle pretty much any feed or file you give it with the .ics extension, and it worked for at least two Google Calendar feeds and an exported ICS. If you’re trapped using separate calendar services and want a combined view, or want to offer up a whole bunch of feeds to a group, MashiCal could surpass Google and Yahoo for the sign-up/setup/share hassle alone. Better still, MashiCal doesn’t require a new sign-up, as it can log you in with your Google, Facebook, OpenID, and a few other credentials. MashiCal is free to use, requires a login with a third-party account to use. Check out a video demonstration of MashiCal combinations below:
Mac OS X only: Google announced CalDAV support in Google Calendar earlier this year, which meant that with a little know-how, you could sync iCal with Google Calendar. Now the Google Mac Blog has officially announced CalDAV support for iCal, and to go along with the announcement they’ve released a new iCal sync application called Calaboration. With Calaboration, you can quickly and easily set up bi-directional syncing between iCal and Google Calendar with just a few clicks of your mouse. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it works like a charm; just run it once to set up your calendar syncing and you shouldn’t need to run it again until you need to add a different calendar. Calaboration is a free download, Mac OS X only. If you’re not on a Mac, check out how you can sync Google Calendar to any desktop calendar you’ve got. Calaboration [Google Code via Official Google Mac Blog]
Mac OS X only: Free preference pane application Fruux syncs Address Book, iCal, and tasks between different Macs. To use it, just install the preference pane and create a new account with Fruux. Once you’ve verified your account, go ahead and run your first synchronisation. Fruux uploads your contact and calendar information to the cloud so it’s ready to sync to any of your other Macs. Just wash, rinse, and repeat with as many computers as you want to sync with. Fruux is smart, too, supporting sync conflict resolution when a record has been changed on both computers. You can already roll your own contact syncing with Address Book and Google Contacts or push contacts, and Google Calendar syncs with iCal without too much effort, but if you’d prefer a more streamlined alternative, Fruux provides a dead simple install-it-and-forget-it syncing setup.
Even better, the Fruux roadmap reveals more ambitious goals, including Safari bookmark syncing and—more importantly—preferences syncing. Essentially, then, Fruux is aiming toward building a homegrown MobileMe. If this app remains free, it’s got crazy potential written all over it. Fruux is a free download, Mac OS X only.
Fruux
