Filed under: Software
BusyCal is out and just as awesome as BusySync
The idea is simple: you want to have 2-way sync between your iCal stuff, your Google calendar stuff and any local Macs. Simple, yes, but so complicated very few do it right. There's MobileMe if you stick with Apple's solution, and Google Sync if you are a devout Gmail user, but there's still the issue of 2-way sync when it comes to subscribing to calendars. And let's not forget that MobileMe data has to go to Apple's servers when you could sync between computers locally, right?
BusySync fixed all of this for me. Local Macs used Bonjour to connect and sync, and my Google calendars appeared in iCal with seamless 2-way sync. Calendar data is a tricky thing, and the last thing you want to happen is to have all your appointments and reminders vaporize in an instant. However, I can report that BusyCal doesn't nuke anything. Like 1Password, you can always go back to Apple's default tools.
Enter BusyCal as a full application. Why replace iCal? I have to admit, I was a little skeptical. BusyCal is iCal evolved, providing a better experience in several key ways. First, one feature I have longed for in iCal is a list view, a simple top-down view of every appointment within one or more calendars. This makes is much easier to make decisions about nuking an entire calendar at once, and is very handy if you have too many calendars or no time to go month by month, scanning for the right color or words. Second, there's a lot more UI finish to BusyCal, with easy-to-access panes for adjusting event info. Even Snow Leopard's iCal, which reduced the number of clicks it took to edit an event, doesn't allow you to edit events this easily. For you UIX geeks: a frickin' non-modal floating window OR an embedded entry window. What a concept!
Adding to the ease there are some nifty extras, such as seeing your to-do's grouped logically or moon phases and the week's weather in your calendar. Of course, these options are all configurable, as is the Google sync option. More than nifty are features like rich text, adding images and stickies to events, a more advanced alarm window, and offline editing. BusyCal has, in less than 24 hours, become a mission-critical application for my Mac, both at home and at work. If you are a BusySync user, you can upgrade for $10, or buy new for $40 (per computer). It is well worth the price if you deal with lots of calendars.Be sure to check out our previous coverage here and here. I would also be remiss in pointing out Spanning Sync, which also syncs Address Book with your Google contacts, but works a bit differently.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
justbn said 8:39PM on 9-30-2009
"Why replace iCal?" How about because I'm sick of those USELESS snooze options in iCal. What idiot thought those few options were good enough for everyone?
Reply
Scott said 8:43PM on 9-30-2009
Mm, what benefit does Busycal give over syncing iCal calendars with a free google calendar.
My solution which works great is setup like this
Mac 1 ---busysync ----GoogleCalendar-----busysync-----mac2
|
|
busysync
|
|
Mac3
Reply
jack sutton said 8:50PM on 9-30-2009
I have been using the beta versions of this product for the past several months and enjoying it. It is solid program and offers a lot more features than ICal. I especially like being able to set as many alarms as I want, prior to the event and even alarms after the event to make sure I didn't miss it!!! Also, any To Do items that are not checked off at the end of the day will actually rollover to the next day! Just wish there was a way to get the To Do items to update on my IPhone, as everything else does, without having to use a separate program to track my To Do items.
Reply
gregpins said 9:52PM on 9-30-2009
Too bad it doesn't work with Exchange. I'd buy it in a hearbeat.
Reply
no name said 9:58PM on 9-30-2009
you can get list view in iCal by typing "." (yes, a dot) in Search and hit enter.
Reply
MacBookOwner said 10:15PM on 9-30-2009
Just curious, does the BusyCal dock icon show the correct day like iCal does?
Reply
Dave Barnes said 10:23PM on 9-30-2009
yes
Allan Smithee said 1:49AM on 10-01-2009
No, it doesn't.
BrainTrust said 10:15PM on 9-30-2009
I used the beta version for a long time and it was awesome. However, one feature that was sorely missed was being able to make appointments straight from Mail. I use that so much, I had to go back to iCal.
Reply
raymo said 12:30AM on 10-01-2009
I've been using BusyCal beta for a couple months and love it! Very solid product and soooo much better than iCal, especially if you want to share calendars. I can't recommend it enough!
//Ray
Reply
Kieran Delaney said 2:57AM on 10-01-2009
Why not just sync your Google Calendar with iCal using CalDav for free? It's perfect? I have multiple macs syncing with the same google calendar, and it's not costing me $40.
If you need a better calander then fine, but if you need to sync this isn;t really the answer.
Reply
Benjamin Dell said 3:55AM on 10-01-2009
Totally agree... can someone please tell me what the difference is between syncing with a google calendar via iCal and with BusySync? I have been using iCal with google (bi-directional) for months now and it's absolutely brilliant.
It strikes me that your argument for this product is that it solves the convulted issues that iCal offers when syncing with google... but this just simply isnt the case. It took me two seconds to achieve this in ical, the settings are all there to be used. Or am i missing something??
jigme said 4:02AM on 10-01-2009
me too - recently i set up several macs for different folk syncing different combinations of several personal and jointly-owned iCal/Google calendars, after fresh installs of 10.6. we decided to try Google Sync as we'd had some trouble previously with CalDav, etc. - it was very quick and easy to set up and has been working bi-directionally and flawlessly so far. am i missing something?
jigme said 4:06AM on 10-01-2009
i should say: this (above) is mostly set up between Macs, iPhones and Google, allowing changes made on any platform to be instantly and automagically synced to the others.
jennyp said 6:14AM on 10-01-2009
I agree - I use this much simpler method, and it's free. I create events on my Mac/iPhone iCal which pop up on my partner's. Works a charm.
And the article says, "...MobileMe data has to go to Apple's servers..."
Er, so?
peej said 8:51AM on 10-01-2009
I want to know if the author actually purchased busycal or if it was given to him for free. I find bloggers are all to quick to recommend new software when they don't have to shell out hard earned money for it.
VanillaSpice said 12:48AM on 10-04-2009
You have all missed a very important point.
Google Calendar is great, but there are many people who don't want Google storing their data (because of either security or permanence issues).
The solution offered by BusySync and BusyCal allows you to keep your own data, and additionally, for a LAN-only setup, you get much quicker updates than using Google via the internet.
Jason Kratz said 9:41AM on 10-01-2009
I'll echo the comments about CalDAV with Google. I used to use Spanning Sync to keep my contacts and calendars in sync with Google Calendar. This product isn't necessary for me anymore. The CalDAV option works flawlessly. I keep seeing many rave reviews for BusyCal all over the Mac websites and I still don't see what the killer feature is there that would make me want to spend money on it. I tried the beta and was not impressed by any means.
Reply
stefanowitz said 9:45AM on 10-01-2009
Hi. Just to acknowledge the story. I've been using the trail version which is fully functional for 30 days, and also allowes for full and automatic move to iCal if you decide to NOT use it. And have purchased the payed version.
I actually don't even use the sync to LAN with other mac's option. I'm coming from a PC/Outlook history and need to sync that calendar to Google Calendar and use BusyCal to sync with Google Cal. And, yes, that is all also possible with iCal.
In my experience though differences are very much appearent in the UI, and the functionality that BusyCal provides over iCal. What I was used to in Outlook (integrated Mail, Addressbook and iCal) I could not at all find in especially iCal. BusyCal gave me better options for:
- easy (1 click, and keyboard) access to event-details (with prefs to what data is showed in default panes)
- snooze and dismissal options that make sense
- todo's
- dated todo's
- dated todo's auto add to todo list when are over due-date
- listview of all (upcoming, filtered or whatever) events
- very easy sync to Google Calendars
- etc
- etc
So, if you're a user where 40 euro's matter. Just go ahead and use an free alternative. If you're demanding serious functionality to plan and keep track of appointments, go BusyCal.
OT: on my iPhone I chose (and payed for) Informant. Calendar for the iPhone is, even more than iCal for the Mac, way too underpowered to be adequat for serious users.
kind regards
Stefan
Reply
Lars said 11:39AM on 10-01-2009
Next to the 'no iPhone' filter, I'd like something that filters out usage of the metaphor 'bag of hurt'.
Reply