Calendar app or Calendar Widget - which are you looking for?

Tech media always seems impressed by the latest iOS import; the latest one I read about was the calendar app Agenda touted on Android Central. Since the main reason I got a smart phone is for an "in my face calendar" I was pretty interested. It is an instant FAIL for me because there is no widget but it did bring up some interesting features so I revisited my calendar widget choice Agenda Widget.

An agenda widget was the first thing I looked for when I entered the Android ecosystem. It had to display my calendar items so I could see at a glance when what I had coming up for as far ahead as I wanted to go - sometimes that's to my next holiday in a few months :) Agenda widget implemented scrolling from the first so it was an instant hit for me. Essential features - lots of background themes for the widget, including a transparent option, lots of options for calendar item display, integrate the to-do list and easy ways to add items to either the calendar or to-do list.

Since this is a widget you add it from your main screen or widget drawer. You get a blank widget that you tap to modify. On opening you set your data sources, global preferences, theme and display type. You can display any or all of the calendars you have set up in Google. Agenda Widget has tons of templates so you can choose how your widget looks then includes an expert mode if nothing quite catches your fancy. It is previewed as you select them so pick one then press the apply current theme bar. Once you've made your first choices hit the back button until you get to your home screen. It's easy to change you mind and do tweaks once you're set up the widget. Tap on the lower right corner for a pop up box of options. You can add appointments from any of the pop up menus or choose to have a button on the bottom bar of the widget. Naturally any additions made on the web will show up on a refresh on the widget.

While there is a free version, it is very worthwhile to drop the couple dollars for the Plus version if you are heavily into time management. The free version will not be getting more features. The Plus version includes up to date features like JB lock screen widget support, task sync for exchange, multiple widgets and a grid view. With the grid view, days are shadowed if you have appointment from any of your active calendars so you can see at a glance how your month is going. Tap the top right for an agenda view, tap the bottom right for all the settings and tap a date to add either a task or an appointment. For both views there is a quick access to the Calendar app so you can tweak your widget to show exactly what you need at a glance. With the Plus version you can have more than one widget so you could an essentials view on your home page with and a full screen agenda view on a another page.

If time management is an important part of your life, this may be the widget that helps get you where you need to be, when you need to be.


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