Best Calendar apps for Android

You can find Google Calendar pre-installed on virtually every Android smartphone. If you have never used a calendar app before, you should really give the software a chance. This is especially so due to its connection to the Google ecosystem, giving you a great all-around solution that could possibly simplify your life.

aCalendar is a popular calendar app from Germany. When you launch the app, you are first presented with a short tutorial. It’s super simple to use: a horizontal swipe across the screen switches between display modes (month, week, or day), where you can scroll vertically through the month, week, or day.

The app offers synchronization with your Google account, so you can manage your appointments on your computer. If you are already using Google Calendar, all entries are already in aCalendar after the initial launch.

All in all, aCalendar is easy and intuitive to use and has all the features you would expect from one of the best calendar apps. If you’re interested, you can find aCalendar completely free in the Google Play Store.

One of the flagship digital schedulers also sports a powerful Android app: Microsoft Outlook. Again, it’s a good idea to install it if you already manage your appointments via Outlook on your PC or receive your mail via an Outlook address. However, if you are looking for an independent calendar app for Android, Outlook also comes across as highly recommended.

Thanks to the email link, you can import suggested appointments directly into your calendar and schedule direct video calls with platforms such as Teams, Zoom, BlueJeans, and Webex, just like you would in the Google universe. If you want to maintain a shared calendar with your family or friends, this is also possible.

Of course, your smartphone can also remind you of important appointments in Outlook, and Microsoft repeatedly emphasizes that it attaches great importance to data protection in the Google Play Store. The prerequisite, however, is, who would have thought, a free Microsoft account.

Don’t see a huge advantage in the email connection between Outlook and Google? Then you should check out Any.do. It is one of the most comprehensive and stylish calendar apps for Android. However, some of the coolest features are only available to premium users.

For example, if you want to receive notifications via WhatsApp message or be reminded when you arrive at a certain location, you will have to fork out $39.99 annually. If that’s not so important to you, the developers concentrate mainly on a clearly laid out to-do list.

You can access the calendar via a second tab. Here too, the app is clearly laid out. A scrollable list with dates on the top screen navigates you through the individual days on which you have scheduled appointments. Alternatively, there are also different views – by week, a 3-day view, and a list of the individual appointments.

Meanwhile, a lot of the best calendar apps rely on cloud connections, accounts, and import functions for everything possible. But if you prefer things to remain simple, you’re in good hands with (who would have thought) – Simple Calendar on Android. After the initial launch, the app simply displays a calendar to which you can add appointment entries.

You can enter the title, a description, and a location, and also set automatic reminders. The assignment of colors provides a little more clarity. Despite the simple interface, there are many different customization options, some of which are unfortunately reserved for premium users.

Unfortunately, only the premium version, which currently costs $0.99 in the Google Play Store, will receive bug fixes. So treat Simple Calendar more as a kind of beta version of the paid app. However, since the calendar entries are stored on the internal memory, Simple Calendar is also recommended if you value your privacy.

Are you looking for a powerful and easy-to-use calendar? If so, I have to recommend the native version on iOS yet again. “Apple Calendar” is directly connected to the iCloud and this provides a high degree of comfort just like you would on Google. This is because instead of the small phone screen, you can simply create appointments on the computer and be notified afterward on the go.

If you also use your iCloud account to receive and send mail, you can directly import appointments. The same applies to alternative email apps that you use on the iPhone or iPad. It is only typical for Apple that their Calendar app comes with pleasing aesthetics and native integration with the operating system.

To try out Apple Calendar, you don’t have to do anything more than look for the app on your iPhone. It’s already pre-installed and you’re already logged in when you start it.

We can also recommend the use of the comfortable Google ecosystem on Apple’s iOS. Because with Google Calendar, apart from all the advantages mentioned above, you also have a strong cloud solution for your appointments and reminders.

I have to admit that I almost like the iOS app of Google Calendar better than the Android version. The integration into the operating system is also pretty good and you can even control the calendar via voice input or import appointments directly from the email app.

As with Android, Google Calendar is completely free and does not feature ads. However, as usual with Google, you will have to ‘pay’ with your data that is anonymized and passed on to the company. Doesn’t that scare you off? Then follow this link:

Taking 20th place among productivity apps in the App Store, you have “FileCalendar”, which was developed by the German developer Homburg&Schmidt. The app isn’t free, and you’ll have to pay $2.99 to use it. In return, the concept is something that many users swear by in the App Store comments.

Because as the name suggests, you can easily link files with various appointments and dates. You can add your own notes to them and this seems to be a very practical feature, especially for professionals. If you have to work with certain documents from Monday to Friday, you can arrange everything nicely with FileCalendar.

There is also a direct connection to the iCloud, so you can edit the files directly on the MacBook or iPad.

You can download the Lite version of FileCalendar from the AppStore, as the full version costs $2.99.

On the web, you can always find the Fantastical app as a calendar recommendation for iOS. A great strength of this app is that you can link your Microsoft account, Outlook, Yahoo, and other accounts in addition to Google Calendar. Furthermore, many users have raved about the tidy user interface.

Handling is also facilitated by native voice input so that you can easily dictate appointments. As is usual with modern calendar apps, you can also jump right into video calls from an appointment, which are linked accordingly.

Fantastical is available for free on the App Store, though with version 3 the developer introduced a subscription model that includes some premium features. The subscription is not exactly cheap at $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year for a calendar app.

Last but not least, I would like to recommend Timepage. Last but not least, it is offered by the experts from Moleskine. You probably know their calendars from bookstores – the models that usually look really good, but are too expensive for most. The app version of the calendars also features a cool style.

Features include a mini-app for the Apple Watch, a pretty cool heatmap showing your “workload” over a month, and of course compatibility with other calendars like iCloud, Google Calendar, or Outlook. If you’re happy about the free download, though, you’re unfortunately also rejoicing a bit too soon.

This is because Timepage can only be used permanently as part of a subscription. However, at $1.99 per month, the subscription is rather reasonable and far cheaper than Fantastical, for instance. You can also reduce the costs even further with an annual membership for $19.99.