We got quite some questions about when we will release our “real” mobile apps. The actual question is of course: “When do you release a native app?”

The short answer: unfortunately, not in the near future.

But we do have an awesome web app which works almost the same way (for example by adding it to your homescreen) and even across most platforms & devices (Android & iOS).

The long answer

For a more detailed answer we first need to explain what (our) different options for a mobile strategy are and how they influences our decision from a development perspective:

Native

Native applications are build specifically for the platform it’s used on, by leveraging the platforms SDK. For example an Android or an iOS app. These apps are downloaded by you as an user from an app-store and saved on your device.

The benefits:

• Best UI experience
• Direct access to native APIs (calendar, push notifications, etc.)

The problems:

• Requires different apps for different platforms (therefore highly costly to develop)
• Versioning becomes a real problem (which means we get slowed down in our platform development)

Web

Web applications are applications that are not installed on your device but simply run in the browser. Calendar42 supports both on desktop and mobile all browsers with a webkit rendering engine.

The benefits:

• Platform independent
• No problems with versioning
• We know about & are very good in web technology!

The problems:

• Limited to the rendering capacities of the browser (although they are getting better and better!)
• No access to native APIs (calendar, push notifications, etc.)
• Not discoverable in any app store

When web technology (HTML5/Javascript) is used in a native application these applications are called ‘hybrid’ apps. Most of the time a wrapper is used to deliver these apps over multiple platforms (e.g. Phonegap).

The benefits:

• Discoverable/downloadable in app stores
• Easy deployment over different platforms
• Access to native APIs (push notifications, etc.)
• Limited to the rendering capacities of the browser (no native rendering but webviews)

The problems:

• No (standard) access to the local calendar
• Versioning becomes a real problem (which means we get slowed down in our platform development)

Since most people already have a wide range of applications and services running on their devices (Twitter, Facebook, Calendars, etc.), embedding information in these services might be a different but fulfilling solution for the mobile planning experience.

The benefits:

• Costs limited development time 
• Indirect access to some native API’s (e.g. push notifications)

The problems:

Your & our ideal solution would be:

• A native application for every platform (best UI experience & access to native APIs)
• Without any versioning problems (real-time code deployment)

Since we unfortunately don’t have the resources we needed to make several trade offs in order to provide you, our beloved users, with the best dynamic calendaring experience possible, we chose:

1. A calendaring platform over a calendaring application
2. Continuous platform development over native applications
3. Multiple platforms (Android & iOS) over choosing one
4. Quick & agile innovations over supporting multiple APIs
5. Platform data sync (Google, Facebook, etc.) over native calendar access
6. Versioning controlled by us over versioning controlled by “Apple”, “Google” and the alike.
7. Open versus closed

Hence our mobile strategy in the near future will be: web based applications, supported by external services (e.g. push notifications via Text/Twitter/Facebook).

Of course when the time is right, we will explore the opportunities around native mobile applications.

Since our main goal it to create the best dynamic calendaring experience possible we believe this is the way to go, but feel free to come up with arguments that might change our mind!

The first time in the history of men children grow up with the knowledge that sharing is more instead of less. One of the unique characteristics of a new generation known as the “digital natives”. But not only this young generation has been influenced. In the past decade western culture changed from having a mono-chronic (one task at a time, structured) to a poly-chronic (multi- tasking, unstructured) perception of time. A shift that leads to more flexible and dynamic information needs. At the same time we feel sometimes overwhelmed in our exponential growing information society. 

A lot of people perceive this as a problem. We don’t. Or as one of the worlds leading experts in the field of internet technology, Clay Shirky, vividly stated:

Information overload is not the problem. ~ It’s filter failure

Filter. Failure. An insight that changed our world. For example: we all enjoy a dynamic life in an ever changing world, yet we are still organizing our days by moving around static blocks on static grids. Current legacy calendars perceive and represent daily life as a sequence of fixed events. One. Step. At. A. Time.  

Combine this with the fact that modern day technology is evolving in such a rapid paste that technologies that seem unreachable a couple of years ago are now a common good. Think about tex-to-speech technologies, the mobile web & multi-touch screens. Integrated devices with a wide range of sensors such as GPS, cameras & gyroscopes which are in continuous connection to the rest of the world. This brought “passive intelligence” to almost every consumer in the western world.

A huge gap between the opportunities of today and tomorrow and the way of how we actually curate our most precious & valuable resource: time. 

In 2011 we took to the challenge not only to try to keep up, but to actually take the leap  –literally into the future– and the lead in chancing the way we plan our daily lives by launching the internet startup Calendar42. 

Calendar42 will be the calendar for the current and for the new generation, aiming to support the planning of our chaotic daily life. Progressing the calendar to become the perfect tool to for example choose between the countless social opportunities coming from hundreds of virtual connections, cope with the collaborative challenges in distributed teams, find balance between work and private life or offer the just-in-time travel needs in our unpredictable schedules. 

What the technology of Calendar42 in essence enables can be summarized into two main concepts. Structuring data and executing actions. 

It all starts with the information request of an end user. Or even better: the declaration of intent. For example: “I want to be warned when I need to wake up, so I arrive on time at the airport for my flight to San Francisco next week.” Or “What is a good place to hang out for some coffee after work with my friends?” and “Should I take public transport or my car to arrive on time for that meeting?”. 

These questions, stated in human lexicon, represent the way we think. Luckily we all have been trained as Google Search Ninjas, so we know how to structure & divide these questions in order to get a generic, but factual answer from the internet. The “Achilles heel” of this whole concept is a combination of factors. First of all human lexicon can still not be interpret very well, secondly context of these questions is lacking and thirdly – even when one or both of the previous factors are in place – you will only get an answer which is valid for the specific moment in time the questions has been asked. And as stated before: we all enjoy a dynamic life in an ever changing world.

This is where the new technologies, and specifically Calendar42 will makes all the difference. A system that identifies the declaration of intent. Structures the information request based on a wide range of real-time data sources and actually executes based on the result. By for example warning you when your flight is delayed, activating the thermostat in your home just before the first family member arrives and recommending the best time & place to meet with your friends. Since a calendar contains our historic, actual and planned data it enables to not only once, but continuously connect you with the information, data or organization of your need.

All with a clear scope on our company values and the strong belief in open and transparency. Open brings innovation. Transparency brings a priceless good: control. Control over our own life, control over our own data, control over our own privacy. 

The connection between end-users and organizations in time and place enables the measurement of the consequences in advance. It allows simulation of the future and thereby modifies the time-frames which are no longer relegated to repetitions of the past with little variation. The decision-making process in personal life and in business has always been based on past experiences, but with technologies like Calendar42 this will change forever. 

Shaping the future starts with knowing the future.

According to business insider

• Android gets its act together, OR
• Microsoft completes Hail Mary pass, OR
• Apple will take over the world OR
• HTML5 nukes native apps

We know it’s that last one. Why? Check our following posts.

Why do some years have an extra leap day and what is it for? Cool video explaining it by MinutePhysics