Gemini Calendar - my vision of calendar software

[kokiangel]

I just came across this thread and checked out your app from the market. Version 0.9.22. I like how easy it is to add an event. And how easy it is to see upcoming events. Looks like you just might have a real winner on your hands.
A widget option to use one full screen on my droid and skin it to match the rest of the current theme would be icing on the cake. Currently I have it set as a shortcut so its just one click to open. Not a big stretch from there to perfect so I am not complaining. Keep up the good work.

 

[crubbish]

A very impressive app I have to say. Like someone else I can't figure out how to get to the "Day" or any other view. The only view I can access is "Month + agenda" and if someone could enlighten me I'd be grateful.
I join what seems to be a common opinion that there's a swipe gesture needed for going to previous/next month. Current controls for that are not ergonomic to say the list. Perhaps swipe on a month name section (bottom right corner) would be better rather than swiping on a month area itself. May be the month name section could be designed as a "slider" with a large button with arrows on either side of it. IE slide it to the right - go to the next month. This way it'd be more intuitive I think.
Another suggestion is to have option for events display. The area for events listing is limited to 3 events display max (without scrolling). Perhaps adding option like "one line event display" could make it possible to view 5 or 6 events without having to scroll. Some users would surely appreciate this.
Also it'd be helpful to see the week day next to the date on top of events list. Sure, you can look down to see what week day this is but it'd be more convinient to have it next to the date me thinks.
And last one: I'm sure many users would appreciate "early display next month" option. This will basically start your month display from the current week, not from 1st day of the month.
Hope this all makes sense. Once again, a very interesting and promissing app. Good luck with it!

 

[powell]

I must find some time to create the documentation how to use Gemini Calendar, since not everything must be obvious.
Here are some tips:

1. Day View - double click on the day of month,
2. Event details - tap once on the event,
3. Add Event - long click on the day of month, when blue mark shows up, you can move your finger along the screen to add multiple day event,
4. Change month of the year - long click on the month name, use the slider to change month, then if you want to:
   • accept selection - long click on the month name again
   • cancel selection - tap once the month name
5. There are context menus for each event in the Month View and Day View (probably you have figured it out already),
6. In day view, you can change days by swiping left or right,

Regarding the swiping the name of month to change it - there WAS such function in the past, I have decided it was too complicated. I may turn it on again.
Swiping on the days of month area would be kind of tricky, because touching the day of month results in event displaying.

 

[syrguy1969]

Regarding the swiping the name of month to change it - there WAS such function in the past, I have decided it was too complicated. I may turn it on again.

Swiping on the days of month area would be kind of tricky, because touching the day of month results in event displaying.

That would be GREAT!!!! Probably the main thing I miss about the calendar on my Omnia!!! That function would be great in all views (month, week + day) and maybe an up + down swipe to change the views (again...day, month, + week)!?!?

I see what you mean about swiping in the day field of the month screen though. Maybe have the bottom part the 'swipe-area'? Or if there is a way to have a slight length of touching the day added (for a half second press or something tiny enough to not be a long press but not trigger during a swipe)?

I am not a programmer, so I don't know how tough those suggestions are, so take it with a grain of salt if they can't be done LOL!!!

 

[(G)]

WOW! Thanks!

1. Day View - double click on the day of month, - Never knew this
2. Event details - tap once on the event, - Knew this
3. Add Event - long click on the day of month, when blue mark shows up, you can move your finger along the screen to add multiple day event, - Never knew this
4. Change month of the year - long click on the month name, use the slider to change month, then if you want to: - Never knew this
5. There are context menus for each event in the Month View and Day View (probably you have figured it out already), - Knew this
6. In day view, you can change days by swiping left or right, - Never knew this

 

[ylexot]

1. Change month of the year - long click on the month name, use the slider to change month, then if you want to:
   • accept selection - long click on the month name again
   • cancel selection - tap once the month name
2. In day view, you can change days by swiping left or right,

I would suggest that moving forward and backward within a calendar (whether month view, week view, or day view) be consistent. Personally, I like a simple left/right swipe to move. I currently have a BB Storm (waiting for NE2 to switch to an Incredible) and this is how the calendar works on the Storm.

 

[bob_54]

Powell,

Want to thank you for your undertaking to bring all of the needs for a calendar program into one application. Being a new Android user I had been looking for something like Gemini when I came across your post. Ironically your introduction post came on my birthday so I received a nice present.

Your basic instructions posted earlier today helped me find the one thing I hadn't found on my own... day view.

One of the features I really like is the ability to add an event from the phone log or phone book. I have not found anything else that does this or is even close. And the ability to show the phone number as a link so you can dial directly from the event. A feature request I would like to add here is the ability of selecting which number to include from the phone list. For instance if I have a cell, work and home number to choose from. Or possibly show the contact name as a link and by pressing it taking you to the contact's information page to select the number.

Along this same line, after selecting from book there is a select option pop-up to 'Add call event'. Could this be expanded to include "Appointment", "Email", "Task", etc? This would further expand it's capability from just a call reminder to more like a scheduler.
Could these same things be added when you want to add an event from the day view page?

Like some of the earlier posters, I am not a coder. So I am not sure what is doable and what is not. But some things to consider. As I use Gemini more, it is now my default calendar, I will pass along other suggestions.

It took a little getting used to but I have gotten to like your slide bar concept. Many times using the standard thumb wheel screen I found myself going too fast and kept going past the number I was looking for.
I did notice that when using it to select a different month, going from December to January it does not change the year. Is there a reason for this? Could be a problem for some in November or December thinking they are moving forward to 2011.

I also look forward to the version that will include a widget.

Not sure if this is a bug or just something not implemented yet.
Main Screen>Add From Book>then press Menu key. The keyboard dissapears as it should, then I get a pop-up menu that says 31 Month View. Long or short press it and it goes away. Long press Menu and I get my keyboard back as it should.

Thanks again for a great app/program. Looking forward to further updates and I will also convert to a paid user when the time comes.

 

[Kr0nos]

Powell :
First put that explanation post on your website.
And put a popup with a link (or the post itself) in the App, like the changelog.

As you see here many users (me too) don't discover all features.

I understand your concern about the "month sliding", its just that it works on Calpad and is pretty cool.
If you had it in a previous version, do you still have the code ?

Great work, just tell people more about it , and thanks for the good discussion here.

 

[F5 Addict]

This awesome! I just installed it on my new Incredible and it is the closest thing I have found to Palm which I have used for 10+ years. Thank you!

 

[kokiangel]

I agree. This is the best calendar app I have come across since I gave up my Palm for Android. The only thing I would really like to see is a full screen widget so it would be easy to add to Sweeter Home. I would love to be able to just leave it open on one of my home screens for quick access. Not a big issue though. All the other features make this app a real keeper. I am spreading the word to all who will listen to check it out.

 

[bob_54]

Is is it possible to show a weekly view yet?

 

[Redflea]

Trying this on my Droid...running 2.1.

Calendar can't see my Exchange calendar...the only option it gives me to select a calendar is "Default Calendar" (Gmail calendar) and it can't see my Corp Calendar at all (which is the actual calendar I use).

Is this a known limitation, or ?

When I started the app, and when I go into "My Calendars" on the "More" menu, the only option is "Default Calendar."

Appreciate any suggestions...

 

[(G)]

I continue to experiment with the "Gemini Add Event" icon and can't get consistent results. Sometimes it defaults to the proper "add event" screen, sometimes it opens to the full calendar screen. And I can't figure out what I did that's causing the difference.

Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[(G)]

One more thing: On all of the events I add, I have an "On Time" notification and a "5 minutes before" notification.

When the "5 minutes before" notification goes off, I turn on the Droid and see the notification screen, and hit "Dismiss All." However it only dismisses the "5 minutes before" alarm, because the "On Time" notification still rings and needs to be turned off individually.

Is there any way that "Dismiss All" can dismiss ALL the notification alarms with one touch?

 

[jae_63]

Hi Powell,

I've been using Gemini successfully for several weeks now, but earlier today it completely hung upon me, although I haven't seen an FC. It starts up, and the screen is just blank. This is also true for the "Add Event" app. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app, but to no avail. But after a phone (Droid Eris, v 1.5) reboot and a long wait (several minutes) things seem to be OK again.

There is some other odd behavior: I have a calendar appointment "tomorrow is bike to work day" for 8pm on Thursday, May 20th. That's how it appears on Google Calendar, and on other Android calendars. But in Gemini, it shows up on Friday the 21st, not the 20th. I'm on U.S. Eastern Daylight time, so that 8pm appointment would correspond to midnight GMT.

I have also noticed a lot of duplicate appointments, but I don't recall whether I added them through Gemini or on a PC using Google Calendar. I'll try to come up with a coherent bug report about this.

 

[powell]

jae_63, issue with a blank screen is very strange, specially, if there was not Force Close shown. Android is designed to report any delays in the user interface, so if you see a blank screen for such a long time, there should be a FC dialog. I have no idea, why it did not showed up.
Do you have any other problems with time zones? Other events have the correct time? Could you send me PM with following details: date and time of this bad event that is shown in Gemini Calendar and on Google Page? In Google Calendar system, every calendar has the default time zone, and, additionally, every single event can have its own time zone, which can be different, depending on how you enter the data (on Google page, on your phone etc.). Maybe you can remember, how this wrong appointment was added and we can find the general rule of this behavior. I will send you private message about this.

(G), reminders are served by the system, Gemini Calendar only sets the time of the reminder, it does not participate in ringing and turning the ring off/dismissing. I do not think I can do much about it.

Redflea, have you had your phone synced with the Google server? Is your "Exchange" calendar synced with Google server and is visible on the Google Calendar? It is not mandatory to synchronize your data with Google server of course, but if Exchange cannot be synced, it cannot be shown in Gemini Calendar either.

There is no week view yet, but it is planned of course, and other views and widget. I hope I will release next version of Gemini Calendar by the end of this week.

Thank you for all your opinions and feedback.

 

[(G)]

(G), reminders are served by the system, Gemini Calendar only sets the time of the reminder, it does not take participate in ringing and turning the ring off/dismissing. I do not think I can do much about it.

Interesting. I didn't realize that at all. Thanks for the answer!

 

[Redflea]

Redflea, have you had your phone synced with the Google server? Is your "Exchange" calendar synced with Google server and is visible on the Google Calendar? It is not mandatory to synchronize your data with Google server of course, but if Exchange cannot be synced, it cannot be shown in Gemini Calendar either.

Thanks for the reply. My exchange calendar is synced to and from our exchange servers only...i guess I'm out of luck...thanks.

 

[jae_63]

Thanks for the reply. My exchange calendar is synced to and from our exchange servers only...i guess I'm out of luck...thanks.

Redflea, just making sure that you know about Google Apps Sync for Outlook.
https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gappssync

If you can run this on your desktop, then you should be able to do what you want with your Exchange calendar with respect to Google Calendar and Gemini.

 

[Jazzdude]

powell

Just wanted to say a big thank you for all the hard work and effort you have put into 'making' this calendar application, which, IMHO, is far better than the stock Android application.

However, it states on the Market that it will expire on 31.05. Would you mind elaborating on this please? Will it uninstall; stop working, et cetera.

Thanks.

 

[jae_63]

powell

Just wanted to say a big thank you for all the hard work and effort you have put into 'making' this calendar application, which, IMHO, is far better than the stock Android application.

However, it states on the Market that it will expire on 31.05. Would you mind elaborating on this please? Will it uninstall; stop working, et cetera.

Thanks.

Jazzdude, see Powell's post #68 on this thread:
http://androidforums.com/applicatio...my-vision-calendar-software-2.html#post653081

 

[Jazzdude]

Jazzdude, see Powell's post #68 on this thread:
http://androidforums.com/applicatio...my-vision-calendar-software-2.html#post653081

Thanks, jae.

I'm a full-time 'round-the-clock' carer for my grandparents, who both have vascular dementia, with my grandmother being disabled.

Basically, I'm constantly exhausted and couldn't see for looking!!! *LOL*

 

[JFeisty]

Does anyone else have problems pressing the "next month" arrow at the bottom of the month view screen? The "previous" button I have no problems with, but the "next" one seems to have a much smaller hit target or something.

Thanks, powell, for the great program...I have been using it since I got my Incredible.

 

[powell]

The problems with switching months are starting to bother more and more people (including me ). It is not perfect, I agree .
The active space for both arrows (previous/next) has the same size, but sometimes screen responsiveness on the edge is a little bit worse than in the center and probably that is why we all have some problems with this.
I will experiment with other way of switching months. I would love to implement the swiping left/right or up/down, because it is so intuitive and easy, but as I mentioned already, this function is not compatible with events displaying, that are shown immediately after you touch the day of month.

 

[syrguy1969]

The problems with switching months are starting to bother more and more people (including me ). It is not perfect, I agree .
The active space for both arrows (previous/next) has the same size, but sometimes screen responsiveness on the edge is a little bit worse than in the center and probably that is why we all have some problems with this.
I will experiment with other way of switching months. I would love to implement the swiping left/right or up/down, because it is so intuitive and easy, but as I mentioned already, this function is not compatible with events displaying, that are shown immediately after you touch the day of month.

How about using the top half of the screen to swipe? I tried with a few days I have a lot of things listed and swiped a lot, hard + light touch and the events never went to the detail screen unless I specifically pressed on them, so maybe even make them a long-press sctivation only and that way the swiping can be used without the risk of opening the detail screen in error?

Or....what would be the possibility of making the events displaying a double-tap item, or instead of a smooth swipe to change months more of a gesture (fishing for words here) like a slight pause and swipe without relieving pressure?

Not sure if any of that is feasable/do-able/practical, just tossing ideas out there!!