Nokia Lumia clash of the calendar apps
The standard Windows Phone 8 calendar Live Tile only displays information for one upcoming event, but it’s easy to add a new app to show more.
We take a look at some of the best calendar apps on the Windows Phone store, all of which make it possible to see more of your upcoming deadlines, in the clash of the calendars…
Chronos
Price: £1.49
Chronos is one of my own personal favourites, mainly because it allows a large degree of customisation while still displaying the information I need. Unlike most of the other calendar Live Tiles, you can add images and photographs to the background of Chronos, giving your Start Screen a really distinctive look.
Chronos also stands out by virtue of the calendar app itself, with a completely fresh design. While the other apps here look similar to the standard Windows Phone 8 offering, the Chronos calendar copies the design of a standard paper calendar. That means it works best when showing off individual days, rather than an agenda. It works well, but may not suit all tastes.
Best for: Customisation and Live Tile images
Simple Calendar
Price: Free
Simple Calendar does exactly as it says on the tin, offering a calendar solution that’s particularly easy to use. It doesn’t provide as much customisation as Chronos or True Calendar, but the Live Tile does let you add several events.
Tap the Live Tile, and the calendar that opens is useful but slightly muddled. The page you’re taken to automatically shows both a monthly calendar and an agenda, but the monthly view is too small to be of any real use.
Best for: Easy to use and free
Super Calendar
Price: £2.29
It’s easy to like Super Calendar, particularly when it comes to the Live Tile. The app offers a selection of Live Tile templates, so you can get things exactly how you want them. The result can be incredibly space efficient, showing more events than the others, or you can also opt for Tiles that place more emphasis on the date or day.
The calendar is a little fussy, more so than the other apps here. The buttons could be bigger, and there’s an overload of information on offer. It’s certainly comprehensive, but it may be too much for some people.
Best for: Showing all the info you need
True Calendar
Price: £1.99
True Calendar displays enough content on the Live Tile to ensure you meet all your deadlines or get to all your meetings. The actual information itself on the Live Tile is presented in a way that’s clearer than the other options here, but unlike Chronos you’re stuck with plain colours (albeit changeable) for the background.
The Live Tile offers upcoming events, the day, date and week number. Delve into the settings and you’ll be able to pick which calendars you want to sync with, along with the number of months you want to sync, reminders and select individual calendars from each account. It’s incredibly customisable, and is never less than intuitive.
Best for: A great all-round app
AppoinTile
Price: £1.49
As with the other calendar options here, AppoinTile displays more than one event on its Live Tile, making it worth a look as an alternative to the standard calendar. It’s a useful app, and easy to get to grips with, but it struggles to stand out in this company.
Tapping the ApoinTile Live Tile brings up an agenda view, which works well but there’s no easy way to switch from agenda to a weekly view or longer.
Best for: Nice, big agenda view
Have you tried any of these apps? Which would you recommend?