For many business owners with Android devices, Google’s Calendar app is one of the most useful to have installed. With the update to Android 5.0, the company has also been updating their apps to make them not only look better, but more useful too. This has led to a new version of Calendar being launched with some great new features.
The idea behind the new Google Calendar
According to Google, the new Calendar app has been designed to truly help make lives easier. With the older version of Calendar, you have to take time to copy and paste information like location, phone numbers, and details into each event. This leads many users to simply skip adding important information when they create new events on their mobile devices.
With the latest version of Google Calendar, Google aims to make the creation of events and addition of information far easier. To do this, the new app has some useful features including:
Events pulled from Gmail
These days, when you book a flight or confirm a meeting, etc. you usually receive an email with a confirmation number and some contact information. In the new Calendar, events like this will be pulled automatically from Gmail emails and added to Calendar, along with relevant information.
For example, if you book a flight to attend a conference, you will see a new Calendar entry added with the flight information. Beyond this, events will be updated in real time, so if there is a delay with the event or you are sent an email update, Calendar will update this information on your calendar.
Assists
This new feature allows you to quickly and easily create group events. Now, when you create a new event and begin to type in information Calendar will make suggestions based on what you are typing.
For example, if you want to set a meeting with John at Starbucks around the corner you can start typing: ‘Meet’ and Google will come up with a list of suggested events. Tap Meeting from the drop-down menu and this will pop up in the text box. The drop-down menu changes to allow you to select more options, such as With. Tap this and enter the first letter of a name, and then select who to invite. The drop-down menu will change again and allow you to select a location by simply typing a few letters.
From the demo we have seen, this works quite well and definitely speeds up the creation of events.
Schedule View
This is a new view that has been designed to provide you with an in-depth view of the events you have scheduled. According to the Google blog, this view, “includes photos and maps of the places you’re going, cityscapes of travel destinations, and illustrations of everyday events like dinner, drinks, and yoga.”
Essentially, this view makes it easier for you to see what is going on at a quick glance. Many mobile users find Schedule View particularly useful as they don’t have to navigate their main calendar which can be tricky to read when you have a wealth of events planned.
How do I get the latest Google Calendar?
As of the writing of this article, the app is available on the Google Play store for all Android devices running Android 4.1. You should be able to get the app by updating the existing Google Calendar app. If you don’t have the app, you can find it by searching for Google Calendar from the Google Play Store app.
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