Google Calendar...pretty decent, actually.

So, um, yeah….Google released a calendar app yesterday. Go here, here, or here for the basics. Come back here for my opinions.

The Good

• It’s full-featured (for a web app) and acts as largely as you’d expect, especially if you’re familiar with iCal. It’s a very solid effort and I like it overall.
• It’s fast (again, for a web app)...I’d say it “feels” faster than Gmail. This is actually really nice, and a way in which it beats 30 Boxes.
• It’s got a “Quick Add” feature, just like the “One Box” from 30 Boxes. I’ve gotten used to this method of entry so it’s good to see they’re keeping pace.
• There’s an easy way to add the standard holidays to your calendar. This isn’t a big thing, but it is good to have.
• It can import from Outlook or iCal, although this also falls under the next category…

The Bad

• Google Calendar seems to have issues with time zones, which manifest themselves in a few different places. Import is one…I imported a calendar in iCal format and all the events were two hours off.
• Another calendar that I’m subscribed to is also time-shifted. Bummer.
• Speaking of timing, notifications are flaky. Sometimes the SMS messages are on time but sometimes not. Backpack can do this…I don’t know why other people can’t.
• There’s not a true two-way sync, though you can subscribe to your Google Calendar in iCal or other apps.
• There’s not a way to copy/paste events. I don’t know if anyone does this besides me, but no web-based calendar I know of has this feature.
• It doesn’t blow me away with any new, innovative features. It’s basically just a calendar app, on the web. Killer Gmail integration would be an example of this, but I haven’t really seen any yet. If it’s really tight, I might stick with Google Calendar. If not, there’s a good chance I’ll use the calendar feature in Backpack when it’s released.

The Miscellaneous

• 30 Boxes has said they’re not gonna take this laying down. I’ll be interested to see how they respond.
• Like I said a minute ago, Backpack will have a calendar as well. At this point, that’s the one I’m really waiting for.