You’ve updated to iOS 7 and you’ve noticed the new, beautiful minimalist design and the lack of skeuomorphism, which is a fancy word for faux stitching, wood panels, and leather. Essentially, the metaphors of the real world have vanished and are replaced with a more modern, flat design. It makes me think of upgrading the decor at Grandma’s house with the sleek interior design of the W Hotel.
One of the biggest changes is the calendar for both the iPhone and the iPad. The calendar is now black and white and red all over. Sure, it’s pretty, but it’s a real-life riddle to many of us as to why some of our favorite views are missing — with the most noticeable being the month detail view.
For example, one calendar user wrote the following on an Apple discussion thread:
I personally can’t stand the fact when I am on any given day, there is no list view for all the events at the bottom like there used to be. This is an extremely bizarre thing for them to get rid of in my opinion. It is much more cumbersome to see your events quickly for the day now.
Good news. There are several apps at the Apple App Store that can fill the void, including our apps — LifeTopix and My.Agenda. A little background — LifeTopix is our full-featured personal information manager and My.Agenda is the starter version of LifeTopix that you can customize to meet your needs through in-app purchases. You can compare the apps by following this link.
I Want an Agenda View!
Check out our side-by-side comparisons below and decide for yourself if the LifeTopix Calendar Views provide you with a better alternative to the new iOS 7 calendar. Remember, you don’t have to replace the iOS 7 calendar because LifeTopix shows you all your events from it (including your Google, Yahoo, and Outlook events that you display on your iOS device calendar). And keep in mind that LifeTopix is a complete personal information manager so there are several types of objects that it supports, which the iOS 7 calendar does not support. In addition, searching all items (appointments, notes, tasks, etc.) is included from the Quick Menu at the bottom left. This might not be evident from the images.
Click HERE to Tweet -> Dislike the new Calendar App in iOS7? Need the detailed list views? Get LifeTopix! http://lightarrow.com/lifetopix
Month View
The Month View is everyone’s biggest disappointment in iOS 7 because it no longer includes the detailed list view. Instead of showing you the entire month with tiny appointments, LifeTopix shows you a list of your appointments for a chosen day and you can easily choose the day you want to view by tapping the date. There’s an indicator on each day to show you if items are scheduled on those days. You can also completely manage those items by tapping them.
Click the image to see a bigger view.
Year View
The LifeTopix Calendar Year View allows you to scroll through a list of all your appointments and other items in one view for the entire year. You can also access past years’ items. The iOS 7 Calendar Year View only shows a calendar with the current date highlighted. On the iOS 7 calendar, tapping a date returns you to the IOS 7 Calendar Month View. Alternatively, with LifeTopix, you can manage your items directly from this view.
Click the image to see a bigger view.
Week View
The LifeTopix Calendar Week View and the iOS 7 Calendar Week View are very similar. Besides the look and feel, there’s only a few subtle differences in functionality. In LifeTopix, you tap the arrow to move through the week. In the IOS 7 Calendar, you scroll to the right or left. This is a personal preference.
Click the image to see a bigger view.
Day View
The primary difference between the LifeTopix Calendar Day View and the iOS 7 Calendar Day View is the side-by-side view that the IOS 7 calendar provides. Both calendars require you to open a management screen when editing.
Click the image to see a bigger view.
Repeat Schedules
LifeTopix includes many more options for repeat schedules over the iOS 7 Calendar. Custom schedules are available in LifeTopix as the image below shows, which provides you with more flexibility when setting up your appointments and tasks.
Click the image to see a bigger view.
Join the Conversation
What do you think? Does the LifeTopix app address your calendar issues? Please comment and let us know!