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Graham Perrin

Q: sidebar missing from iCal in Lion — seeking a third party product to restore lost functionality

Apple has removed the sidebar, the always-on list of calendars that required no click.

 

The shallow popover that appears only when clickedobscuring part of the calendar before disappearing — is to me (and some others) an unacceptable substitute for working with multiple calendars, especially where calendars are grouped across multiple servers.

 

I'm aware of third party alternatives to iCal. (Most full-featured calendar interfaces do have an always-on full-height list of calendars. Probably the best known alternative to iCal is BusyCal.)

 

This topic does not seek alternatives; I do wish to continue using iCal, albeit in a way that is less frustrating than what Apple forces upon users of 10.7.

 

This topic seeks:

 

  • a third party product that will restore lost functionality to iCal.

 

To any developer who reads this topic: please, I beg you, on my knees, submit your iCal sidebar app — or whatever you wish to call it — to the App Store as soon as you can. I'll gladly pay, and more than gladly help to test any pre-Store development version.

 

Other readers please note: whilst I'm extraordinarily frustrated by Apple's design decision, this is not an invitation to rant. Let's gain something constructive from this discussion.

 

If you wish Apple to restore the sidebar to iCal, as an option, then please:

 

    • submit iCal feedback to Apple, with your use case; explain why for you personally the limited disappearing popover is a poor substitute; explain how the sidebar will improve both (a) your productivity and (b) your appreciation of Apple's software.

 

Side note: no category includes iCal, so I file this opening post under Using Mac OS X v10.7 Lion.

 

Thank you

Graham

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7), 8 GB MacBookPro5,2 GeForce 9600M GT

Posted on Jul 21, 2011 8:45 AM

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Q: sidebar missing from iCal in Lion — seeking a third party product to restore lost functionality

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  • by Ron Yochum,

    Ron Yochum Ron Yochum Sep 1, 2011 9:23 AM in response to Graham Perrin
    Level 1 (120 points)
    Sep 1, 2011 9:23 AM in response to Graham Perrin

    I just found this great calendar that seems to improve on the old iCal in ways Apple never thought possible. 

     

    BusyCal

    http://www.busymac.com/

  • by Jalpuna,

    Jalpuna Jalpuna Sep 1, 2011 10:03 AM in response to Ron Yochum
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Sep 1, 2011 10:03 AM in response to Ron Yochum

    Busycal is FIFTY BUCKS.  The fact that people are willing to spend $49.95 to fix iCal shows just how broken the current version of iCal is.  My theory is that Apple intentionally damaged the functionality of iCal in Lion in order to encourage developers to create better software, of which Apple gets a piece of.  I'm not normally one for conspiracy theories, but...  Jobs hasn't been running Apple since he took medical leave in January.  I can't help thinking this is a sign of a post-Jobs Apple.  And I think that's a shame.  The new iCal sure is pretty, but it's also poor design in terms of functionality.  Coming from Apple, I find that very surprising.  I really hope I'm wrong, but like I said, I have a bad feeling this is a sign of things to come.

  • by Graham Perrin,

    Graham Perrin Graham Perrin Sep 8, 2011 1:59 AM in response to registrar
    Level 2 (259 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 8, 2011 1:59 AM in response to registrar

    Again, please respect the opening post. This topic is about fixing iCal; not about alternatives to iCal. Thank you.

  • by Ron Yochum,

    Ron Yochum Ron Yochum Sep 8, 2011 5:25 AM in response to Graham Perrin
    Level 1 (120 points)
    Sep 8, 2011 5:25 AM in response to Graham Perrin

    Graham, this topic is about third party solutions, so if you don't like what I have to say, or others, mind your own business.  We have problems that need solutions NOW, not 6 weeks or 6 months from now.  Your chiding is not wanted or needed.

  • by firesoflife,

    firesoflife firesoflife Sep 10, 2011 9:53 PM in response to Graham Perrin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 10, 2011 9:53 PM in response to Graham Perrin

    This is a source of frustration for me as well. In the meantime I am using BusyCal... but I don't want to have to pay for functionality that Apple previously provided for no charge and should continue to provide into the future. The move of elements of iOS to OS X can only go so far before it is a hindrance. It works beautifully on iOS because it needed to function that way with the small screens of iPads, but on a 27" iMac? I think not. I don't want to have to mouse over to a corner of the screen to see what I could see with just a glance in the more appropriately designed snow-leopard version of iCal. The same mousing over to the corner of the screen exists with the unatachable Safari Download "popover". These iOS function must stay iOS only.

  • by redsteven1,

    redsteven1 redsteven1 Sep 18, 2011 12:43 PM in response to Ron Yochum
    Level 2 (325 points)
    Sep 18, 2011 12:43 PM in response to Ron Yochum

    Ron, this is his thread. He made this thread about how to REPAIR iCal. Not how to REPLACE it.

     

    And the whole reason I'm READING THIS THREAD is because I want to know the answer to his quesiton.

     

    If I want somebody to tell me to use BusyCal then I'll do a simple google search. If I want somebody to tell me where to find a hack or plug-in for iCal that restores the functionality we want without having to switch to a new application, then I'll read this thread.

     

    So before you insult him, why don't you do like he asked and READ THE OPENING POST

  • by Ron Yochum,

    Ron Yochum Ron Yochum Sep 19, 2011 6:38 AM in response to redsteven1
    Level 1 (120 points)
    Sep 19, 2011 6:38 AM in response to redsteven1

    Red, it is not HIS thread.....its an Apple Discussion.  If you don't like my answer, keep YOUR mouth shut.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 19, 2011 6:44 AM in response to Graham Perrin
    Level 9 (50,486 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 19, 2011 6:44 AM in response to Graham Perrin

    Graham Perrin wrote:

     

    Again, please respect the opening post. This topic is about fixing iCal; not about alternatives to iCal. Thank you.

    Until Apple alter iCal you'll have to take it as-is.

     

    I switched (but am not suggesting you should) to BusyCal back in the Snow Leopard days because iCal failed to do what I needed, seems as if that has not improved.

  • by visitor05,

    visitor05 visitor05 Sep 19, 2011 12:08 PM in response to Ron Yochum
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 19, 2011 12:08 PM in response to Ron Yochum

    Ron,

     

    Do us a favor and take your sorry troll self off the message board.

  • by G-BOAC,

    G-BOAC G-BOAC Sep 24, 2011 7:11 AM in response to Graham Perrin
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 24, 2011 7:11 AM in response to Graham Perrin

    Graham - thank you for starting this post, for keeping it on topic, and for providing links to additional posts which address related and appropriate topics.  Well done.

     

    I've sent feedback to Apple, and respectfully encourage anybody reading this thread to please take a quick moment to do the same.  It is by far the best and most productive venue for us to make our voices heard:

     

    http://www.apple.com/feedback/ical.html

     

    cheers,

    Mark

  • by Scott Matheson,

    Scott Matheson Scott Matheson Sep 25, 2011 12:10 PM in response to Graham Perrin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 25, 2011 12:10 PM in response to Graham Perrin

    The Lion verision of Mail has a nice little pref "Use classic layout" -- that seems a reasonable solution for iCal too. My biggest gripe is the lack of full-month/next-month mini cals in the week display. I also miss the static calendar list, but the mini-cals at-a-glance are the biggest loss for my worthflow. I can no longer see when "two wendnesdays from now" is, for example.

     

    My fancy new cinema display has all kinds of real estate, but iCal won't display any more data than the tiny little iOS screen... frustrating.

     

    Scott

  • by Tom in London,

    Tom in London Tom in London Sep 25, 2011 1:25 PM in response to Scott Matheson
    Level 4 (1,626 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 25, 2011 1:25 PM in response to Scott Matheson

    BusyCal is much better and in fact it's simply a different front end that uses the same system data as iCal. But it''s grotesquely expensive for what it does, is not often updated, and is thin on significant features that would make it that much better than iCal. I use it because I can't stand that narrow band of "to-do"s.

  • by G-BOAC,

    G-BOAC G-BOAC Sep 25, 2011 5:15 PM in response to Scott Matheson
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 25, 2011 5:15 PM in response to Scott Matheson

    Hi Scott,

     

    GREAT points and very well said in a very concise fashion - especially your second paragraph.  Would you consider sending your feedback as a direct cut-and-paste to Apple please?

     

    http://www.apple.com/feedback/ical.html

     

    thanks,

    Mark

  • by Jalpuna,

    Jalpuna Jalpuna Sep 25, 2011 5:33 PM in response to Tom in London
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Sep 25, 2011 5:33 PM in response to Tom in London

    Enough with the busycal spam.  That thing costs fifty bucks.  If someone is annoyed enough to leave iCal, they might as well switch to something else entirely.  Google's calendar is free.  Pair it up with the Fluid app that turns web apps into desktop apps and you've got a better solution.  For free.

     

    PLEASE, keep sending Apple the feedback about the new iCal.

     

    http://www.apple.com/feedback/ical.html

  • by Scott Matheson,

    Scott Matheson Scott Matheson Sep 25, 2011 5:47 PM in response to G-BOAC
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 25, 2011 5:47 PM in response to G-BOAC

    Done and done.

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