We were mightily impressed by calendar app Sunrise when it launched on iOS last month. Now an update to the app has just gone live that further redefines what we should expect from a mobile calendar.
Sunrise is part of a wave of iOS apps like Mailbox, Taskbox and Tempo that use clever server-side routines to improve our experience of everyday tasks. In Sunrise’s case this means offering useful additions like social account integration, maps and directions to appointments, and faces of event attendees pulled in from LinkedIn and Facebook, all wrapped up in a beautifully designed package.
With today’s update, Sunrise adds to its offering with a few useful tweaks and a headline feature that it’s describing as ‘Rapportive for calendars’. Now when you have a meeting set up with confirmed or invited attendees, you’ll be able to click through to each of them to view more information about each person. Here’s what it looks like:
Information is pulled in from LinkedIn and Facebook, including a person’s work experience and education and links to their social profiles. You also get a profile photo and their Facebook cover photo if available, along with the ability to send them an SMS or email, or call them, provided that the contact details are available. It’s worth noting that if you’re not connected to a particular person via LinkedIn or Facebook, you won’t get a profile for them as the Sunrise won’t have access to the data needed to construct it.
Other new features added to the new update include the ability to create recurring events and add notes to entries – both basic calendar features that were missing previously and now bring Sunrise up to par in areas it was previously lacking.
One feature it would still be nice to see would be the Eventbrite integration the app’s email companion already offers. Aside from this, Sunrise really is a solid, forward-thinking alternative to the stock iOS Calendar and the better-known Fantastical.
If you’re thinking “That’s all well and good, but where’s the Android version?”, this is very much on the roadmap but being just a self-funded team of three, New York-based Sunrise will have to wait until they have the resources to hire more developers. With this in mind, we wouldn’t be surprised to hear about a funding round in the not-too-distant future.
➤ Sunrise
Header image credit: Thinkstock
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