[Finding an Alternative to Sunrise Calendar.] Closing Thoughts.

I realized that I didn’t really continue from this post, but just to put an end to this little “series” I started, here’s what I got from testing those apps out:

Nothing can replace Sunrise Calendar. No app exists. Yet.

There,that’s my verdict. I tried WAVE Calendar and Business Calendar 2 at the same time to get a feel of what their differences were, but they both just did what I expected them to do: the same thing that other calendar apps did. They did both have their individual perks, but they weren’t really the things I needed in a calendar app.

I hope someone can replicate what Sunrise did, integrating all kinds of events from different sources into one app. Maybe I could make one, too. (If I know how to make a mobile app… Just you wait haha)

So there it is. Literally just wrote this because I felt bad of leaving this series hanging. Hope you find the right calendar app for you!

[Finding an alternative to Sunrise Calendar.] The background check.

After a quick look at everything, here’s what I got for each so far:

Etar

• open source calendar (Cool.)
• has the usual month, week, day, and agenda views
• uses the Android Calendar sync
• works with typical known calendar apps like Google Calendar or the Outlook Exchange
• no ads (!!)
• has an agenda widget
• Material Design
• has a rating of 4.7 on Google Play, which goes to show that it’s sort of okay?
• works for Android version 4.4 and up (awww :( )

I love that it’s open source. Haha. Just wanted to say that. But, sadly, I can’t use this on all of my devices, so nevermind. :(

WAVE Calendar

• free and without ads (!!)
• I can sync Google, Exchange, Outlook and Facebook (!!)
• also on iOS, and can also be seen on Android wearables
• has a “beautiful widget”
• search function
• can color-code events
• can use gestures to add and modify events
• has a rating of 4.1 on Google Play, which means it’s also kind of okay?
• works for Android versions 4.0.3 and up (yay!)

I would like to test this out also. It seems interesting. Plus I love that I can integrate the platforms I listed above (Facebook please haha)

aCalendar+

• Aww… wait. This one’s not free. :(

I already have to say no to this. I only listed it down because it was a suggestion by a friend when I asked online. I checked aCalendar, the free version of the app, and other than the NFC and QR barcode sharing of events, I don’t really see anything special about the free version. Sadly, I won’t test this out.

Today Calendar

• (from description) *This is a 7-day free trial*

Nope. Sorry. Not gonna try something like that.

Business Calendar 2

• I’m guessing this is the second version, since there seems to be a “Business Calendar” only…?
• has month, week, and day views
• “year view”?
• “agenda with live research”?
• no ads (!!)
• there are event countdowns. Ooh.
• free (!!)
• rating of 4.3 on Google Play, so it’s also an okay app
• works on Android versions 4.1 and up (hooray!)

Surprisingly, there’s a lot of features listed already for the free version of this. They have a paid version called “Business Calendar PRO” that has the weather reports and everything else fancy included. I’m not sure if this will hinder my experience in using the app, but I think I’ll try it nonetheless.

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Just to clarify, I’m only looking for free apps that can run on a dated phone with a dated (?) Android version (Jellybean? Is that considered old already?). I don’t have a credit card that I can use to buy apps (yet? hehe) so that’s out of the picture.

In summary, I’ll be testing out the following apps:

• WAVE Calendar
• Business Calendar 2

I think I’ll check out one for each week. I’ll start with WAVE Calendar today.

Here’s to finding that perfect alternative to Sunrise Calendar!

[Finding an alternative to Sunrise Calendar.] Initial List

Since Microsoft announced that it’s discontinuing Sunrise Calendar, I’m trying to look for another calendar app that I can use that’s similar to it.

For now, I don’t want to use Google Calendar because I don’t want to be limited to just Google. I really liked the fact that Sunrise Calendar integrated a lot of other platforms in it, which is what made it so useful for me.

For now, I found some apps from alternativeto.net:

• WAVE Calendar [website] [Google Play]
• Etar [Google Play]

And some of my friends also suggested other apps:

• aCalendar+ [website] [Google Play]
• Today Calendar [Google Play]
• Business Calendar 2 [website] [Google Play]

I have not yet checked any of the things I’ve listed above. I’m going to test them all out within the next few weeks or so. Maybe do a background check on each one first, then just pick which ones I’d really want to test out.

I want to see if any of these apps can work on a phone with these specs:

• Android version 4.2.2 (Jellybean)
• Total internal storage: 1.27 GB
• Total memory card storage: 7.28 GB
• Total phone space: 672 MB

(Also, my current phone’s an O+ 8.91. It’s kind of old.)

Let’s see what happens.