There are a number of tools that can help you recall past events, identify availability, notify people about an event, and engage participation in shared activities. Below is a quick review of all of these.

Total Recall

If you’re an avid mobile calendar user, you may have noticed that the stock iOS Calendar app is limited in searching your event archive. While you can set it to sync all events so they appear when you browse through your calendar, it cannot show search results for events more than a year in the past.

The only solution is to use a different app. I recommend Fantastical because it has no problem searching my whole calendar history across all my accounts. I also prefer its natural language event creation engine. The app’s newly released version 3.0 also adds a slew of new features.

Check Availability

There are a number of web-based apps folks use to schedule calls and other meetings based on their availability. However, some of them require a fair amount of manual legwork to set up.

Sometimes the user must review their actual calendar to find openings and then plug them into the app before asking others to choose times to meet.

For greater automation, some of these tools can be pretty expensive. One I prefer is FreeBusy, which easily integrates with a wide array of calendar platforms to aggregate free and busy times, show availability, and schedule events.

Alternatively, a less expensive approach might be to use a polling tool like Doodle to specify and match individuals to compatible openings and then invite each person to a calendar event that aligns with their availability.

Update: In November 2023, I started using Openings, a feature of Fantastical that assesses the events already on my calendar to identify times I’m potentially available to meet. Clients can visit my website to request time with me.

Event Alerts

Have you ever wondered why the iPhone alarm app can’t schedule for a specific date and time more than a week in a future? No? Me neither. But if you wanted this ability, I suggest using a calendar event or reminder.

Either of these can offer an alert with message and/or sound at a particular moment in time. That moment can be at the time of the event or reminder or a certain amount of time before it.

Additionally, you can set multiple alerts. Just click the ⨁.

Have you a challenge in your digital life? I can help you explore the landscape of apps and find one that satisfies your need. Just email me a few details about your scenario and what you hope to accomplish.