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Fantastical 3.0 — Much more than just a calendar. It’s Fantastical.
Fantastical has a brand new user interface with multiple views, including detailed (and beautiful) full screen views for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
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@devankoshal which devices are you using? I've made a post below about ios features which are now behind the sub-wall after the update. it could just be a bunch of bugs, in which case I'll happily correct my comment
@manny_orduna Mac app and iphone, i could be missing something need to play around with it a bit more, but so far everything seems normal (The same) to me. Did you download originally via the AppStore or direct from the site?
@manny_orduna ah! so when i upgraded the app on my mac, it said not to do it via the app store if using version 2 otherwise the features would not be automatically unlocked.
My flow was update out of appstore, created new account on v3, then updated on my iphone with the same login
@devankoshal my mac works finem however my iPhone on the other hand is missing the feature set listed below.
Secondly, it's ridiculous to now need to create an account and place certain features through it.
@manny_orduna yeah just noticed no feature parity between iOS & Desktop for version 2 buyers. This really should have been released not as a forced upgrade.
I'm so excited to see that they've made it a single app across all platforms, supporting the same features. The biggest thing (for me) is supporting Google resources on mobile for booking rooms and the robust ability to see coworker availability. Thanks for the major upgrade!
I’ve purchased every paid upgrade so far, but switching to a subscription model for the same features I already paid for is a mistake in my opinion.
Especially since this is a calendar app, not a service that provides on-going value for over time. If you had released a paid upgrade, even at $60, I would have gladly paid for it.
Sorry.
@andrewdavidj I agree. I can't believe they removed time to leave notifications, and the app is now full of ads to make you upgrade.
@andrewdavidj @y_molodtsov So the argument is here, if you want to use an app regularly, you have to pay for it. Bottom line - you pay for the usage ^^... Do I get a different rate, if I only open the app once a week?! :-)
@andrewdavidj @davisonio I agree, how they added the paid features is pretty bad. Especially in the beginning, you get a lot of these upgrade messages, because you just tapped at the wrong place.
@y_molodtsov Nope. You’re misunderstanding. The app does not offer NEW value to warrant an on-going payment plan. Think of it this way: I pay monthly for Netflix and, in return, I get access to new shows and movies every month. Will Fantastical add new features every month? Probably not. I won’t be using it differently every month, I won’t be getting more out of my calendar next year than I did last year. Fantastical gets a major upgrade every 3-4 years, right? And I paid $60 for v1 and then another $60 for v2. Each lasted 3-4 years so that’s a cost of $15-$20 per year. But v3 is asking me to pay $60 for ONE year and, assuming it’s another 3-4 years before the next paid upgrade, that’s a cost of $180-$240. That’s an insane amount to pay for access to a CALENDAR.
@andrewdavidj I agree and do not plan on subscribing as well, although I've been a paid loyal user for five plus years. This will undoubtably create an opportunity for competition which I will welcome once arrived.
Paid for Fantastical 2.0, was automatically upgraded to 3.0 and lost features. What the hell!?
The new update is just a pathetic effort to extort more money out of existing user base.
Some feedback:
I'm actually just fine with the monthly subscription. However, I tried to upgrade and connect my google accounts and a whole bunch of separate google auth tabs opened in Chrome and Fantastical started to chug.
I'm not sure if it's because I had Fantastical 2 and there were existing accounts that weren't ported over properly, but it was a mess so I just abandoned it.
I guess I'll try again at some point in the future. Fantastical is a great product and I'm down to give 3 a shot.
been using since V1, but hate that all software thinks it needs to move to subscription -- will pass on V3
Oh goody! Yet another subscription! Don't get me wrong, I know devs need to get paid, but what happened to a good old upgrade price?
@craigcpaterson this software subscription business is going out of hands, there has to be a better way to do it other than making us pay for it. With so many subscriptions I see we will end up paying $1000 per month just to keep our computer usable...
Looks great, but I am not convinced at all that existing users of the paid 2.0 version are keeping all the features they had before.
I've updated and already finding features not active and behind premium feature.
For the record, I am all for App Dev's getting paid. I would rather I wasn't upgraded and then the features I was comfortable and paid for disappeared.
@mitchinator Can you name the features that you've lost access to in the move to 3.0?
@vmarks For me, I have noted:
• Time to leave alerts
• Shared calendar notifications
@mitchinator Thanks - can I ask about shared cal notifications - which calendar service are you using on the backend that you notice this with? google, outlook, icloud?
@mitchinator interesting. I use iCloud shared calendars. when I add via Fantastical, everyone gets notifications - because iCloud is doing it on the backend. On Mac in 3.0 non-premium (upgraded from 2.0), I still see time to leave alerts.
As near as I can tell, Fantastical 3 non-premium has every feature Fantastical 2 for paid users did, and a short list of added features for paid v2:
* 3 day weather forecast (premium gives a 10 day)
* ability to run in the background and use the mini window even when the application isn't open
* sync with todoist and google tasks (which I don't use, but whatever)
* supports attachments for google calendar
and apparently, they improved the parser, which is what turned me onto Fantastical in the first place
@mitchinator @vmarks I've also moved to Google Calendar - Fantastical just sits at the top with my date. Will not be buying the new version!
Nope.
I want to see ISVs get paid for their work as much as the next guy, but it's frustrating to see apps (like Fantastical) that provide only a locally installed app with zero costs to function properly forcing users to switch from owning to renting their software.
Apps like 1Password do a much better job of balancing the purchase vs. subscription debate, which I very much appreciate (thanks, @dteare). Although 1Password pushes users toward a subscription, users still have the option of making a one-time purchase if they prefer. The difference between the two offerings is that the subscription service offers additional functionality via cloud services that require monthly expenses to operate (and thereby justify a monthly payment). For example, if you want to access your passwords via the web, you need a subscription. If you not, then you don't.
Screenshot: 
Fantastical would be better off adopting a similar approach to 1Password: offer both subscription and one-time purchase options, then differentiating between them based on the features/services that require monthly costs to operate. For example, if providing weather forecasts requires flexibits to incur monthly expenses then make this a subscription-only feature. If not, make it available as part of both the subscription and one-time purchase offering.
Here's the thing: If flexibits finds that Fantastical doesn't have enough features/services to make a subscription model worthwhile using the approach, then Fantastical simply isn't in a good position to ask customers to pay a monthly subscription. It's that simple, and this is the reason why articles that mention Fantastical's move to a subscription model have comments sections filled with angry customers. Instead of spending time trying to convince customers why they need money to do work (doesn't everyone?), flexibits should focus on new features and enhancements that warrant the cost of a subscription over a one-time purchase. Some customers will see value simply in being able to access Fantastical on all platforms/devices for a lower monthly price instead of paying higher one-time purchase prices on each platform, but an equal number of customer don't own an iPad, iPhone, or Apple Watch and therefore don't want to pay a monthly fee for platforms they don't care about.
Maybe @macguitar can weigh in?
Fantastical would be better off adopting a similar approach to 1Password: offer both subscription and one-time purchase options, then differentiating between them based on the features/services that require monthly costs to operate. For example, if providing weather forecasts requires flexibits to incur monthly expenses then make this a subscription-only feature. If not, make it available as part of both the subscription and one-time purchase offering.
Here's the thing: If flexibits finds that Fantastical doesn't have enough features/services to make a subscription model worthwhile using the approach, then Fantastical simply isn't in a good position to ask customers to pay a monthly subscription. It's that simple, and this is the reason why articles that mention Fantastical's move to a subscription model have comments sections filled with angry customers. Instead of spending time trying to convince customers why they need money to do work (doesn't everyone?), flexibits should focus on new features and enhancements that warrant the cost of a subscription over a one-time purchase. Some customers will see value simply in being able to access Fantastical on all platforms/devices for a lower monthly price instead of paying higher one-time purchase prices on each platform, but an equal number of customer don't own an iPad, iPhone, or Apple Watch and therefore don't want to pay a monthly fee for platforms they don't care about.
Maybe @macguitar can weigh in?
@dteare @macguitar @jhildenbiddle
> If flexibits finds that Fantastical doesn't have enough features/services to make a subscription model worthwhile using the approach, then Fantastical simply isn't in a good position to ask customers to pay a monthly subscription
This!
Ugh… Long time user, loved Fantastical 2.0, now in the market for a new calendar app — any recommendations?
Flexibits is asking me to pay a $60/year subscription for an application that doesn't appear to have any additional features beyond the application I'm already using and don't have to pay a subscription for??? No thank you. Fantastical 2 works just fine.
@magnuson Yeah, for me, the update also doesn't contain any feature, that I am interested in. In the past, they didn't add a lot features to Fantastical, so I am curious, how will it be with the subscription model.
I can see subscribing to that service, but only if they turn up the pace and also bundle it with Cardhob.
Fantastic (lol) work, lovely upgrade, and happy to pay a subscription so @macguitar can continue developing Fantastical into the future 🙌🏻
A bit annoyed that they've removed time to leave notifications (something I already paid for). I'll have to switch apps, paying $40/yr for a simple calendar is too expensive in my opinion.
I have a Fantastical 2 license. After updating, when launching the new version on my Mac they told me I'll have all the features that I paid for. But it's a big lie because my Fantastical now won't show me a month view and keeps spamming me with the "buy a subscription" message...
So... anyone else is having this issue? Is this normal ??? Why are we told that as a Fantastical 2 user we'll keep the features we paid for and, in reality, we don't even have access at the CALENDAR !???!?
I'm glad that on my iPhone I found Calendars 5 by @readdle , but (unfortunately) for the moment on the mac there's no good alternative. So I hoped at least until one appears to use the app I bought in the past... I'll reinstall the v2 if this issue won't get fixed soon...
Shame on you @flexibits :(
I understand the need/want of going to subscriptions. Developers need to survive to continue, but it's the pricing models from some ISVs that don't match in my mind. I can subscribe to MS Office 365 for $99/yr for 5 user licenses. I use it every day. Another utility might want $40/yr. I use it only occasionally. The fact is most users aren't upgrading their core computing environment often enough to justify a standalone pricing model vs. a subscription. Services like SetApp make the pain a subscription model a little less painful to the end user.
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