I won’t lie to you: I hated the first digital wall calendar I tried.
I tried the Hearth Display last year and was left unimpressed, but to my surprise, digital wall calendars as a whole have only picked up in popularity and options.
Digital wall calendars take your online calendar—think your Google Calendar, the Calendar app on your iPhone, or your corporate Microsoft calendar account—and put it on a digital screen that you can mount on the wall or prop up on a stand on a countertop or table.
Instead, as someone who already lives and breathes by her Google Calendar to manage her family's life, I've found myself in love with being able to pull up that calendar in the middle of the kitchen sans my phone.
The extra features are ones that both my husband and I are using more and more, especially the meal-planning function.
But for the best wall calendar, that meal-planning feature—and other handy features—will require a monthly fee.
Here's everything you need to know about digital wall calendars and whether they're a fit for you.
What’s a Digital Wall Calendar?
You might have heard these devices called by various names.
Maybe “digital wall calendar” or “smart calendar device.” Maybe you've just heard the name Skylight Calendar , which is the popular model right now.
No matter the name, these devices all do the same thing: replace a paper calendar with a digitized one that connects to the calendar tools you're already using, like Google Calendar or Apple Calendar.
It makes it easier for the entire family to see the schedule and allows for family members to update or add to it without needing a phone or a separate account of their own.
It also erases issues like unreadable handwriting or forgetting to write down an event in a second place, and color-coding makes it easy to see who's on the hook for what events and activities.
While these are often called wall calendars, you can usually choose to also place them on a tabletop.
Some sizes come only with wall-mounting hardware, but I've been able to prop them up on multiple tables without a stand during my testing.
I did find I preferred the models with a tabletop stand included, but if you want it right on the wall, that's an easy option.
What Else Can a Digital Wall Calendar Do?
Is It Worth Getting a Digital Wall Calendar?
My husband and I have found it so useful in part because we're both good about adding things to our individual calendars, so now this device can reflect that work we do.
It lets us skip pulling out our phones when discussing what our plans are the next day or the upcoming weekend.
Skylight's calendar is the most popular for a reason.
The brand is known for its digital photo frames, and now you can use the same Skylight app to operate any of three digital calendars: the 10-inch Calendar ($150) , the Calendar 2 ($280) , and the Calendar Max ($600) .
The main difference between these is size, but Calendar 2 is the newest model, with improved performance and interchangeable Snap Frames ($29 to $49) you can purchase to change the device's look.
Lists and Tasks sound similar, but Tasks are meant to be more of a chore chart, connecting back to the Rewards page to build habits and earn the reward you set after hitting a certain goal.
The main audience for this is children who are old enough to check the calendar.
Lists is for things like your grocery list, and if you add recipes to the Recipe tab and then add them to your meal plan for that week, Skylight will offer to put the ingredients on your shopping list.
I don't like the experience quite as much as with the Skylight, but no paywall is a huge plus.
It's worth getting used to the more Android-style experience to not pay a monthly or yearly fee.
But since it's essentially a large Android tablet, iPhone users have flagged on Reddit that they can't two-way sync between it and their iPhone devices .
The Apolosign is usually on sale for the same price, if not cheaper, than the Skylight, but you'll be free of any monthly fees.
Hearth Display for $699 : This is another digital calendar and family tool that has a paywall with the Family Membership ($6 a month) and a much higher price point.
It's only available in the large 26-inch size, and I found it more difficult to import my information than with options that cost less.
How Do Digital Wall Calendars Work?
Digital wall calendars sync with your existing digital calendar app of choice, like Google Calendar, and display it on the physical screen.
There are usually tools for things like recipes, to-do lists, and chores, but each digital wall calendar varies in how you will import these.
Usually you have to manually import or type them into the device, but once you get used to using it, it can be a useful tool for the whole family.
Will Changes to My Calendar Show Up Instantly?
How Is It Different From a Smart Display?
Does It Have to Go on the Wall?
No, and most of these devices come with a table-stand option.
I only tested in table-stand mode since I had multiple of these devices in my house at one time, but the wall-mounting option is nice to put it somewhere for the kids to reach and to keep your tabletops clear.
The 15-inch models are great for tabletops, but larger sizes you probably will want to consider the wall mount route.
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Source: This article was originally published by Wired
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