Calendar plays a major role in helping you organize a busy day. It’s particularly useful now as our work/life balance is up for a toss in work from home era. Google Calendar is the default choice for majority out there as it’s available on every platform. Microsoft is taking a different route to make its Calendar app the default one on your device. How about we compare them to see which one is better for you?
Manually Sync Your Google Calendar. The Calendar app has an option that lets you refresh your calendars and the entries within them. You can use this option to update your calendars when the automatic sync isn’t working. Access the Google Calendar app on your phone. Tap the three-dots at the top-right corner of your screen. Suddenly a week ago, Gmail and Outlook 2016 stopped syncing my incoming email. Email started going to the Important folder instead of the Outlook Inbox folder. I have checked IMAP server settings on outlook, I gave Windows 3rd party access, I added 2 step made sure markers were off on Gmail settings, tried unlock captcha, added 2 step verification.
Microsoft purchased the popular Sunrise Calendar and shut down further development. The company integrated the calendar functionality in the Outlook mail app.
As expected, both the calendar apps are feature-rich with tons of options to create a perfect meeting or task. In this post, we will compare both the calendar apps to find a suitable solution for you. The comparison covers UI, features, cross-platform availability, third-party calendar support, etc. Let’s get started.
Cross-Platform Availability
In terms of calendar apps, cross-platform availability is important. If you sync events and reminders with Gmail, then all your upcoming stuff is right there with you on every platform.
But using the same calendar app on all platforms allows you to enjoy a seamless UI/UX experience on all devices. Google Calendar is available on iOS, Android, and Web.
Outlook Calendar is accessible on iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac.
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User Interface
Google has updated its calendar app with Material Theme 2.0 design guidelines. The interface is using lots of white background, which looks consistent with other Google apps. The calendar app also plays nice with the Android 10 dark theme.
My biggest problem with the current UI is, it’s still using a hamburger menu. And the navigation is confusing with Android 10 full-screen gestures. Sometimes it registers back gestures, and sometimes it opens the hamburger menu, which is confusing and irritating.
Outlook calendar is integrated in the Outlook app. It’s not a separate app but works as an add-on. If you were a fan of Sunrise calendar, then you will surely appreciate Microsoft’s implementation. Unlike Google Calendar, it uses a pleasing blue header with days entries below.
Scroll up or down, and you will notice a beautiful animation on the calendar icon. Nice touch. As expected, Outlook supports dark mode in Android 10 and higher.
Creating a New Event
Both the apps have covered the usual provisions to add a new event. With Outlook, you can create a new event and add details such as title, time, location, notes, and attach files. I like how Outlook has Skype integration. It makes the composing group video/voice calls seamless and easy.
With Google, the app will ask you to create event, reminder, or Goal (more on that later). Tap on the event, and the screen will offer to add title, timer location, notification timer, and event color. You can even add attachments from Google Drive and invite other members to the event.
The app also lets you create reminders. You can add them via Google Assistant too.
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Read MoreWidgets
Typically, one wouldn't care much about widgets while comparing apps, but they do play a vital part with calendar apps.
With Google Calendar, you can either opt for the upcoming event widget or go with a monthly one. Sadly, there isn’t a shortcut to create an event from the home screen.
As for Outlook, you can add the usual 2x3 widget or a shortcut to open the app in the Calendar menu directly. If you quickly want to create a new event, then long-press on the app icon and add a new event with relevant details.
Extra Features
Google Calendar’s Goal function is excellent. You can select which activity you want to perform daily and the duration. Quite simple to set up. It will even ask you when you usually perform such action. After setting up, the app will add it to your calendar based on your busy schedule.
As a bonus, you can sync that to Google Fit account too. Some of the examples are fitness-related activity, meditation, call friends and family, and more. It’s useful in building habits and following routines with more punctuality.
In Outlook, you can add Facebook events, Evernote reminders through the calendar apps in the settings menu. It’s useful for directly integrating your friend’s birthdays in the calendar.
Outlook also offers interesting calendars where one can add favorite TV shows, sports teams, or sports events schedule directly in the app. Although, none of them matter in 2020, right?
It supports most of the popular sports league, and in the example below, you can see the supported sports category in the Outlook calendar app.
Head to Setting > Interesting Calendars and choose your option from it. Google Calendar doesn’t provide any such third-party calendar function.
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Outlook Calendar arrives with a lot of options out of the box. Also, in terms of UI, it does seem a bit pleasing to the eyes than Google’s plain approach. Google’s goal function is something you won’t find on any Calendar app. It’s a game-changer for someone like me tracking time for events and habits. Which calendar app are you going to use and why? Share your opinion in the comments section below.
Next up:Outlook works excellently as an email app as well. Read the post below to find its comparison to the Gmail email app on Android.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read NextGmail vs Outlook Android: Should You Switch to an Alternative Email AppAlso See#comparison #calendar
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Google Duo was Google's answer to Apple's FaceTime.
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Today, Outlook 2016 for Mac is adding support for Google Calendar and Contacts—available first to our Office Insider Fast community. We’re excited to be delivering on these highly-requested features for Mac users and matching our Outlook apps for iOS and Android, providing Google Accounts with a more powerful way to stay in control of the day ahead.
While today marks the beginning of this rollout, we need your help to test drive and provide feedback on the experience. We will be closely managing the rollout to Insiders, expanding availability over the next several weeks, before becoming broadly available to Office 365 customers later this year.
Note: These improvements will become available to those who have Office 365 plans that include Office applications.
More than just email
Outlook for Mac has long supported connecting to and managing your Gmail. With these updates, Outlook will now also sync your Google Calendars and Contacts. The experience will be very similar to what you are familiar with in Outlook today, with support for all the core actions—such as add, delete, edit time and location. All changes will update back and forth with Gmail or Outlook for iOS and Android, so everything is in sync across all your devices.
Bringing the best features of Outlook to your Gmail account
Outlook For Mac 2016 Won't Sync Google Calendar With Iphone
Up to now, many of Outlook’s best and most advanced email features have only been available to those with an Outlook.com, Office 365 or Exchange email address. With these updates, you will also be able to take advantage of several of Outlook’s advanced features with your Gmail account, including Focused Inbox and richer experiences for travel reservations and package deliveries. Additional advanced features will become available as we roll these updates out more broadly.
How to get started
Outlook 2016 for Mac users who are part of the Office Insider Fast program will be the first to try this new feature. To become an Insider, simply open up Outlook, click Help > Check for Updates and then follow the directions found here.
Not all Insiders will see the new Google Account experience right away. We will closely monitor feedback and expand the rollout over the next few weeks. Outlook will notify you when this feature becomes available, with a prompt asking you to add your Google Account. If you have an existing Google Account connected to Outlook, you can remove it after setting up the new experience.
If you ignore the initial prompt, you can add a Google Account at a later time by going to Tools > Accounts.
Outlook For Mac 2016 Wont Sync Google Calendar Desktop
We are still fine-tuning the Google Account experience in Outlook for Mac and will provide regular updates to Insiders before releasing the features more broadly. You can help us improve the experience by providing feedback and identifying bugs by going to Help > Contact Support. See this list of known issues.
Sync Ical To Outlook 2016
Got a suggestion for how to improve Outlook for Mac? Please suggest and vote on future feature ideas on our Outlook for Mac UserVoice page.
Sync Google Calendar With Outlook 365
—The Outlook team