Fantastical 2.5 is out now with new multitasking features for iOS 9 on iPad, a 3D Touch app icon on iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, a native Apple Watch app on watchOS 2 with its own watch face complication, and much more. Both the iPad and iPhone plus Apple Watch updates are available for free for current Fantastical 2 customers. The new versions come just two weeks after Split View in Fantastical hit the Mac with OS X El Capitan. See the new features in action below:
Fantastical 2.5 for iPad is a big deal for Air 2, mini 4, and soon Pro owners with full support for Split View on iOS 9. This lets you share your iPad screen with Fantastical and other supported apps in both landscape and portrait orientation. Fantastical adapts to each size with an optimized layout, shifting between an iPhone-like column version to a nearly full width complete version and every step in between.
Fantastical is rather information dense on the iPad, so it’s impressive to see the app shift into special versions when sharing the screen with other Split View apps. Older iPads will still appreciate Slide Over support in Fantastical 2.5, which lets you pull Fantastical atop the full-screen app you’re in for fast referencing and quick uses.
Other iOS 9 improvements for Fantastical 2.5 for iPad include iOS 9 keyboard shortcuts accessed by holding the Command key on Bluetooth keyboards, an improved week view design, a ‘tap and hold’ shortcut for opening addresses in Maps, and several fixes.
Over on the 6s and 6s Plus, Fantastical 2.5 for iPhone has been updated to support 3D Touch from the Home screen (top image). Deep pressing the Fantastical icon will reveal either three or four options. New Event for composing either a calendar or reminder entry, Show Reminders for viewing either your items or lists based on your organization preferences, Search for looking up an entry, and optionally a shortcut to your currently scheduled event based on the time.
Fantastical 2.5 for iPhone offers an improved design for week view in landscape plus the same ‘tap and hold’ location lookup shortcut for Maps as seen on iPad and other iOS 9 improvements.
Included for free in the iPhone update is a watchOS 2 version of Fantastical 2.5 for Apple Watch. The new native version of the calendar and Reminders app is snappier to navigate, quicker to launch, and includes a pleasant tap and tone for alerts now. Force Touch within the app to reveal a newly added ‘Go to…’ option for drilling into a specific date by using the Digital Crown. And from the watch face, Fantastical is now an option for replacing the stock calendar complication.
Fantastical’s watch face complication works best for me personally in larger widget spots like the center of the Modular face or below on the Utility face. Other slots are limited and don’t allow for much context or content. Where color is supported, Fantastical’s complication makes uses of calendar colors you’ve set to denote which label is applied like Work or Home depending on what you have set up.
Because Fantastical features full support for the same iCloud-based Reminders that you can use it the Reminders app, this complication also delivers on bringing Reminders to the watch face. This is especially useful as Apple hasn’t tried to bring Reminders to Apple Watch beyond alerts sent from the iPhone. I use Reminders as frequently as I schedule calendar appointments so having a single complication that presents both is great. watchOS 2’s new Time Travel feature for viewing past and upcoming status changes by scrolling the Digital Crown is also supported.
And finally, there’s the pleasantness of Fantastical’s complication when you have no more upcoming appointments or Reminders. Rather than borrowing the stock calendar’s NO MORE EVENTS label from Utility, Fantastical offers up a friendly “Enjoy your day!” message. What’s not to love there?
Fantastical 2.5 for iPad is a free update for Fantastical 2 users and $9.99 for new customers. Fantastical 2.5 for iPhone and Apple Watch is also a free update for Fantastical 2 users and $4.99 for new customers. Both are recommended if you need a better way to create and sort through calendar and reminder entries.
