What makes a shared calendar app actually good
Most shared calendar apps ask you to keep a second calendar. SoKal is the one you already use, with your friends on it. You probably want to pick one and move on. Fair. If you want the side by side first, here's how eight shared calendar apps compare. But most shared calendars make you choose. Some hold your whole life and leave your friends out. Others are great for making plans with people and know nothing about the rest of your week.
We built SoKal because we wanted both. So here's what we think actually matters in a shared calendar, and how SoKal handles each one. Judge us against it.
1. It should hold your whole life
The best shared calendar is the one you actually check. That means work, the dentist, your flight home and Friday's dinner all live in one place.
Google, Apple and Outlook are great at this. Everything plugs into them. Book a table on OpenTable and it lands on your calendar. Same with a flight from your inbox or a meeting invite. Any shared calendar that asks you to rebuild all of that by hand is asking too much.
How SoKal does it: SoKal connects to Google, Apple and Outlook and sits on top of them. Every integration you rely on keeps working. The OpenTable booking still lands in Google, and it shows up in SoKal next to everything else.
2. It should show you your friends
This is where the big calendars come up empty. You add things, they hold them, and nobody else is in there with you. Shared calendars in Google or Apple help with a partner or a team, but they don't tell you what your friends are up to this weekend.
Plan apps like TimeTree and Howbout do this part well. They're built for making plans with people. But they run beside your main calendar, so you end up checking two apps to know if you're actually free.
How SoKal does it: your friends' plans sit right next to yours. You see who's free, who's in town and what's coming up, without leaving your calendar.
3. It should let you join in
Seeing a plan is half of it. The other half is doing something about it. If your friend is grabbing coffee and you have to start a group text to ask if you can come, the calendar didn't really help.
How SoKal does it: friends can mark a plan open to join. When Josh posts that he's grabbing coffee, you tap once and you're in. It shows up as your plan too, right where you check your week.
4. It should keep private things private
Putting your real life in a shared calendar only works if you control what people see. Your friends don't need to know about your doctor's appointment. They just need to know you're busy.
How SoKal does it: add an outing, open it up, and friends can see it and join. Add an errand and they just see Busy. You decide what's social and what's yours.
5. It should work on every device you own
A shared calendar fails the moment one friend can't open it. Your group probably has iPhones and Androids. You probably check your schedule on your phone and plan your week on a laptop.
How SoKal does it: SoKal runs on iPhone, iPad, Android and Mac, and on Windows or any browser through the web app. Everyone in your group can use it, on whatever they've got.
So, what's the best shared calendar app?
The one that does both jobs. It holds everything a real calendar holds, and it shows you the people you actually make plans with. Most apps pick one side. We built SoKal so you don't have to.
It's free on the App Store, Google Play and the web. Try it with a few friends this week and see what you've been missing.
