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Add to SafariWhen comparing Pocket vs Google Calendar, the Slant community recommends Pocket for most people. In the question“What are the best Material Design apps?” Pocket is ranked 5th while Google Calendar is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose Pocket is:
Pocket is available on iOS, Android, Kobo eReader and on the web.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Available on the web and mobile devices
Pocket is available on iOS, Android, Kobo eReader and on the web.
Pro Allows reading saved content in offline mode
Instead of only saving the link, the content is saved for offline use.
Pro Well-finished GUI and UX
Pro The Pocket plugin for Google Chrome is very stable
Pro Allows tagging bookmarks
Bookmarks can be tagged for search accuracy later on.
Pro Included in Firefox
Pocket is now integrated into the Firefox web browser, and you can login using your firefox/mozilla login, instead of having to create a separate account. This login method can even be used natively on their website, regardless what browser is being used.
Pro Integrates with over 500 apps
A key advantage of Pocket is that it is integrated in over 500 apps as a way to save the link, including Twitter, Flipboard, Pulse and Zite.
Pro Works well across Google Chrome on macOS and iOS
Pro Highlighting available on iOS
Pro Ability to filter by content type
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Advanced functionality available through IFTTT
IFTTT offers over 198 channels to plug into the users Google Calendar.
Cons
Con Only the paid version allows to search by tag
Con Correct and open export of bookmarks and tags are not possible
This means that Pocket is (currently) a total lock-in.
This is very sad, unfortunate and creates a no go decision for any seasoned user.
Too many bookmarking and tagging companies have stopped or have gone bankrupt these last years (e.g. Kippt, Spingpad, Delicious (to some extent), etc...). So, if you are going to invest a lot of your personal time and energy in curating your Internet findings (i.e. your bookmarks and tags), it is essential that a total, fair and open export (including all tags) functionality is provided. Personally tested the export "feature" and the resulting .html file that Pocket generates currently included only the URLs themselves, i.e. no save dates nor any of your personally curated tags, nor any other useful meta-data.
This is deplorable, because otherwise, Pocket is a very polished and well-functioning piece of multi-platform and multi-device software/app/web service, with a very easy and well-designed and implemented user interface...
Please fix this, Pocket !
These days of open and inter-operable web services, users are only attracted by valuable functionality, clean UX design and no lockins.
Con Search function in Pro version does not follow the proper date sequence
Although the pro version lets us search by tags, the search results unfortunately does not follow the time sequence of the saving of articles. Search results may show some old articles first, then a bunch of new articles, and then again old articles. It's so random and frustating.
I have been using Pocket pro for quite a long time primarily because it lets me have the permanent copy of a news (this feature is really useful in journalism). However, when I search tag wise for the old references, the absence of time-sequencing the search results really frustates me.
Con Can't rename the title of links
If the page title isn't correct/good for a link, there is no way for you to fix it.
Con Not really a bookmark tool but a tool to save webpages for later reading
A real bookmark tool has editable fields like title, url, folder, tags, notes. This saves webpages.
Con Deleted or edited tags do not go away from tag suggestions
For example, imagine you accidentally created a tag "US" instead of "USA," and saved some articles under "US." The unfortunate part is even if you edit the tag and rename it "USA" , the previous tag name will always appear in the suggested tags: so when saving an article, if you type US in the tag box, you will see two suggestions "US" and "USA."
Con Chrome addon doesn't let you open your library without saving current page first
Con Can't import Firefox bookmark tags
When importing bookmarks from Firefox, Pocket doesn't include the tags.
Con Chrome addon doesn't allow you to add tags with keyboard only (have to use mouse) while saving page
Con No vertical scroll
Like iOS and outlook for Android.
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 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 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 Setting up CalDAV or iCAL from other sources is not working or not working well
A lot of people share events between different sources: professional, private, family or friends.
Not everybody is on Google and of course a lot of corporations.
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 Does not work well with Apple / iCloud Calendar
Apple and Google calendars have syncing issues, which is annoying if you want to have shared calendars with friends / family.
Con Some recurrence options not available
If you want to add a recurring event based on quirky (but normal) calendar rules, it's not supported by Google Calendar. For example, if you set up a financial calendar in Google Calendar and an event falls on a weekend or bank holiday, Google Calendar cannot schedule the occurrence properly. Worse yet, if you submit those calendar occurences via VEVENT details, Google Calendar displays different information if you use the mobile calendar vs. the desktop web calendar.
Con Once you create a event on a Calendar, you can't move to a different Calendar
Con Horizontal Scroll
Does not vertically scroll like ios calendars on outlook calendar.
Con Slow syncing of external calendars
Google Calendar is known to sync external calendars very slowly, takes hours if not a full day before the updated events are reflected.
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 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.
