Fantastical 3 and the Fantastical Field Guide

Fanstastical 3 Is Available

Fantastical, Version 3, launches today. Fantastical has always been known for its powerful text parser. Type a few words and create an event. This new version stretches the idea of a calendar app for your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. 

I had a lot more involvement with the Fantastical 3 development than just running the beta. To begin, I served in a semi-official “calendar nerd” role over the last few years, as I sent the Fantastical development team unreasonable requests in my quest to have my “perfect” calendar app. No matter how ridiculous my demand, I sent it in and they just kept delivering. Second, I spent a lot of time on the app as it finished up development, and I made nearly two hours of screencasts on how the app works. You can see those screencasts on YouTube or get the new free Fantastical Field Guide.

So I’ve gone deep with this app, and I’m a fan. There are a lot of things about calendars that go beyond creating and editing events. Fantastical attempts to tackle those extra problems, and that’s where the app really shines.

Take proposed events, for example. For years, if I wanted to schedule a meeting with someone, I would send them an email with a proposed meeting time. If I was on top of my game, I would simultaneously create an event on my calendar with a question mark at the beginning to save the date. For example, “?Lunch with Stephen”. If Stephen later confirmed, I could edit the event to remove the question mark, and I’d be set. But what if I wanted to propose two or five different dates to Stephen? Things got tedious fast.

This new Fantastical solves this problem for me. I can propose multiple times to Stephen, and he’ll get an email which shows those options. Once he chooses, it will communicate back to my calendar, locking in the agreed time and removing all of the other proposed events automatically. Stephen doesn’t have to be a Fantastical user for this to work. Also, regardless of Stephen’s calendar app, the email will let him create an event for the agreed time. This solves a problem I’ve had with scheduling events for years, and it is just one of the many innovations with Fantastical 3. Here is a short video demonstration.

For the first time, you can get Fantastical for free, which gets you Fantastical’s core app and the date parser. For all of the premium features, there is a subscription version ($4.99/month or $39.99/year). If you were a Fantastical 2 customer, the new version gives you all of the same features from version 2 without requiring a subscription. There is also a free trial period with the premium features so you can kick the tires for yourself.

I love the idea of a calendar app that works harder for me, and Fantastical 3 does that. And if you would like to learn a lot more about Fantastical …

The Fantastical Field Guide

In addition, I am pleased to announce the release of a brand new free Field Guide, the Fantastical Field Guide. I have been using Fantastical since it was just a Mac menu bar app. I like the way this application works and the way it speeds up my interactions with my calendar. Over the years, the app has grown into something much more with versions for the iPhone and iPad, and a dedicated application on the Mac. In my opinion, it is superior to the Apple Calendar app in just about every measurable way.

When the Fantastical developers were getting ready to release version 3 of the application, they asked me to prepare an extensive screencast series on how the app works and how I use it. I was happy to do so. That resulted in nearly two hours of video screencasts with me working in Fantastical 3 and explaining how to use its many features. Along the way, I was able to drop in a lot of good general advice about how to use a digital calendar. When the project was done, we were all so happy with it that the Fantastical team gave me permission to release all of these videos as a free Field Guide.

So, here you go. The Fantastical Field Guide is a free download that is as close as I am going to get to a calendaring field guide anytime soon. I hope you enjoy it.

Stephen Hackett’s iPad Keynote Commentary

I really enjoyed watching Stephen Hacket re-watch the original iPad announcement 10 years ago. We’ve got a bunch of iPad-related ten year anniversaries coming up. If you could track my enthusiasm about iPad over the 10 years, it looks something like this:


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I was super excited at the beginning but my enthusiasm wained in those middle years when Apple didn’t seem interested in making the iPad anything more than a big iPhone. Lately, however, that interest is on the rise again. Outstanding hardware and better software are the source of my hope. I think the next few years will be interesting for the iPad. Will Apple continue to press down on the gas and get the enthusiasm of power users? I suspect they will. The iPhone is no longer the profit rocket ship it once was and making a more compelling case for the iPad should be low hanging fruit for Apple. I think we’ll get our first clue as to whether this is the case in June at at WWDC 2020. Either way, I hope you enjoy Stephen’s video below and happy 10th iPad.

MindNode 7 Released


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MindNode, my favorite mind mapping app, recently released version 7. The new version adds visual tags to your maps with colored dots you can drop in at the end of nodes. It gives you one more visual tool for mind mapping, and their uses go as far as your imagination. I’ve been using them to represent progress as I work through the Keyboard Maestro Field Guide update nodes. The tags work on both iOS and Mac platforms and they are an excellent addition.

The app also still has that clean design that I love and the ability to jump between mind maps and outlines in the application.

MindNode has also shifted the business model to a subscription pricing plan to help support future development. ($2.49/month or $19.99/year) Even though they’ve made this move, they are making the new update with visual tags a free upgrade to existing MindNode 5 and 6 customers. When I first got into mind mapping, the software was hundreds of dollars and couldn’t hold a candle to MindNode. I use MindNode nearly every day, so the $20 per year price tag is an easy decision for me.


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Mac Power Users 520: Weather Apps & Gear

Gone are the days of waiting for the evening news to find out the weather for the next day. Now, weather data is accessible anywhere. Stephen and I compare a bunch of different weather apps and services before picking our favorite on the latest episode of Mac Power Users.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • SaneBox: Stop drowning in email!

  • Direct Mail: Create and send great looking email newsletters with Direct Mail, an easy-to-use email marketing app designed exclusively for the Mac.

  • Booz Allen: Integrate. Innovate. Get it done with Booz Allen.

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Tame Your Email with SaneBox (Sponsor)

This week’s sponsor, SaneBox is the solution to so many of my email problems. SaneBox is the email service that adds a pile of productivity features to your email, regardless of what email client you use. For a lot of folks, email is a constant pain point, and it doesn’t need to be. With SaneBox at your back, you can:

  • Wake up every day to find the SaneBox robots have automatically sorted your incoming email for you so you can address the important and ignore the irrelevant. 

  • Defer email for hours, days, or weeks, so it is out of your life until a more appropriate time. They’ve even added a new feature that can optionally auto-reply to snoozed email with something like, “I’m sorry, but I’m underwater right now. I’ll get back to you in a few days.”

  • Set secret reminders so if someone doesn’t reply to an important email SaneBox gives you a nudge to follow up.

  • Automatically save attachments to the cloud (like Dropbox).

  • Use their SaneForward service to automatically send appropriate emails to services like Evernote, Expensify, and Kayak.

  • Move unwanted email to the SaneBlackHole and never see anything from that person again.

The list goes on, and MacSparky readers love this service.

The SaneBox team is constantly improving the SaneBox interface and releasing even more new tools. Why not straighten out your email by getting a SaneBox account today. If you sign up with this link, you even get a discount on your subscription. 

Apple TV+, A Few Months In

Now that Apple TV has been out a few months, I went back and looked at how much I’ve used the service. I watched all of the “For All Mankind” series, and I’m working my way through “Little America”. The big-budget “See” series couldn’t hold me for two episodes, but that isn’t surprising. Dystopian future shows do nothing for me. My wife and I watched the first few episodes of “Morning Show” together, and we have the best intentions of finishing it, but we haven’t got around to episode three in months.

In contrast, my family (without any small children) seems to watch Disney+ constantly. I get that I’m just reporting one family, but talking to friends and family, Apple TV+ seems to have the same lukewarm reception among all of them. Looking at this launch window, all we can really say is that Apple has now planted its flag on original content, but I doubt its competitors are losing much sleep at this point. In other words, Apple, don’t quit your day job.

Focused 91: Information Overload

Mike and I are kicking off a new series on overload by examining our own FOMO (fear of missing out) triggers. We also make the productivity case for intentionally missing out. Check it out on the latest episode of Focused.

This episode of Focused is sponsored by:

  • Blinkist: Read 3000+ books in 15 minutes or fewer. Start your 7-day free trial.

  • Ahrefs: SEO tools and resources to grow your search traffic. Get a 7-day trial for just $7.

  • ExpressVPN: High-speed, secure and anonymous VPN service. Get 3 months free with a 1-year package.

More On Apple and Encryption

Following up on my post of last week about Apple and user privacy, I missed the point about iCloud backups. While your device is encrypted, your iCloud backup is not. At least, there is no end-to-end encryption, which means Apple can access the data. Several years ago Apple explained they were in the process of making the iCloud backup end-to-end encrypted as well, but now we are hearing reports that Apple abandoned those plans in an effort to satisfy the FBI.

There are multiple sources cited for this story and it appears to be true. So Apple is holding the line on our devices but not on our backups. That seems like a great way to upset everyone. Do they think giving the government user just iCloud backups will satisfy them? Do they think that privacy-minded users will say “good enough” when they realize their device is encrypted but not their backups? Seems to me like it is time for Apple to fish or cut bait.

Mac Power Users 519: Workflows with Greg Pierce

Drafts developer Greg Pierce joins Stephen and me on MPU 519 to talk about his move to an iMac, his development career and when it’s time not to upgrade to a new device.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • TextExpander from Smile: Get 20% off with this link and type more with less effort! Expand short abbreviations into longer bits of text, even fill-ins, with TextExpander from Smile.

  • 1Password: Have you ever forgotten a password? You don’t have to worry about that anymore. 

  • Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code MPU at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.

  • Booz Allen: Integrate. Innovate. Get it done with Booz Allen.

Automators 41: Automated Health Tracking

Rosemary and I tackle health tracking and how we can automate it to get all of the plusses with as few negatives as possible. From “smartifying” health devices, to building habits and accountability, it’s all covered on today’s episode of Automators.

This episode of Automators is sponsored by:

  • Pingdom: Start monitoring your website performance and availability today, and get instant alerts when an outage occurs or a site transaction fails. Use offer code AUTOMATORS to get 30% off. Offer expires on January 31, 2021.

  • ExpressVPN: High-speed, secure and anonymous VPN service. Get 3 months free with a 1-year package.

  • Kensington: The professionals’ choice. Find the right docking solutions for your organization today.