Sunrise Calendar Review

Sunrise Calendar doesn't get off to a flying start, requiring a Facebook account to log in via, but for those users who can get past such flaws, it's a quite useful calendar app that ticks all the relevant boxes.

That Facebook-based problem isn't just being picky either. If it simply required a basic log in procedure which grabbed events and birthdays, it'd tie into the purpose of the app quite well. Instead, it requests information such as employment history for the user and all their friends, as well as pretty much everything else that the cautious user would be wary of. Starting out with a bitter taste in one's mouth is no way of first using an app. A pity given that Sunrise Calendar is pretty good for the Google Calendar user.

Clean to view as well as add information, users immediately get a glance at the next few days of their schedule. Birthdays and Facebook events are added alongside Google Calendar based occasions, with users even able to send a happy birthday Facebook message or SMS via the app. Events can be accepted or declined through the app, also, and via a number of different sources including Facebook and LinkedIn.

It's possible to scroll back and forth across the months, with an orange arrow always enabling users to return to the current day quickly. It's these little details that keep Sunrise Calendar ahead of much of the competition. There's weather updates too. They're basic but sufficient enough to give users a rough idea of what to expect. All the better is the ability to either add new meetings the traditional manual way, or by allowing Sunrise Calendar to pick apart what one has actually typed, just like with Fantastical. This natural language recognition method can save a lot of time, although I did find it struggle to determine which contact I meant at times.

In every case, it's possible to view directions through the app, a particularly handy skill for the roving businessperson, thereby meaning there's no need to switch between a number of different apps.

Combined, Sunrise Calendar offers mostly everything a user could want of a Calendar app but it is marred by such strong Facebook connectivity. For the privacy conscious, it's quite the irritant and I couldn't argue with those who wanted to steer clear for that exact reason.