The best productivity tools aren’t worth much when they aren’t compatible with the platforms you use. To level the playing field, a much-loved calendar app that was previously exclusive to Apple products for 13 years has now opened up to Windows users.
Fantastical Is Making the Jump to Windows
Flexibits, the software company behind Fantastical, has announced that the previously Mac-exclusive calendar app will now be available on Windows. This means that if you’re on a Windows PC, you will now have access to the same features that Mac users have been raving about for over a decade.
Fantastical is a free app, but a premium subscription is required to unlock some features, like certain scheduling tools and syncing capabilities. A premium subscription will cost you $4.75 per month as an individual, or $7.50 per month for a family plan. The subscription is billed annually, and it doesn’t look like there is a month-to-month option.
With a Premium subscription, you also have access to Cardhop, a contact management app from Flexibits.
The blog announcement from Flexibits includes the following instructions on how to get set up with Fantastical on Windows:
Get the Windows app, then sign in to your existing Flexibits Account in the Windows app by selecting the menu button in the top left corner of the app, and choosing File > Settings > Flexibits Account.
What’s All the Fuss About Fantastical?
Any productivity software that’s been thriving for 13 years must have something going for it. Above all, Fantastical is known for its ability to integrate multiple calendar accounts into one app. For instance, Fantastical can support calendars from Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and iCloud. This is particularly helpful when you use more than one platform, between various jobs and your personal life.
Fantastical has many features that make it so popular, such as:
- Fantastical can parse through natural language to automatically add locations, times, and invitees for an event, based on a casually written sentence like, “design review meeting at 3 with Lauren at Granny Smith Cafe.”
- A Tasks feature can wrangle action items from Fantastical or third-party to-do lists you’re already using, like Google Tasks, Todoist, or Microsoft 365 Tasks.
- Fun features like Interesting Calendars make scheduling more fun. For example, you can use Interesting Calendars to subscribe to externally-produced calendars like the LA Dodgers game schedule.
Although the calendar app has run the gamut of Apple products, offering support for Mac, iPhone, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro, it’s unclear whether the app will continue its post-Mac journey beyond Windows PCs—to Android devices, for instance.
Fantastical’s expansion to Windows makes sense, particularly for a brand that emphasizes seamless integration. An application with the ability to pull together calendars from multiple platforms should itself be available on more than one platform. Anyone who uses one OS at home and another at work can rejoice!