iCal 2.0 feature requests

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
I see iCal as a time-mangement app, not simply for calendaring.



With the release of MS Office 2004, Entourage now has best of class Project Management features that are encouraging many (including myself) to consider abandoning the Address Book/iCal/Mail combo for an integrated app.



It dawned on me that iCal wouldn't have far to go to challenge Entourage, though.



When iCal was introduced, Steve called it the best way to "manage all the calendars in your life." Why wasn't this enlightened approach taken with the To Do portion of the program as well?



I want iCal 2.0 to "manage all the Tasks/Projects in my life" as well.

Same iCal interface, with an entirely separate "To Do" view, where individual tasks can be grouped by Project.



For example, my Household grouping would contain sub-headings like 'mow the lawn' or 'paint the living room'. I could also have groupings for handling client projects at work. Maybe a way to append a Call Client tag, so I can print a daily list of calls I need to make at the start of each day.



If I could pull up a client's Address Book info, meeting dates in iCal, and send emails and check old messages from inside this view, I wouldn't complain either.



Maybe Project List view in iCal 2.0 would look like Omni Outliner with an Apple touch.



What do you think? Is this maybe better handled by another new iApp or should Apple leave this category to third parties?
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    I think it's entirely doable. In the meantime, check out CrM4MaC... currently in beta, but looks slick. Not free, but looks to be well worth the money.





    I want a really simple addition... a black bar that moves down the current day as the time marches on. A quick down and dirty "this is the current time" marker.
  • Reply 2 of 28
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    It would be great if it could read and sync with my novell calendar at work. Via imap all the novell events are sitting in a folder in Apple's Mail app. A clever Apple script could sync it but I don't care to find the time to do it.
  • Reply 3 of 28
    homhom Posts: 1,098member
    I've got a few usability requests that I would like to see added:



    Automatically add an alarm to all events I create. Allow me to set a default in the prefs and then change it later if I want. I almost always add a 15 minute alarm to my events, but I have to do this manually each time.



    Make the different calendars act like layers in Photoshop. I have a calendar that is the Mets 2004 season, but every time I try and create an event that overlaps the Mets' game it selects the game. I would love it if the calendar stays in the background unless I select it from the source list.



    Last thing I can think of right now is a text popup with the contents of the event even if it's not selected. The way iCal handles text makes it difficult to read what the event is so the popup would be great. I know that there is a specific GUI term for that, but I can't remember it right now.
  • Reply 4 of 28
    camcam Posts: 35member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha

    I want a really simple addition... a black bar that moves down the current day as the time marches on. A quick down and dirty "this is the current time" marker.



    I want the exact same thing. In fact, I sent that in as a suggestion a while back.



    I think it would be very slick and quite helpful, especially on a busy day when you need to be very aware of upcoming tasks.
  • Reply 5 of 28
    othelloothello Posts: 1,054member
    a true shared calendar. create a calendar, then let everyone who can view it edit and amend that calendar. at the moment only the person who created it can edit/amend.
  • Reply 6 of 28
    I'm not a heavy user of iCal, but the one time I really wanted it, I discovered I couldn't import birthdays from AB to create a birthday calendar. I thought this was an obvious and easy feature. Guess not. So much for integration.
  • Reply 7 of 28
    skyboltskybolt Posts: 111member
    Actually, you CAN import birthdays from Address Book. There are several apps out there (free) to do just that. Not at the mac right now, but rembering iCal Birthday Shifter as one. Check VersionTracker or MacUpdate and you should find what you are looking for.
  • Reply 8 of 28
    sport73sport73 Posts: 438member
    I hope Tiger brings something new to iCal, etc. I am in the group of pondering a switch to Entourage (I've already installed Office 2004). Here's the way it currrently breaks down:



    Apple's Apps Winners:

    Better Threaded Views

    Address Book Photos Linked throughout OS

    Published Calendars

    Overall application/OS integration

    Searching (contacts, calendar, e-mail) done better/faster

    iSync, iSync, and iSync (with .Mac account) is simply the best way to stay organized EVERYWHERE



    Entourage 2004 Winners

    Date sorted e-mails (today, yesterday, last week etc.)

    Better e-mail view (preview pane on right)

    Singe App for Calendar, Contacts etc.; True PIM

    Create/send HTML e-mail

    Universal connect (sends and recieves .Mac, MSN, Corporate etc. e-mail)

    Can Send invites to PC users



    But, Entourage doesn't iSync. AND most importantly, is a buggy Crash-prone, problem ridden P.O.S. in its current form (see my post on this issue).



    Help Apple. Entourage has some nice features. Help me stay away.
  • Reply 9 of 28
    evoevo Posts: 198member
    Exchange Support



    This is a must. I need to be able to connect to my school's Exchange server, and use my Exchange Calendar and Tasks, but I can only do it using Entourage. Address Book got very nice Exchange support in Panther (via iSync), and iCal really needs the same thing. Mail also has Exchange support, so iCal is the only thing out of the Exchange loop now.



    Dynamic Birthday Calendar



    Pretty self-explanatory. It would be nice to have iCal automatically create a Birthdays Calendar without using some 3rd-party app.



    Year View



    A Year View would be nice, in addition to Day, Week and Month.



    Print Options



    Someone options for printing would be very welcomed. Particularly what will be printed, without having to change all your views/preferences around.



    FTP Calendar Publishing



    It'd be nice to be able to publish my iCal on FTP in HTML format.
  • Reply 10 of 28
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    If you aren't satisfied with the current iCal, you don't know how to use it.
  • Reply 11 of 28
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    Since I can sync my iCal calendar info through .Mac, I'd think it shouldn't be too hard to get a web version of my calendar through .Mac. It would be nice to have simple web browser access to my calendar from anywhere and from any platform.



    (When I say "my calendar", I mean the same composite, color-coded, all-at-glance collection of calendars that I see when I look at iCal itself.



    I DO NOT mean the current calendar sharing and publishing features -- for those tempted to chime in that "iCal already does that. )
  • Reply 12 of 28
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ipodandimac

    If you aren't satisfied with the current iCal, you don't know how to use it.







    It's a great little app for the single user with simple to do lists.



    It fails pretty quickly as usable past that.
  • Reply 13 of 28
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha

    I want a really simple addition... a black bar that moves down the current day as the time marches on. A quick down and dirty "this is the current time" marker.



    ?or for more Aqua gooey fun subtly ghost or shade the past time , and highlight the current time lightly either in 1/4 increments or to fit the current scheduled event.



    I still think iCal needs the ability to call out conflicting appointments, not including all-day events of course. The overlap is supposed to help in this regard, but I wonder if for more important events (perhaps rated 4-5 stars or something?), a specific alert would be helpful. Obviously, since this is intrusive behavior, I would make this a preference.
  • Reply 14 of 28
    frank777frank777 Posts: 5,839member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha





    It's a great little app for the single user with simple to do lists.



    It fails pretty quickly as usable past that.






    Don't feed the trolls, Kick.



    Ignore them.
  • Reply 15 of 28
    jbljbl Posts: 555member
    It seems like there should be a way to have a To Do Item appear on a certain date. For instance, I should be able to put a recurring To Do Item that says "Pay Rent" a couple days before the end of the month.



    Also there should be a way to have an event repeat on, say, the 2nd, 4th and 5th Saturdays (if there is a 5th Saturday).



    Can you currently do either of these?
  • Reply 16 of 28
    jaredjared Posts: 639member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Frank777

    Don't feed the trolls, Kick.



    Ignore them.




    Who said he is feeding the trolls? He is right. We do not have to praise every little thing Apple does. iCal does need some work, and polish but it has amazing potential. It would be nice if there was a Cal Pro for business/enterprise, maybe in competition to Exchange?
  • Reply 17 of 28
    talksense101talksense101 Posts: 1,738member
    Make it like a calendar that displays on the menu bar like the clock. It will be easily accessible every time I want to look up the calendar. Add some task scheduling features to it. Enable sharing the calender with multiple users so that tasks can be assigned, availability of people for meetings can be looked at. (Similar to what Exchange does). Enable data communication between iCal, Exchange server and Notes server.
  • Reply 18 of 28
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    ...or having a semi-transparent calendar avilable to pull up at any point would be nice.



    Also, .Mac users would use iCal a lot more if they could access the published calendars from their .Mac homepage or Apple's .Mac sign-in. Right now, they're sort of out in the ether when you publish them and you have to remember and forward the address around or elde you can't find them with your other stuff.
  • Reply 19 of 28
    vox barbaravox barbara Posts: 2,021member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha

    ...I want a really simple addition... a black bar that moves down the current day as the time marches on. A quick down and dirty "this is the current time" marker.



    oh yes, and than make the current day a tearable object and make it an floating window over any other window.



    OR let the current day dissolve more and more, - did i mention "transparency"?
  • Reply 20 of 28
    Quote:

    Make it like a calendar that displays on the menu bar like the clock. It will be easily accessible every time I want to look up the calendar.



    You can use Menu Calendar to do this: displays the date in your menu bar as an iCal icon, opens up to give a small, square overview of the month, and clicking on days, weeks or months opens iCal for the specified period. It's pretty neat, and free.
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