BusyCal 1.6.2 has been released.

What's new:

• Fixed bug that would cause conflicts to occur when syncing with Google.
• Fixed bug that prevented organizer from updating a meeting on iCloud.
• Fixed incompatibility with alarms that have no sound on Lion iCal Server.
• Localization changes.

The update is available now for all direct customers and will be available for Mac App Store customers once it's approved by Apple.

How to install the update:

• Direct customers: Select Check for Updates from the BusyCal menu.
• Mac App Store customers: Once it's approved by Apple, it will appear in the Updates tab on the Mac App Store.
• New users: Download the BusyCal 30-day trial.

You can sync BusyCal calendars on your Mac with the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch wirelessly with iCloud.

This 2.5-minute screencast shows how to:

• Configure BusyCal to sync with iCloud
• Configure the iPhone to sync with iCloud
• Move local calendars to iCloud

Syncing BusyCal with iCloud and the iPhone Screencast

BusyCal enables you to share calendars with other iCloud users.

Once each user has configured BusyCal to sync with their personal iCloud account, you can then share calendars with each other through iCloud. Once a calendar is shared through iCloud, events can be edited by any user and changes will sync between them.

This 2-minute screencast shows how.

Sharing calendars through iCloud Screencast

BusyMac will be exhibiting at Macworld iWorld, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Jan. 26-28 2012.

This is our fifth year exhibiting at the show (formerly known as Macworld Expo). We enjoy the opportunity to demo our software, meet face-to-face with customers, and hear what you'd like to see from us in the future.

If you're planning to attend the show, please stop by and say hello.

Siri is a great tool for creating Events and To Dos on the iPhone 4S. And since the iPhone syncs with BusyCal through iCloud, you can use Siri to create Events and To Dos in BusyCal, including repeating To Dos and Location Alarms.

Here are some examples of how to create Events and To Dos with Siri that sync with BusyCal.

Appointments

"Schedule dentist appointment on Thursday at two"

Meetings

"Set up a meeting with Fred on Friday at 11 at Starbucks"

Dated To Dos

"Remind me to buy tickets tomorrow at 10"

Undated To Dos

"Remember to submit expense report"

Location Alarms

"Remind me to call Fred when I leave work"

Repeating To Dos

"Remind me to take out the trash every Tuesday at 7 PM"

Shopping List

You can create different To Do lists for different tasks, such as a Shopping list. To create a new list on your iPhone, tap the List button > Edit > Create New List, and name it Shopping. 

Normally, when you create a To Do with Siri, the To Do is added to your default To Do list, specified in Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Reminders > Default List. To add items to a different list, you must tell Siri which list to add it to. For example, to add milk to the Shopping list, say:

"Add milk to shopping list"

That item will be added to the Shopping List.

Shared Calendars and To Do Lists

Lastly, you can share calendars and to do lists with other iCloud users. You could share the Shopping List with your spouse through iCloud, so whoever goes to the grocery store next will have an up-to-date list of items to purchase.

BusyCal 1.6.1 has been released. This update includes many bug fixes.

What's new:

• Fixed problems connecting to me.com accounts
• Fixed bug moving attachments to iCloud
• Fixed crash when dismissing shared calendar notifications
• Fixed alarm sound preference not saving between sessions
• Fixed non-matching organizer URNs on iCloud iTIPs
• Fixed crash when importing invalid ics file
• Fixed crash when displaying a percent-escaped URL with non-UTF-8 characters in info panel
• Fixed crash when creating a new calendar while editing a calendar group name
• Fixed bug when canceling a delete of a repeating to do
• Fixed bug when entering a custom address into location alarm dialog
• Fixed grid line printing bug
• Catches Sync Services exception and presents Reset Sync History alert
• Other miscellaneous bug fixes

The update is available now for all direct customers and will be available for Mac App Store customers once approved by Apple.

How to install the update:

• Direct customers: Select Check for Updates from the BusyCal menu.
• Mac App Store customers: Check the Updates tab on the Mac App Store.
• New users: Download the BusyCal 30-day trial.

Apple’s new Reminders app for iOS 5 allows you to sync To Dos on your iOS device with your Mac through iCloud. The lack of a built-in To Do manager for iOS has been a long-time shortcoming and we’re happy that Apple has finally include this functionality in iOS 5.

We’re pleased to announce that BusyCal syncs To Dos with the Reminders app. What's more, BusyCal syncs repeating to dos and location alarms with the Reminders app — two features that even iCal doesn’t support.

Here’s an overview of how To Dos in BusyCal sync with the Reminders app through iCloud.

Syncing To Dos through iCloud

BusyCal syncs To Dos with the Reminders app on iOS 5 through iCloud. iCloud calendars are type-specific, so only the To Do calendars will sync with the Reminders app.

BusyCal displays To Dos in a To Do List in the sidebar.

BusyCal can also display To Dos in the calendar on their due date or completion date.

When you create or edit a To Do in BusyCal, it immediately syncs to the Reminders app. Likewise, when you create or edit a To Do in the Reminders app, it immediately syncs to BusyCal. You can even use Siri to create To Dos in the Reminders app that sync to BusyCal on your Mac!

Repeating To Dos

Both BusyCal and the Reminders app support repeating To Dos.

BusyCal displays all completed occurrences and the next due occurrence of a repeating To Do in the calendar. When you complete an occurrence of a repeating To Do, the next due occurrence is automatically created and displayed in the calendar.

For example, you could create a To Do on Monday to "Take out the trash" that repeats weekly. Only the next due occurrence of the To Do appears in the calendar. When you complete it, the next occurrence is created on the following Monday.

Location Alarms

One of the best features of the Reminders app is location alarms, which are displayed on an iOS 5 device when arriving or leaving a specified location. For example, you could create a To Do to “Pick up dry cleaning” that triggers when you leave the office. BusyCal supports location alarms that sync with the Reminders app, and you can even create and edit location alarms in BusyCal.

To create a location alarm in BusyCal, create a To Do with an Alarm Type of Location, and either select a contact from your Address Book, type in an address, or search for a location using the embedded Google Maps interface.

Location alarms will trigger on your iOS device each time you arrive or leave a location, until you complete the To Do or delete it. In addition, you can set a specific date and time to be reminded on both your Mac and iOS device, regardless of whether or not you reach the location.

iCal

Strangely, iCal does not support either of these great new features in the Reminders app:

• Repeating To Dos — iCal cannot create or edit repeating To Dos. You can see them in iCal, but they are read-only. You can’t even mark a repeating To Do as completed in iCal!
• Location alarms — Location alarms cannot be created, edited, or viewed in iCal.

BusyToDo

We’d be remiss if we didn’t throw in a plug for BusyToDo, which we created nearly a year ago to fill the void that existed on iOS before the Reminders app made its debut in iOS 5.

BusyToDo is a To Do list manager for iOS that wirelessly syncs To Dos with iCal and BusyCal through iCloud and MobileMe. Like the Reminders app, BusyToDo supports repeating To Dos and Location Alarms. It also provides some features lacking in the Reminders app, like the ability to prioritize, sort and filter your To Dos. You can learn more about BusyToDo at http://www.busymac.com/busytodo.

Summary

If you're looking for a Mac app that syncs with the Reminders app on iOS5 and takes full advantage of its unqiue features, like repeating To Dos and Location Alarms, check out BusyCal.

Apple’s new iCloud service allows you to sync calendar Events and To Dos on your Mac with an iOS device through icloud.com.

One of the big changes in iCloud vs. its predecessor, MobileMe, is that iCloud calendars are type-specific. Each iCloud calendar may contain either Events or To Dos, but not both. When you upgrade to iCloud, each of your existing calendars will be split into two calendars — one for Events and one for To Dos.

This has caused some confusion for long-time users of iCal and BusyCal, especially since the To Do calendars in iCal are well hidden.

Here’s an overview of how the Event and To Do calendars are displayed on iCloud, OS X, and iOS.

iCloud

When viewing your calendar on icloud.com, the Event calendars and the To Do calendars are listed in the left sidebar in separate groups named Calendars and Reminders.

BusyCal

In BusyCal, the Event and To Do calendars are displayed in the left sidebar. The To Do calendars are indicated with a checkmark next to their name. In addition, BusyCal allows you to arrange calendars into groups. In this example, the To Do calendars are displayed under a group called To Dos.

iCal

In iCal, the Event calendars are listed under the Calendars button on the left, and the To Do calendars are listed under the Reminders popup menu on the right.

iCal's UI is somewhat confusing. The Calendars button implies that clicking on it will expose controls for filtering calendars, but that’s not what is expected of the Reminders popup menu. Very few users are aware that a list of To Do calendars are displayed under the Reminders popup menu. What’s more, it’s inconsistent with iCloud and BusyCal where the popup menu above the To Do List displays a list of sorting options, which used to be the behavior in earlier versions of iCal.

The situation on iOS is less confusing because the built-in apps are type specific.

iOS Calendar app

The iOS Calendar app syncs only with the Event calendars on iCloud.

iOS Reminders app

The iOS Reminders app syncs only with the To Do calendars on iCloud.

iOS BusyToDo app

Likewise, BusyToDo syncs only with the To Do calendars on iCloud.

Summary

In summary, iCloud stores Events and To Dos on separate calendars. BusyCal and iCloud display the To Do calendars in the left sidebar. iCal hides the To Do calendars under the Reminder popup menu on the right.

BusyToDo 1.6.1 has been released and is available now on the App Store.

This is a bug fix update, with the following changes:

• Fixed bug that prevented users from connecting to MobileMe.
• Fixed bug that prevented users from connecting to iCloud if they were using a gmail address for their Apple ID.

Requirements:

• iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch running iOS 5 or later.
• iCloud, MobileMe, or iCal Server.
• Mac OS X 10.7.2 or later and iCal or BusyCal.

BusyToDo 1.6.1 is available now on the App Store.

Note: You must upgrade to iOS 5 before you can install BusyToDo 1.6.1.

I recently spoke with Chuck Joiner at MacVoices to discuss the transition from MobileMe to iCloud for calendar syncing.

"John Chaffee of BusyMac helps us work through the maze of calendar and contact syncing that has arrived with the launch of iCloud and the first steps away from MobileMe. Why separating events and to-do’s is a good thing, the steps to take to successfully migrate your calendar, both with and without BusyCal, changes in to-do handling are all included in the discussion. John also touches on the compatibility of BusyToDo with BusyCal and Apple’s Reminders, Google calendar integration, and how to get your calendar list and mini calendar back."

If you're a curious about the ins-and-outs of iCloud, you can download the podcast or listen to it online at MacVoices.