Shared Family Calendar: FamCal Reviews

by Woodyalookitthat

I have been using famcal—and have loved it—for years. Had an issue once a few years ago that they quickly resolved. Three days ago, I opened SharedFamilyCalendar on my phone and all of my events had disappeared. I checked my husband’s phone and all the events were still there. So I logged out to log back in to see if that would fix the problem. The login screen said my email account was not in use. I checked my husband’s account again and made sure I was trying to use the correct email address. I was. I sent an email to app support and am still waiting over 48 hours later for at least the cursory “we have your email but are very busy” response but I still haven’t gotten anything. I guess I just need to find a new app and start over? I am worried that if I try to recreate my account that it will wipe everything we have stored. So. Kinda bummed because I used this religiously and it’s been inconvenient to have no access to what it is I am supposed to be doing.

by Clarecoll

SharedFamilyCalendar used to be fantastic but a couple months ago they updated how they did the ads and now it’s more of a pain than anything else. I have to watch video ads in the middle of the grocery store to check my list about every 3 items and half the time the ads don’t have a close button so I have to exit SharedFamilyCalendar , reopen it and then rewatch an ad to get back to my list. The same goes for making a list, every few items I add I have to wait through a video ad.

It didn’t used to be like that and we loved it. It was great for sharing calendars and keeping track of the kids.

I considered purchasing the full version to get rid of the ads but it’s too expensive when there are other apps available that do the same thing for half the price. Plus it feels like they are trying to force my hand with the increase in ads which does not make me want to give them any money.

by Belkins87

My wife and I tried a few years ago to share calendars and could not find an app that worked for us. My wife found SharedFamilyCalendar and having it has made tracking each other's schedules so much easier. There are only a few things I don't like about SharedFamilyCalendar that may improve with future updates if they choose to incorporate them. 1) Holidays listed: there are some holidays listed that I have never heard of and don't need to see on my calendar. My options are to leave them or turn them all off and manually add in the ones I want which I don't want to have to do. 2) No way to interface with a computer: My work calendar is tied to Outlook on my work computer. It would be nice to have the ability to add items (work or otherwise) to my FamCal calendar from a computer rather than punching it in on my phone. More a minor inconvenience. 3) Status for events: Sometimes it would be nice to note a meeting or possible event without being shown as committed to it. The best way to explain this would be to compare it to the options in Outlook where you can "Show As:" Free, Busy, Tentative. There are times my wife has events on the calendar that she wants to see but isn't actually going or hasn't decided. Other than these minor items we like SharedFamilyCalendar and plan to keep using and recommend it for other families.

by 7 Together

I love how you can use this across family members. Works great for multiple people. We used to use the standard apple calendar app but everyone else hated getting notified of every event being added to the calendar and inviting people to events with email would not work.

Fam cal makes it easy to see who’s going where and when and just notify that person.

Better than google calendar on the alert side.

Lists- awesome how everyone can add stuff to them at any time.

Negatives - ads.. annoying - pop ups and they block the bottom row of info

Switching between days is challenging. On the day view you can see yours list but not on the calendar view. You also cant zoom in on the just day unless you go to the other view. (It shows the entire month)

Everyone can see all items on the calendar. So if you have a private event, you have to rename it or not put it on the calendar, even though you can select who is going to it.

Doesnt work well with apple watch. You have to have your phone to look at most of the stuff and it doesnt update to the current day unless you close SharedFamilyCalendar and restart it.

No way to edit users names after you enter them the first time unless you delete the person and make a new one.

by Mymysmom

Not a complicated app at all. It's the only organizer type that I've ever actually made use of. Normally I download a bunch of them in the hope that I will finally find one that clicks and isn't too complicated or too boring. I agreed to try this with my husband because we never know what each other is doing so the calendar has been very helpful. The to-do list is great because I can finally show him what a ridiculous amount of stuff I need to do and get him to share the load. Shopping list is a plus. Other features too but it's really a pretty good start to organizing your family- as much as possible. Plus, I have ADHD as does my husband and this has helped keep me dialed in to what's happening because normally I forget a lot!

by Trazelosaurus07

My fiancé and I are trying to keep our eating out to a certain capped amount. We had ordered a tangible desk calendar, hung it on the wall, and the idea was to write down every time we went out to eat and how much we spent. We wanted to keep the tallies fair, and we wanted to shock ourselves by the gross amount of $ spent at restaurants. We figured if it was right in our faces we’d be more accountable.
Well, best laid plans and all. We’d forget to write it down more than half the time because we’d be out when the charges occurred. Or we’d forget to write down who bought so we’d know whose turn it was next time.
Now we can make an event as soon as the bill comes, color coded by person. The other great features of to-do lists and shopping lists are just bonuses.

by Chris51509

I keep a separate personal calendar because the one that came with the iPhone has my work connected to it. So I never want to put personal items on it. My old personal calendar no longer worked with iOS 11.

Until I started searching new calendars, it didn’t dawn on me that I could get one to share with my husband and possibly kids. This is great! My husband and I share the grocery shopping, etc., so it’s awesome to have list that we can both add to and subtract from. And being able to see each other‘s appointments etc. is great. This is a great tool for any family! I can imagine how good this calendar would have been when my kids were a little younger with all the activities and sports! Having the wall calendar in the kitchen is OK, but this is with us at all times!

So far this has been easy to use and more than suits our needs! I have not experienced any bugs are issues.

by Not Yo Average Momma

If you have a big family and like to know what direction everyone is going, this is SharedFamilyCalendar for you, especially if you have several active teenagers like myself. Each member of the home has a color, so just a quick glance at the calendar, helps to determine who’s event is scheduled. It also sends alerts to everyone, just mom, or whoever you choose. Another great feature is the option for everyone to add to the grocery list. Members are able to add notes and send reminders as well. SharedFamilyCalendar is easy to navigate and understand, even for a simple un-technological mind like mine. Five stars for sure, definitely recommend! Shout out to this company for making mom life manageable!!

by Jinman1018

I’m a happy 2 year subscriber! With 2 kids having multiple extracurricular activities and a husband that travels, this calendar has been awesome at keeping everything in line. I love the color coding and ability to set reminders. It alerts me when my husband plugs something in so it’s great when he forgets to tell me he scheduled something. It can also set recurring events like sports practice with ease so nothing has to be individually added. I love having a combined shopping list so whoever stops at the store can check the list and grab items easily. It also auto imports our flights and hotel stays. They have thought of everything! It has been the most valuable app I pay for hands down.

by LDM37

Best shared app I’ve every had! 😉
All four of us in my family use the FamCal app. We love the color coded dots on the calendar to keep our very busy family organized! All of us can see SharedFamilyCalendar in real time so it’s easy to check what is on the calendar when making plans for events/meetings/ parties/ practices/ vacations/ etc., with a quick glance!
We also LOVE the shared shopping list! Anytime one of the kids runs out of something, they just add it to the list! That was it’s not forgotten if mom or dad or sad run to the store alone. The memos are great to for noting quick notes or to save important like snap a quick pic of an address...
Or if someone makes and appointment for another family member, they can set a reminder! We literally function around then FamCal app! Best app I have seen on all platforms! :)

We have used the free version for a long time and never had an issue! Not once! Our youngest child of 7 years can also login and add things to the shopping list. It’s very easy to use and as I mentioned it’s all in real time!

If you’re here reading reviews to find the best app to organize yourself or family, you should try this!

by BeeSanderlin

This is the only way I can get my husband to remember upcoming events. We never noticed how many times something would need to be planned/scheduled, but we wouldn’t be together to talk about upcoming events/appointments so SharedFamilyCalendar has been a game changer! It’s so easy to use, and we love setting reminders to help us keep up with things. It’s definitely easy to use and read and very customizable. We use the shopping lists and actually use them! Before using SharedFamilyCalendar I would make a list on paper and always forget to bring it to the store or it would end up lost in my purse. If you are looking for a a customizable, easy to use, multi-use app for organizing your life, I’d recommend FamCal 10/10 times.

by BirdRanch

Being a high school coach, rancher, book keeper for our family business, wife and mom of 2 middle school athletes and an active 5 year old.... SharedFamilyCalendar has saved my sanity these past 2 months. I was looking for a way to track my own games, my kids games, PT appointments, 4-H schedule and our hunters booking hunts and went through a few apps and FamCal has gotten my vote and just been a life saver. As hunters text wanting to book a hunt I can look right away in FamCal and tell them right away instead of having to wait until I get back home to the calendar on my wall. Plus my husband and daughter can both see the calendar and any of us can add an event on there when we need to! So helpful!!!! Definitely recommend!!!!!!

by As A Matter Of Fact

People ask me how do I stay organized with all the things I do and between 2 businesses that I run.
So I show them my FamCal app and briefly explain how it works and quickly show them how I book an appointment, Set a reminder alarm and that’s it. They immediately download the free app and get started just like I did. It’s easy no glitches it’s free and I thought I could never get away from writing my schedule down in the one of those little calendar books that I would keep in my purse.
Thank you for making it so easy and teaching me to use my cell phone for all my scheduling and reminder needs.
PS my business partner and I share a calendar and my husband and I share another. We love how we can color coordinate appointments, from business to free time stuff as well as we each have our own designated color.

by Meggg122

You don’t have to have kids to use SharedFamilyCalendar. My friends are my family and we use this and it’s been GREAT!

My group of friends and I were always frustrated trying to make plans with each other for upcoming weekends and such without knowing everyone else’s schedules. We’re a very tight knit group of friends who like to regularly hang out and make more long term plans like concerts or events and stuff. I did some research, found SharedFamilyCalendar and had everyone download it and it’s been FANTASTIC. If we’re looking to hang out or make plans we just check the calendar on SharedFamilyCalendar and see if anyone has plans already. It took a while to get everyone to start updating the calendar regularly with when they are busy but now we actually have fun with it! We put things on there like movie or video game release dates. It really is great.

by Kayla In MS

This calendar is terrific! As a mom, I can put my schedule on it, my husband can put his on it, and my kids can put theirs on it all on one calendar on each persons device with one email/password. It is amazing. As soon as someone adds a new event, the calendar automatically syncs across all of our devices so a glance at any time will show whats going on. We all have our own assigned colors. Planning any family event just got way way easier.

The only thing i havnt tried is assigning a picture to each person in addition to their own color. It would be neat if the picture could show up next to their event. Maybe its possible, dont know... havnt tried it.

This calendar beats ALL of the others I have tried. Its a simple input... so my 60 year old mother can operate it as well as my 7 year old child. Try it! U wont be disappointed!!

by Lumagooster

I’ve been using SharedFamilyCalendar for years. It helps keep our schedules organized and know what events have coming up especially when making appointments I just open FamCal and see the best day and time and it alerts other members immediately. You can also set alerts and add weekly biweekly monthly etc. I also make grocery list on it! You can check it and it grays out and you just uncheck it to add it back to the list so you only have to add once. I started out using it for when bills were due now I use it for appointments, reminders also for my pets medication monthly and even an alert every week to remind to set the garbage out! I basically use it for keeping track of everything in my life! And it really helps to ease my mind bc I enter whatever I need to immediately into the calendar

by CT901

It’s best to add your kids (those who are old enough of course, they WILL need an email address) to this wonderful app. Everyone is able to update the calendar with information (work, trips, games, important dates, doctor/dentist appointments, etc.) and the shopping lists (of which you can create MULTIPLE lists!) which is beyond useful. One of the very best parts? Put something in YOUR calendar on your phone...it automatically imports the data, no duplicate entry needed! I’m enjoying everyone in my house being in ‘the know’ and being able to see what is added over the course of a business day without unnecessary texts. I especially like not coming home from work or the store only to hear that we needed something or someone has somewhere urgently to go. If it's not on one of the lists or in the calendar...there is genuinely no one to blame.

by PeaskiFam

I’d like to think we’ve been using SharedFamilyCalendar for 1.5 years now; I’d have to go back and look to be more specific. There are 4 of us, 2 adults and 2 teens. My husband works 2 full-time fire dept jobs, I work in sales and also take college courses online. Both of our kids have activities or dr appts happening every week! This literally has been the most effective calendar for our family where we can all input different events happening or even just add to the grocery list. The best part about it is having it on our phones! Calendars at home only help when we’re at home and able to view it. With this we can view our schedules at any given time. Can’t say enough good things about the effectiveness and how helpful it’s been to allow our family to coordinate with one another. Thank you!

by Bcbol

I love Family Calendar. I don’t know how I did without it before. This is my second year with it. Someone showed me how to transfer Birthdays from year to year. That’s just great. It’s my calendar bible. This is a year later. I live by my family calendar. I’d be lost with out it. A year later. I use my family calendar for everything . My husband and I are retired and constantly forget what day or date it is. I check it every day. I use it for appointments, birthdays, anniversaries, everything. As I said before I would be lost without it. I love having it. I’m still using my family calendar daily. It’s great to just pick up my phone and check the date. I would be lost without it. I am older and my memory isn’t as good as it used to be so this calendar really helps. As I’ve said before, it’s my social bible. It’s just great to have.

by Pf Mama

My daughter is in High school AP classes and on 2 swim teams, so time is a precious asset. She didn’t use the hard copy planners (yes, we tried many), but since she ALWAYS has her phone, we tried SharedFamilyCalendar. It is perfect for seeing her HW via the to do list and all the exams, tutorials, quizzes, swim practices, etc. on the calendar. I don’t have to ask what’s done or when she has to be at school early - I just look at FamCal. She likes checking off her homework and seeing that item disappear or strike out text. We really like SharedFamilyCalendar!!

My suggestion for improvement: when adding items to the calendar, please add a recurring date option that’s not just daily, weekly or monthly. Ex: swim practice alternates every other day so being able to choose random dates for one calendar item would be great.

by Purple123!

I am really likening SharedFamilyCalendar, I haven’t shared with the other parent yet but it’s an easy way to keep track of things. I have a complicated parenting time schedule with so many changes and I keep Callender all over the house my purse my car and this has eliminated most of them! I can easily check things and not worry about losing all of my information. It was easy to put my schedule in and include my mom who often watches my daughter can check who’s picking up and dropping off and get an idea of the time. This is a wonderful option for people who have a lot of people involved in your child’s life. No waiting for a response or worry that you didn’t provide the write times and dates. It’s all there and handy!

by Krshrwd

I like how my whole family has access to the same calendar. I also like that we can all put our separate schedules on there as well. The only suggestions to improve SharedFamilyCalendar would be small personalization ideas. I use another calendar app where I can change color of the days (such as the days I get paid), syncing my calendar with google (to save my info in case SharedFamilyCalendar were to freeze or crash), defaulting my calendar as my home page rather than being brought to the main menu & changing fonts. Those are just a few of my many ideas. If this calendar had all those features I’d only use this calendar app. But for now this & Jorte are my two favorite calendar apps!

by Abso1ut3 Zero

SharedFamilyCalendar has made life a lot easier for my wife and I. We have three young kids, and it helps keep all our appointments and such in order with each other and our grandmother. I don’t remember if I paid for SharedFamilyCalendar , but having used it for nearly 2 months, I would pay for it. The ease of sharing appointments between multiple family members is a must. As soon as any family member enters the appointment info, it updates on all family members who use SharedFamilyCalendar . It sends a push notification to the device of the appointment. It’s a must have!!!

Update:
I have been using SharedFamilyCalendar for about 6 months, and we have added the grandparents to SharedFamilyCalendar . This is a great app and a must have for people who make plans or have a busy lifestyle.

by D. R. Buzard

ICal can be a pain to sync multiple people to each calendar. SharedFamilyCalendar makes it easy for my wife and I keep track of each other, our appointments, family coordination, etc. easy setup, easy inputs, track multiple events and people, only put the people that need to be notified or included into the alerts.

My favorite part is our grocery list. I forget things, so hen I remember them I have to stop and write them down. Usually on a piece of scratch paper and then I hide it from myself. Now, open SharedFamilyCalendar , add new item to the list, wife goes to the store, checks list, buys the stuff we need.

We have been using this for about a week now and it’s proving to be quite valuable