Help Samsung Vibrant Calendar is a Step Backward

[kenandroid]

There are a few threads of various Vibrant/TouchWiz Calendar issues (Samsung Galaxy S). I am starting this thread to hopefully get a reply of all the various issues in one spot and maybe someone can get this list somewhere that will drive change. In my mind, a smart-phone’s roots is a PDA + Phone. Yes, it is amazing that they can do much, much more now, which makes these phones that much better, but to me, the Calendar is part of their roots. These disappointments that I’m starting with were available in Android 1.5 which makes them all the more frustrating. I am bulleting these instead of numbering them because I’d rank them all at the top. Really, any issue that you are having out there, especially one that is a non-issue in stock Android, is pure neglect by Samsung.


- No ability to customize notifications in the TouchWiz Calendar. Anyone need a reminder ringtone that is different than your other notifications? You won’t get one that stands out from the others in your Samsung Vibrant because you have no ability to change it.

-No ability to hyperlink in the TouchWiz Calendar. Let’s say I am going to a wedding that is out of town. On my G1 I could enter phone numbers and address to the Hotel, Reception Hall, key contacts, and the like; so all I had to do was go to my trusty calendar and click on a hyperlink to get directions in my map or call people/places via the dialer, oh, and I’d know what time things started because it is a super useful feature in a calendar. Good luck doing this conveniently on the Vibrant's TouchWiz Calendar because it does not have this feature. Maybe the biggest disappointment.

-Repeating Events in the TouchWiz Calendar provokes issues when modifying . If I edit only a single event in a series of repeating events via my web-browser on my laptop, TouchWiz will duplicate the event, keeping the original event, but also creating the changed single event as a new separate event entirely.

I'm sure this is the tip of the iceberg because I've seen a number of posts. . . although I haven't seen any mention of the hyperlinking which I find an enormous help.

Post as you like. Hopefully someone from T-Mobile or Samsung will review and implement asap. In the end, I may return my phone if I have no confidence in these being fixed.

I'd also love to hear solutions. I've tried all the market calendar apps I could. Gemini, Junte, they provide hyperlinking, but don't fix the duplicatation issue. All other calendar apps ultimately just click through to the native Touchwiz calendar.

Given the specs on the current phones out there, these features should be included off the shelf. I've rooted my G1, but one shouldn't have to root to have basic features available to Android such as the above.

 

[pusta]

I am also having an issue with scheduling meetings from the phone calendar on my exchange account. The event gets entered into my calendar, but none of the recipients get a copy of the invite.

 

[Fathom]

I wish there was a way to set a default calendar. Everytime I make an entry I have remember to select my google calendar or I have reenter the event. I have turned off all other calendars in the settings and it still will not use my google calendar as the default for entry. Aaarrgghhh.

 

[kevnkate]

It drives me crazy that I can't set multiple reminders. For big events I usually have one reminder for a day or two before the event and then another reminder 30 minutes before the event to remind me to get my butt there.

 

[charkey]

The default calendar is my biggest gripe. Who uses the built in samsung calendar to store events?

 

[PuterPro]

I've used PDA's since they've existed. I totally agree with the OP that a "Smart Phone" is defined by 1. BEING A PHONE and 2. BEING A PDA

Too many lose sight of this. Having had a G1 since day one launch (Wife inherited it ... Grin) I've never been thrilled with Google implementation of "Syncing".
When I had a WinMo and Outlook I had my share of Sync problems, ActiveSync was the pits, but at least I could ALWAYS backup the Cal in Outlook AND on the phone. I only lost data one time in years of use, through multiple phone, and that time was MY fault.

When I got my G1 I was appalled at the poor Calendar function, but I learned to work around it. Until it started LOSING DATA RANDOMLY WHEN SYNCING! (Had to shut off sync!) I cannot begin to relate how much this has impacted my small business. I've lost clients because of missed appointments. I've always kept the account's standing (money or hours owed either direction) in the appointments description field. Payments noted, check numbers recorded, etc.
Losing appointments has cost me countless (and I mean COUNTLESS) hours and a fair amount of money. This system STINKS.

Last week I got my Vibrant and I was overjoyed at the nice Calendar! Looks beautiful!

Until I tried to USE it!!!

It has taken me literally ALL day, EVERY day for over a week to fix the sync. I will post long post of how I fixed that, but it was a beast. (8 DAYS of work!)

The "My Calendar" being the default and not being able to be deleted or changed is ABSURD. This forces an extra step on EVERY appointment to change to the {REQUIRED} Google Calendar! Dumb, Dumb, Dumb. What WERE they thinking? Did they ever actually USE this Calendar in the field?

Then there's the minor change in the Contacts that compounds this.
In my business, I see a large number of clients repeatedly over years. I have over 1200 Contacts.
I need to be able to search my Calendar for the last time I saw this person (notes, account status, etc). The Android Cals don't let you SEARCH!! Dumb. BASIC FUNCTION. If you store DATA you need to be able to SEARCH the data! One Workaround - Quick Calendar by Jim Blackwell (in Marketplace) has a search function. Thanks Jim!!
IF you search, you need the same person entered EXACTLY right each time. Typing on the phones (even my beloved G1) is a joke. I can't afford a typo, so I copy the name from Contacts and paste in Calendar.
Except ... on the Vibrant, the Contacts Field for Name is TWO fields, First & Last names!!! I can't copy & paste! GRRRRRRRRRRRR!

THIS CALENDAR IS NOT USEFUL FOR BUSINESS USE. PERIOD.

Losing data, failing to sync, 10 steps to make an appointment, no search unless you switch apps. Stinks.

What a wonderful piece of technology this phone is. It's a joy to use. Responsive, fast beautiful. I'm truly smitten. Seriously, it's amazing.

BUT - What a great leap BACKWARDS it is for a working professional who relys on the basic functions of a PDA that they had figured out in 1988 to be missing!

SAMSUNG- FIX THE BLEEDING CALENDAR! ONLY ONE PERSON IN 100 WILL POST A RANT, MOST WILL JUST GO AWAY! (Or cry quietly in a corner as I have for a week)

For those of you having sync problems, look for my post on it, I bled for it, it's only fair I give back my hard won knowledge. Have to go back to work, will post tomorrow.

 

[miguelmondo]

There's a great post on how to replace the calendar with a stock (i.e. not Samsung) one. Just look for the heading REPLACE THE TW CALENDAR WITH STOCK ANDROID CALENDAR here: Tips & Tricks! LU: Sep 1 - xda-developers

 

[swbca21]

DEFAULT CALENDAR
I need my Default Calendar to be Exchange. Why would anyone want to use "My Calendar" when they are syncing with Exchange ?

I hope they fix this . . Please

 

[jpidgen]

I just picked up my new Vibrant last night. I was very excited to have all my appointment on my phone.

Not being able to edit them, nor search them is unbelievable. This is a necessity when one has many appointments. Now I have to have a computer handy to edit old appointments. Talk about disappointing when I search to find out that this is it. (Here I thought I was just missing something!)

Another suggestion - categorization of appointments. Dealing with different sectors, categorization helps keeps things separated and better organized. Now I just have a mess of appointments that I need to scroll through to find the right one. Hopefully a fix is on the horizon!

 

[Jason Pedersen]

Hopefully a fix is on the horizon!

Email Samsung. That's the best hope we'd have of getting a fix. I've sent them a number of them and to my surprise, I didn't just get a form letter as a response. It's extremely unlikely that they read these forums, so direct contact is our best bet.

 

[Terrier Hockey]

I have about five google calendars but only two are showing up in the "Calendars" list. Anyone else having this problem?