entertainment in hawaii: Sunrise Calendar: Interesting idea, deal-breaker implementation

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Sunrise Calendar: Interesting idea, deal-breaker implementation

Sunrise Calendar launched in the App Store this week to mixed buzz. It looks interesting but it only works with Google Calendar and requires -- requires -- you to login with Facebook before it will let you start using the app. That's an absolute show stopper for me. I don't need or want to login to a calendar app, and if I did, while Facebook would be a welcome option among many, I won't use any third-party app, not ever, where it's the only option. But that's not all...

I also use more than Google Calendar. My work stuff is on there, but my personal calendars are all on iCloud. Unless/until Apple's calendar is supported on Apple's platform, I lose a unified calendar, which is another deal-breaker for me. Same likely holds true for Exchange users.

I'm also confused as to why Sunrise Calendar is free. Yes, I do look gift-horses in the mouth, especially when there's a chance they'll bite me. Free sounds great, but nothing is ever really free. If I'm not paying, someone else is paying. And if I'm not being sold a product, odds are I'm either being sold as a product, or the product I'm being given for free won't long survive, at least not in the form it's being given me. I've had too many "free" services I've grown to like and depend on shut down, or get sold to Google or someone similar and effectively shut down. Not again.

Also, my calendars contains not just my personal information, but that of my friends, family, co-workers, and other associates. That's extremely valuable, and I'm extremely careful about how and with what I access it. "Free" is never enough to buy that access. Only "trust".

So this is where my Sunrise Calendar "review" ends for now. Get rid of the forced Facebook login, expand beyond Google Calendar, explain a business model I can trust with my data and trust will be around for a while, and I'll happily give it a full on trial, and who knows, maybe I'll like it and switch to it?

For now, I can't even use it.

If you don't mind Facebook logins, Google-only calendars, or free-as-in-??? apps, check out the video below, and if you like what you see, check out Sunrise Calendar and let me know how it works for you.