Product manager Ian Leader said the app, initially available for Android devices, turns the Calendar into a "helpful assistant" so there is less time spent managing one's schedule.
"It takes a lot of work to stay on top of your schedule, after all. You have to manually enter that hotel or dinner reservation, then update it if your plans change. You have to hunt around for addresses and phone numbers, then add them to your events. And if you’re on a mobile device, you might just give up on these kinds of tasks entirely," Leader said in a blog post.
With the new app, Leader said the new Calendar app extracts email information when booking a flight, buying concert tickets, or making a hotel reservation.
He said such calendar events come complete with details like flight numbers and check-in times.
"They’ll even stay updated in real time if your flight's delayed, or you receive another email update," he added.
A second feature involves suggestions, where the new Calendar app can "suggest titles, people and places as you type, as well as adapt to your preferences over time."
"For example, if you often go running with Peter in Central Park, Calendar can quickly suggest that entire event when you type ‘r-u-n,’" he said.
Leader said the Calendar app also has Schedule View that makes it "easy to scan and lovely to look at."
The new Schedule view includes "photos and maps of the places you’re going, cityscapes of travel destinations, and illustrations of everyday events like dinner, drinks and yoga."
Leader said the updated app will require at least Android 4.1, and will be available on all devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop.
On the other hand, he said a version for Apple's iPhone is in the works.
Material design
A separate report on tech site The Verge said the reworked app has the Material Design style that will be eventually adopted in all Google apps.
It will roll out to the Play Store over the coming weeks for everyone running Android 4.1 and above, it added.
Also, The Verge noted it will be the first time Google has actually released a proper Calendar app for iOS. — Joel Locsin/ELR, GMA News
source: gmanetwork.com
