QuickCal 3.0 features a new look and feel, BusyCal support (left) and familiar features included in previous versions, like conflict detection (right). Screenshots courtesy of QuickCal.
QuickCal 3.0 is flying off the virtual shelves, and it has a Twitter tip to thank — in part, at least — for the uptick in sales.
QuickCal, the application that takes natural language expressions describing calendar events or tasks and creates those events and tasks in iCal, has seen its daily sales quadruple since the release of version 3.0 on Sept. 23. QuickCal’s preview page in the App Store touts several upgrades offered in version 3.0, which costs $2.99. Those changes, per the preview page:
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- Completely reworked event entry user interface
- A new dock icon, which dynamically shows current day of the month
- BusyCal Support!
- Removed the rate-the-app requestor (We still want ratings, but won’t be pushy!)
- Numerous bug fixes and tweaks
Jim Boutcher of Omaha heads SmellyPuppy, the shop that created QuickCal. He says the new version of QuickCal offers “a drastic upgrade to look and feel.” It’s an upgrade that came about because of Boutcher’s willingness to take advice offered via tweet by Ontario-based designer Pat Dryburgh.
“A few months ago, Pat Dryburgh tweeted something like ‘I love QuickCal, but I wish I could redesign it for them,’ ” Boutcher said in an email interview. “I saw the tweet and, not being that proud, took Pat up on his offer. Pat is an extremely creative person, and it shows in the new version.”
John Henry Muller from What Cheer also chipped in to help with version 3.0, designing a new app icon (left) and creating flowing number images for every day of the month, enabling QuickCal’s dock icon to change daily.
Boutcher said QuickCal, whose core team includes Dryburgh, Christian Bender (based in Slovenia) and Nicolas Rolland (based in France), has other upgrades on the horizon.
“The only thing we don’t have yet that we want for this integration is CalDav (or direct MobileMe or iCloud integration),” Boutcher said. “It’s coming.”
Also on the way for QuickCal is some high-profile pub. Boutcher said the iOs version of the app is scheduled to appear in the forthcoming “app issue” of Wired. “I’ll need to get out to the newsstands I guess,” he said. “Hopefully the reviews are good!”
For more on QuickCal, check out the demo video below, which was released along with version 3.0.
Video from Quicktipps on Vimeo.
