Google has just released a standalone, native Google Calendar app for iPhone. The company had released a refreshed app for Android a few months ago and has been made available for iPhone on the App Store today. Although we’ve only managed to play with it for a few minutes, it does manage to leave us very impressed.
The app supports not just Google accounts, but also works with your iCloud, Yahoo, Exchange or other CalDAV accounts that you have already configured on your iPhone (including my favorite, FastMail). Each account is assigned a specific color and the ‘New Event’ compose screen changes color when you change the active calendar. Here, the app supports smart suggestions with your Contacts, Places and Titles integrated as you type. You can toggle between three main views — Schedule, Day & 3 Day. Similar to its other apps, Google Calendar sports a Material Design and rich animations & transitions. There’s some lovely artwork assigned to each calendar month, with some brilliant parallax as you scroll vertically through your events. I love how the month’s title in the Nav bar detaches and falls into place, depending on your position in the timeline. The designers have also included custom artwork covers for events. For example, when you add a dinner event to your calendar, there’s a top view of a table with plates, spoons, forks and napkins on it. It doesn’t take long to realize how lovingly crafted this app is.
However, there’s a lot to be improved about the app. There’s no landscape view on iPhone and iPad support is inexistent. There’s also an ugly shadow under the nav bar. Oh, and the app’s name shows up as “Google Cal…” on your homescreen.
Google Calendar is still a brilliant calendar app and you should definitely give it a try. It is available Free on the App Store.