When comparing Google Calendar vs Microsoft Outlook, the Slant community recommends Google Calendar for most people. In the question“What are the best calendar apps for iPhone?” Google Calendar is ranked 3rd while Microsoft Outlook is ranked 10th. The most important reason people chose Google Calendar is:
Google Calendar has a monochrome base design that's accented with colored-coded events and image banners that separate months in schedule view. The app has 5 different views - schedule, day, 3-day, week and month. Day, 3-day and week views split up the days horizontally and hours vertically. Month view lays out all days in a grid and displays up to 3 events in a day. Schedule view displays an agenda view that allows browsing all events by swiping vertically. Additionally, the way events are displayed in the agenda view is context-aware. For example, adding an event called "gym" will display the event on a background with a dumbbell. All views except for month view can be split horizontally to display a condensed month view at the top that can be navigated by swiping horizontally. Events can be added from any view by clicking the red plus button that's available at the bottom-right corner of the screen.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Clean design with 5 different views including an excellent schedule view
Google Calendar has a monochrome base design that's accented with colored-coded events and image banners that separate months in schedule view.
The app has 5 different views - schedule, day, 3-day, week and month.
Day, 3-day and week views split up the days horizontally and hours vertically. Month view lays out all days in a grid and displays up to 3 events in a day.
Schedule view displays an agenda view that allows browsing all events by swiping vertically. Additionally, the way events are displayed in the agenda view is context-aware. For example, adding an event called "gym" will display the event on a background with a dumbbell.
All views except for month view can be split horizontally to display a condensed month view at the top that can be navigated by swiping horizontally.
Events can be added from any view by clicking the red plus button that's available at the bottom-right corner of the screen.
Pro Integrates well with other Google services
Google Calendar is part of the Google ecosystem, it integrates with services like Google Now for creating events, Google Maps for directions and Gmail for pulling information about planned flights.
Pro Integrates with Google Maps for directions
The app leverages Google Maps when adding location for an event by offering suggestions as well as offers opening Maps to help get directions to an event via shortcut on a reminder notification.
Pro Comes pre-installed on most Android devices
Google Calendar is a free Android calendar app without ads that comes already installed on Android devices that have stock support for Google Services.
Pro Offers creating events from e-mail messages based on content
Google Calendar integrates with e-mail for quickly creating events from e-mails that contain the word "meeting" or dates or times, or any other information about events or plans that it can understand.
Pro Can set on-screen and e-mail reminder notifications
Google calendar allows setting how many reminders are needed with each having the ability to set how long before the event the notification should remind and if it should be done via on-screen or e-mail notification.
Pro Straightforward event creation with autocomplete
All views have an option of adding a new event by tapping the plus sign at the lower right corner of the screen. This opens up a form and allows the user to add a location, start/end times, guests, description, color-code as well as choosing if it's an all day event, how often it repeats, how many and what kind of reminders are needed and setting the users availability and privacy settings.
Pro Color-coding for events and calendars
The app will color-code different calendars in different colors as well as allow selecting a different color for each event.
Pro Supports non-Google calendars (requires accessing web client)
Google Calendar can be integrated with any calendar that support iCalendar format, including Exchange and iCloud, via URL, but it has to be done using the web client.
Pro Lots of third-party widgets
Google Calendar comes with a home screen widget, and there are also many third party widgets developed for this calendar app.
Pro Allows subscribing to public calendars through web client
Through the Google Calendar's web client, it is possible to subscribe to any public calendar. Google also maintains a list of public calendars for various sports events and holidays in different countries and for different religions.
Pro Advanced functionality available through IFTTT
IFTTT offers over 198 channels to plug into the users Google Calendar.
Pro Awesome flairs / images view inside the agenda view / event page
Whenever you enter agenda / event title with the keywords (when available), the event will show up interesting flairs whenever the keyword inside the agenda / title you typed matches the flairs that are available inside the system, examples such as haircut, cycling, swimming, coffee, movie etc.
Pro Integrates with cloud storage services
Microsoft Outlook comes with built-in cloud storage browser allowing you to attach files directly from services such as Dropbox, Box, Google Drive or OneDrive to emails and directly open attached files without the need for the main cloud storage app.
Pro Good built-in calendar
The calendar includes agenda, day and three-day views.
Pro Quick swipe features
Microsoft Outlook comes with quick swipe features where users can quickly swipe the thread either from left (to schedule) or right (to delete or archive). Additionally, users can also customize the swipe actions to, for example, set swipe from left to archive or swipe from right to delete.
Pro Excellent notifications center calendar widget
Pro Good built-in contacts
In addition to showing contact information, the People section of Outlook can show all conversations you've had with a person. Moreover, if you're looking for someone that's not in your contact's list, but is in your company's or school's directory, Outlook can pull that information through integration with Global Address List (GAL).
Pro Helps prioritize email
The app will automatically attempt to figure out which emails are important to you and surface those. The priority emails will show up in your inbox in a tab called Focused, with other emails in a tab called Other. It aims to separate spam and promotional emails from the important emails.
Pro Integrates with Microsoft services
Cons
Con No weather forecast
The Android app version of Google Calendar does not show any weather forcast information, even if it is added as an extra calendar in the web application. Being that weather is tied into Google Now, the absence is surprising.
Con Privacy concerns
Google integrate all their services to connect and mine information on an individual to better profile and target advertising.
Con Google tasks do not show on Google Calendar
You can create tasks in your desktop Google Calendar but they will not sync nor show up in your android Google Calendar
Con Month view shows limited information about the event
Month view does not show how many events there are in each given day or color-code them in any way, only informs of their existence.
Con Weak default view
Even if month is set as default view, as soon as you touch a day or an event, you have to carefully select twice to get back to month view.
Con Time zone is incorrect no matter what's done
Con Timezone for Moscow is incorrect
Timezone for Moscow is 1 hour off. This makes the calendar unusable in Russia.
Con No natural language input support
The Android app has no natural language input support, while it's available using the web client and in a limited capacity using Google Now.
Con Setting up non-Google calendars requires accessing web client
There is no ability in the Android app to access other calendars. This limits the usefulness for people that use more than one calendar, such as OSX and iOS users.
Con Doesn't follow security guidelines
The app stores user information and credentials on outside servers which is a violation of ActiveSync password requirement policies. These security concerns have been enough of an issue that European Parliament has banned its members from using the app out of fear that it might lead to leaking sensitive information.