A little over a month after Any.DO debuted Cal, a new smart iOS calendar and first in a suite of standalone apps, the Israeli startup has removed the private beta tags and launched it to the public.
We managed to grab a hands-on with the app back in early June, and were impressed with what we saw. Since then, Any.DO has been iterating behind the scenes alongside Cal’s merry band of beta users, improving speed and animations, while introducing offline support too.
Today’s launch falls almost two months after Any.DO announced a $3.5 million seed round, and a year-and-a-half since we first described it as the only productivity app you’ll ever need. Indeed, Any.DO is a beautifully simple app that has won the hearts of many to-do list aficionados, so we’ll be watching to see if its first foray into secondary app-dom garners the same level of excitement.
It’s also interesting to note that although Any.DO first arrived on the scene via Android, Cal is actually hitting iOS first, with the Android version still currently in the works.
It’s worth noting that although it is indeed a ‘standalone’ app, insofar as it’s a separate entity to Any.DO, there is actually a fairly tight integration between the two apps – you will be asked to sign-in using your Any.DO credentials. And there are plans in place to introduce further apps into the mix too, though no word yet on what this may entail.
Cal syncs with all the major calendars on your iPhone, including Google, Exchange & iCloud, but it’s when you start adding items to your calendar where things get interesting.
It asks to use your current location, so it can deliver additional details for each entry. For example, if you enter a location name such as ‘Concert at Finsbury Park’, Cal detects it. It will even plot it out on a map for you and offer to help you navigate your way to any event.
Similarly, if you’re meeting somebody, you can opt to add a location (e.g. ‘London Bridge’) and inform it whether it’s a residential or work address, restaurant, coffeehouse or bar. Then, when you start entering a specific name of, say, a restaurant it will serve up the options in real-time based on what you’re typing. You can read our full hands-on again here.
The smart calendar market gets smarter
While it’s vying for a market currently occupied by the likes of Tempo (previous coverage) and Sunrise (see here), based on our initial dabblings, we’re sure Cal will be able to edge itself in to the space without too many issues – and the fact it’s launching off the back of an already uber-popular to-do list app will work massively in its favor.
Cal is available to download from the App Store now. And if you wish to try Cal for Android, you can sign-up for updates here.
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