The default iOS Calendar is fine, but if you want something smarter, better-looking, and more robust, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better app than Fantastical.
Fantastical has two big plusses over Apple’s Calendar app. First, the main scrolling view isn’t restricted to the selected day, making it very easy to browse upcoming events. Secondly, event creation uses natural English – type “lunch with Tom on Friday at 1pm for 90 mins” and you’ll see the event build as you add and edit details. Handily, the app works with your iCloud calendar data, too.
Fantastical’s natural-language input works great when dictating to an Apple Watch, too, making you feel like you’re in an episode of Star Trek.
It’s also one of the few high-quality productivity apps that still functions as a one-off purchase rather than an ongoing subscription, making it a great deal if you end up using it as your main calendar.
The downside is that it’s not a universal app – iPhone, iPad, and Mac versions are all sold separately, though they will work together if you grab the lot.
Luckily, the iOS apps are on sale right now. We’ve no indication how long the price drops will last, but at the time of writing the iPhone version is down from $5 to $2, with the iPad version down from $10 to $3. That’s a total saving of $10 if you opt for both! Sadly the Mac version is still a whopping $50, but for most people the mobile apps should be plenty.