iOS Calendar App ’24me’ Gets Valuable New Smart Alerts

The free calendar app 24me for iOS recently got a “smart alerts” feature. It’s a welcome addition that makes 24me more compelling.

The app, which I reviewed in Nov. 2013, does a good job integrating calendar appointments, tasks and reminders. (It integrates with Google Calendar, Outlook Exchange and Yahoo Calendar.)

The goal of adding smart alerts is to make 24me a better virtual assistant, and the new feature delivers. The alerts let you know the best time to leave for an appointment based on current traffic conditions. This feature isn’t unique; it is also available in Google Now, which is part of the Google Search app on iOS and Android. Still, it’s nice to have the traffic alerts built into your calendar app.

The recent 24me update also adds weather notifications and alerts for friends’ birthdays. I can also report that an annoyance I experienced during my review last fall has been corrected.

Previously, 24me showed me appointments from all my Google calendars, even though I only wanted to see a few of my calendars. The developer has since added the ability to filter calendars.

Unfortunately, the app still isn’t optimized for iPads (though, in fairness, a lot of iOS calendar apps aren’t either), and there’s still no Android version. The developer says an Android app is coming soon.

24me is free and doesn’t include ads, so it’s worth taking a look. Other worthy iOS calendar apps to consider include Sunrise Calendar and my personal favorite, Tempo, which I reviewed in March 2013.