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

In November 2011, GigaOM drew attention to this topic.

In December, I thanked them but drew attention … what's recommended by GigaOM is explicitly without support for Microsoft Exchange.

Csound1, with all respect: the post was in response to your post, and both posts are addressed to the forum, visible to the public.

Whenever I address an individual in a public forum: I prefix or suffix a paragraph with that individual's name, to make clear that I'm not addressing the wider audience. So please, with the passing of time, don't take offence.

I place great value in people who have strong feelings about product quality, and I can see why you value BusyCal — I do, too. I necessarily use BusyCal far more often than iCal, but promoting BusyCal as an alternative to this part of the system is simply off-topic, where the fixes and enhancements must be to iCal.

If one of the things that you love about BusyCal is the sidebar, then I encourage you — please — to give that feedback to Apple.

In your feedback to Apple, be as brutal as you like!

Thank you for listening, and I hope you can stick with us on a path to enhancing iCal.

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Everyone: the feedback form is still outdated, so I suggest beginning with a short feedback item that simply requests addition to the form of version 5 of iCal.

Then one feedback item for each troublesome aspect of iCal, each aspect that either annoys you or drives you to use an alternative. Begin or end each item with a note that the trouble is with version 5, in Lion.

Let's make this absolutely clear: wherever Apple's design of this part of the system makes people with a passion turn to alternatives, there's something wrong with the system!

> Does anybody here have any reason to think that somebody at

> Apple gives a **** about what we think, write or say

> about its software?

Yes. I have good reasons to believe that despite the outdated feedback form, Apple has not lost focus on the importance of iCal.

Everyone: now is a very good time to send feedback.

I should not encourage duplicate/repeat feedback, but if (like me) you have tried for six months or more to work with the new interface — and if those months of use have not eased the frustrations with the interface — then it seems reasonable to offer additional feedback to Apple, maybe along these lines:

• … tried working without the sidebar for x number of weeks/months, the problems to me now are as great as they were when I first encountered the new design, because (give your reasons; real world use cases are enormously helpful) …
• … (if you use iCloud, or if you see someone else using and enjoying iCloud) … sidebar in Calendar in iCloud works well for users of iCloud …
• … tried alternatives to iCal, in most ways iCal excels but working without a list of calendars is a thorn in the side …
• … and so on.

Please: do not write to Apple every day, that's counterproductive. Less frequently: periodic and honest reviews of your situation should be productive.

The more honest, focused and open-minded your feedback: the greater the chance that Apple will engage with people like you.

Hint: one item of feedback per component of iCal. If your feedback is about the sidebar mini-month, keep that separate from your feedback about the sidebar list of calendars. (These are two separate issues with a previously shared interface, but for coherence and strength of support in Apple Support Communities I have drawn the two together.)

To me, feedback every few months seems reasonable. YMMV.

Thanks again

Graham

> nothing wrong with the system

Thanks — I fully appreciate that for many users of Lion, many things in the new iCal are beautifully designed. … may be perfect for people who have only a handful of calendars.

mulligans missus, sorry … when I said 'everyone' I meant, everyone who finds trouble with the sidebar missing (the subject of this topic). I don't normally say 'everyone'; in another part of that particular post I was trying to be sensitive to one person's feelings.

Everyone: feedback to Apple that's honest is of great value. I'd never ask anyone to give feedback that they did not honestly feel or agree with.

I realise that this is a relatively long topic … for the benefit of newcomers who arrive at this page six: there's no intention of spoiing the interface of iCal 5 for those who enjoy it as it is.

In a nutshell: I'm seeking an option (a preference) to show the sidebar. When that sidebar is not shown, iCal will appear as usual, with calendars listed in a popover.

It's a preference that many will not choose, but it's needed.

Hope that helps

Graham

It might have been me began using the word system, encouraging readers to think of iCal as an essential part of the system. A day of words, this is. Note to self (not to everyone): less colour, Graham.

Now, to everyone with an interest in the sidebar of iCal as a part of the system: think positively 😀 and think iCal.