Android users till now were dependent on the handset manufacturers or third-party apps for all their Calendar needs. Since, most manufacturers love customizing the Android UI (TouchWiz, Sense, or Motoblur) more often, they remove some stock Google apps to install custom apps. Google Calendar being one of the app which was always removed, so that the manufacturers can install custom calendar application. Some Android devices (Nexus devices) which were stock did had the official Google Calendar app. Google seems to want to combat the practice by making available the official Google Calendar App from the Google Play Store.
Finally, anyone of the Android community, running Android 4.0.3 or higher, can download the official Google Calendar app from the Google Play Store. The official Google Calendar app is very robust. It lets you manage all your calendars, including those associated with your different Google accounts.
The app also received few feature updates, which includes a “snooze” function, predefined messages to quickly let know event attendees of your status, pinch-to-zoom in and out of single-day view, and a home time-zone setting. You can also now check events up to a year in the past. But even this robust app has some known issues, mostly associated with HTC devices.
Known issues with HTC devices:
- Day and week views may not work on some HTC devices.
- Notes and pictures may be removed from all calendar events, but will still be available in HTC’s Notes app.
- Local unsynced events may be lost after installing Google Calendar.
- Notifications won’t make sounds unless HTC’s Calendar app is disabled.
- Touching an email invitation in a mail app opens Calendar in the browser and not the app.
The official Google Calendar app is available as free download on Google Play.
With the release of the Calendar app, I am now looking forward to the release of the official stock Messaging, Camera, and Contacts app too!