The Stoopid Droid X Calendar Tricks Thread...

**GlueFactoryBJJ** · 08-07-2010, 02:57 AM

I realize that there are other "Tips and Tricks" threads, but I'm looking for tips and tricks that are geared just toward the Calendar app. I'm sure many of us came from the BlackBerry world in which the Calendar app was fairly well baked for at least the basics of calendaring.

HOWEVER, IMO, the Calendar app on the Droid X (and maybe other Android phones, but I don't have any of those) is more half-baked than baked...

I would imagine that if you are reading this thread, then the Calendar is very important to your ability to survive/excel in getting things done every day. Sure, I'd love to have a full blown contact management app like ACT! or one of the others, but a Blackberry Calendar (OS5+) equivalent functionality will make me VERY happy!

Because of this, I'm looking for tips, tricks, and apps that can give us a better Calendar experience than what we have now.

I'll get the show rolling with the almost fully featured, ad supported "free" app Calendar Snooze (paid full version available). This app will "fix" the vast majority of the "alert" issues with the DroidX calendar app. VERY nice!

Jorte is a fairly good interface to the Calendar app, but I don't care for the colors and it DESPERATELY needs a 4x4 widget screen! Still, I am using Jorte in place of the Moto Calendar widget and the Droid X Calendar screen.

I have stayed away from the various Calendar widgets as they appear to eat up battery.

Please feel free to chime in with the tips and tricks you have learned. I'm sure we can all use the help and flow of ideas.

Scott

PS. To the moderators, if the Calendar app on the Droid X is essentially the Android Calendar and is generic to all Android phones, please feel free to move this to the Android Applications forum.

**wabyrd** · 08-07-2010, 05:03 AM

Hmmm...one of the MAIN reasons I dumped my Bold 9700 was FOR the Droid calendar. I had been using Google Calendars for a while with my BB, but was tired of a piecemeal solution to calendar sharing with my wife (we're both BIS, not BES). I'm totally happy with the default calendar. I use CalWidget for my homescreen. I feel the default Droid X calendar is far superior to the default BB calendar. What better experience are you specifically looking for?

**Andymasters** · 08-07-2010, 06:23 AM

I'm with the OP. The stock calendar app seems unfinished. Its not enough to make me go back to blackberry, but it is a gripe. I'll be trying some of the solutions offered in the first post.

**billfisher1** · 08-07-2010, 06:41 AM

The calendar is taking some getting used to but I just added CalWidget and that is an improvement. Thank you wabyrd.

**davidnc** · 08-07-2010, 07:21 AM

Actually I have yet to find Any Calender that works good for me , Blackberry ,Google,Microsoft or Android seem all the same .I dont know maybe its me

,lol. I just use my mind instead , I constantly amaze myself hahahahaha.

**Stang68** · 08-07-2010, 09:51 AM

Ahem, one of the best calendar Android apps is Calendar Snooze. It is very useful if you use the calendar events feature a lot, like me.

Also, Launcher Pro Plus, the home replacement launcher, just released a great calendar widget that comes with the app.

Give them both a look

**heathro1281** · 08-07-2010, 10:06 AM

Jorte, I like this.

It syncs Google Calendar/ Android Calendar/ Facebook Events for me and it has almost to much customization.

**Cory Streater** · 08-07-2010, 11:48 AM

Originally Posted by GlueFactoryBJJ

PS. To the moderators, if the Calendar app on the Droid X is essentially the Android Calendar and is generic to all Android phones, please feel free to move this to the Android Applications forum.

Thanks, but here is fine.

Are you syncing with Exchange?

**GlueFactoryBJJ** · 08-10-2010, 06:49 PM

I have to admit that calendar sharing isn't a high priority of mine. I use the Calendar for mostly for personal stuff (i.e. not for sharing with others as in a corporate environment), so that isn't a concern for me and isn't one of the factors I touch on when looking at the Droid X's calendar app. Perhaps in the future I will look at it more closely, but not right now. Though that shouldn't stop anyone from posting tips/tricks on how to improve the existing calendar app for those who DO use it!

Perhaps it is just me, but I have found the alert system for the Android calendar app to be difficult to understand. When I have multiple reminders that appear at the same time, I have not figured out how to address them one at a time, unless it is to click one of the reminders on the list, then make the changes I'd like made, then click the return button. THEN pull down the drop down list, click the reminders, select another, and repeat until I get them all. Awkward, at best.

Calendar Snooze allows you to address each of these in turn and make whatever changes (snooze/edit) you deem necessary. The snooze options alone are worth trying it out. It was good enough that I ended up buying it, though at ~$5 it is questionable how many people will buy vs just putting up with the ads.

Jorte is fairly nice. However, I think it really needs a 4x4 view. The 4x3 is OK for my purposes, but I'd like more options or even just the option to size it on my own.

Also, the calendar display options are not what I'm used to coming from the Blackberry (Storm 1 with OS5) world. I like the BB week view that showed the days side by side with blocks indicating the times taken and empty space where time was available. You could click on one to see the Description in the header or double click to open it up. In addition, when adding an event, it would warn you that you either had a simultaneous appointment or one in an adjacent time slot (in case travel time or meeting run over might be an issue), something I haven't found that the Android calendar does.

Finally, there were some scheduling options on the BB that the Android calendar doesn't allow. e.g. bi weekly/bi monthly events.

I'm sure there are many other improvement that can be made to the Android Calendar, but with the Froyo update imminent (depending on whose rumors you listen to), I wonder how much of a change will be made to the Calendar app to make it at least (hopefully) functionally equivalent to Google Calendars.

Scott

**jdbower** · 08-10-2010, 07:30 PM

One thing that's missing from Google's calendar app is on the server side - I'd like to be able to publish from Outlook using iCal. Currently I publish just free/busy data (I don't want my work schedule details exposed) to a third party (iCalX) and then have Google pull data from that. Cutting out the middle man would help a lot.

Besides that I'm largely happy with the calendar app. I would prefer if the month view was color coded, I have my personal calendar on Google natively in one color and my work free/busy data in another color. It was actually because of the decent calendar application that I started using Google Calendar. Of course, I don't just use my phone. Some things available on GCal may not work on the native client but so far I'm fine with that.

**rstark#AC** · 08-10-2010, 07:37 PM

I use the Agenda widget 4x3 on my home screen. I absolutely love Agenda, had it on my Palm Pre before. Can't live without it!

**bruceatk** · 08-10-2010, 07:54 PM

If you have ever seen Pocket Informant, Calendar Pad provides similar Week and Month views where you can actually read the words. It has some nice widgets also. I have set mine up so that my screen to the left of home has the Calendar Pad week view widget. If you click on the Week View then you get the month view.

On my home screen I have the DigiClock widget. If I click on that I have it launch Jorte. Jorte also provides nice widgets and has an excellent 14 day view.

Calendar Pad -
Jorte -
DigiClock -

**bobniborg** · 08-10-2010, 07:58 PM

How do i sync my calendar with my wife's? She has a droid, i have the X.

**largeselection** · 08-10-2010, 08:00 PM

One of the most helpful tips I can offer is to download ICS BOT in the market. This allows you to click preview on .ics calendar invites (lotus notes meetings, blackberry invites, etc) and it will read the info and populate a calendar entry for it so you can add it to your calendar. Definitely something I needed and was missing from my blackberry so I was happy to find it.

**jdbower** · 08-10-2010, 08:12 PM

Originally Posted by bobniborg

How do i sync my calendar with my wife's? She has a droid, i have the X.

Go into your on a browser. On the left there's an item for Other Calendars. From there you should find settings to find a friend's calendar. It's nice in that it will pop up in a different color so you can both see each other's schedule but still keep things separate.

**bobniborg** · 08-10-2010, 08:28 PM

Oh, we need to use google.com thanks

**bobniborg** · 08-10-2010, 10:18 PM

Got it working thanks

**jyoung** · 08-12-2010, 12:28 AM

I have noticed that each time I make a calendar entry from my phone that when I go to Google calendar on my PC it has a list for attendees and options for whether or not I am attending. Is there a way to eliminate that? Most if not all of my calendar entries are only for me.

**Phaang** · 08-12-2010, 02:04 PM

The biggest issue I'm having with calender is moving across time zones. The program time-shifts the events to accommodate the new time zone. Stunningly stupid. Try entering a multiple time zone, multiple leg flight itinerary and then watch how the calender moves all the event times as you land and the phone syncs to the local time zone. What a mess! Nearly missed a flight!
Garbage.

**SouthernSaltine** · 08-12-2010, 02:59 PM

Is there a way to forward / send to or copy an email and place it in the stock callander on my X? I get lots of email with "To do's" for the day(s) ahead. Am i missing something or anyone know. Thanks...

**GlueFactoryBJJ** · 08-13-2010, 01:54 AM

SouthernSaltine - I believe something like that would have to be done in your email program. I've suggested it to the dev of MailDroid, so perhaps he will incorporate it in a future release.

Everyone - Over the last couple days, I've put Jorte, Agenda Widgets, and (Simple) Calendar Widget (it is listed as Calendar Widget in the market, but shows up as the Simple Calendar Widget after installing) through their paces and, for me, the Simple Calendar Widget gets the nod for now.

The reason why is I need something that can show my upcoming events. Admittedly ALL of the above can do so.

However, Jorte's views of events, while diverse, either don't show all the events (week or month views) or only show a couple days with no way to "scroll" through them. Also, I still have trouble looking at the layout. Graphically, I think it is a disaster. It is a real shame to have such a nice phone with an app that looks like Excel for Windows 3.1. Also, relatively, it is a pretty big app (>2.5MB). Another problem is that it doesn't drop expired events from the widget view. However, I think I'll probably keep it on my phone to see if the app dev will fix some of my perceived shortcomings.

Agenda suffers from the same shortcomings. While it has many different views, the inability to scroll through them is a bit frustrating. Also, (and a problem shared with Jorte), I could not find a way to get the widget to update at a time of my choosing (in case an event was added NOT through Agenda). However, at least it looks like a native Android app. It is ~1MB.

Simple Calendar allows for refreshes. It allows me to scroll through upcoming events. Unfortunately, it only comes in one size. I wouldn't mind that if I could resize it like I can with, say, the Motorola Messages widget. However, that function isn't present (yet?). Fortunately, it is only 84K. It isn't the prettiest app, but I can forgive it that since it is SO small and has more functions that I like.

Oh, and keep in mind this is just MY view based on MY needs, so YMMV.

Anyone have any other cool calendar apps they can suggest? Especially free ones or those that are available as a trial?

Scott

**Phaang** · 08-18-2010, 01:22 PM

Keep your eyes out for when WebIS issues Pocket Informant for Android. This is a great app for calendar/to do. I used it extensively in my WM days. It's in internal beta right now, with expectations of release by year end.

**bosoxyear** · 08-18-2010, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by Stang68

Ahem, one of the best calendar Android apps is Calendar Snooze. It is very useful if you use the calendar events feature a lot, like me.

Also, Launcher Pro Plus, the home replacement launcher, just released a great calendar widget that comes with the app.

Give them both a look

+ 1

I use this setup after trying anything and everything I could find. My only issue is with Calendar Snooze. For me, it won't show the event. I have to hit edit to see what is listed in the event field. I'm not sure if the writing is in white so it blends in to the background or if it's a different issue. I emailed the developer and he said he heard of other dx's had this. Anybody else have this?

**mringo17** · 08-18-2010, 03:36 PM

Originally Posted by jdbower

Go into your on a browser. On the left there's an item for Other Calendars. From there you should find settings to find a friend's calendar. It's nice in that it will pop up in a different color so you can both see each other's schedule but still keep things separate.

For some reason the new calendars are not showing up on my Phone, looked to go to menu and add calendars, still not there....

**GlueFactoryBJJ** · 08-22-2010, 12:16 PM

Does anyone know how to do the following? I occasionally have appointments that are occur the same time everyday for a couple days.

For example, I have a job that runs from noon to 3pm on tues, wed, & thurs. Right now I need to enter it as three different appointments. How can I enter it as one appointment that occur during certain times over three days?

Oh, I should point out that if I try to do it now, the best I can do is to have one appointment that is spread over three days. That doesn't work for me for a couple reasons. First, I only get a reminder on the first day rather than each day for each appointment. Second, the appointment is spread over three days rather than just the time needed each day. This messes things up when I add other appointments because it isn't clear what appointments are when. Especially if I were to have a bunch of appointments like that.

The alternative is to enter the appointments for each day. This gets old quickly! It's worse if the appointments are, say, on Mon, Wed, & Fri.

It was easy to enter these on my old Blackberry as you could indicate that the appointment was repetitive weekly and then highlight the appropriate days.

Oh. I've tried a number of market apps that might help like Jorte to see if they would do there job and I couldn't figure out how to make them do what I need either.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Scott

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