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In December 2023, Google was spotted testing a major quality-of-life update to its Calendar app. It was working on simplifying how you create an event or task on the app. This much-needed change is now rolling out to Android users. Google Calendar for iOS may also get the update soon.
Google Calendar update simplifies how you create tasks and events
The latest update for Google Calendar appears relatively small. When creating a new task or event, you now get chips below the text field to select what type of entry you want to create (Google Workspace users also get the option to mark an “out of office” entry). This may not look like a big change but it can go a long way in improving the overall experience. Here’s how.
Google’s Calendar app offers a FAB (floating action button) on the home page—the “Plus” icon in the bottom-right corner. Tapping it brings up the options to create a new event, task, or “out of office” entry. You must select an option before proceeding to enter details and save it. The problem is that there is no way to change the type of entry once you have picked it.
The only alternative is going back and starting from scratch, which means you will lose everything you have already typed in or configured. This can be annoying if you accidentally select a task instead of an event in the beginning. The addition of chips below the text field fixes this problem. You can now easily switch between an event and a task while creating a calendar entry.
Since Google Calendar offers a different set of options for tasks and events, selecting a chip will change what appears below the text field. This is super convenient and a much-needed update. This update doesn’t change the FAB, so you still have to select one option before you reach the creation page. However, Google will likely remove the floating options and let you directly jump to the text field from the Plus button.
The update is rolling out to users
First reported by 9to5Google, this change is rolling out to users via a server-side update, though you require version 2024.07.0-608174112 or higher of Google Calendar for Android. The new version is available on the Google Play Store. If you don’t see the updated UI, force-stop the app and restart it. The trick worked for us. The update should soon roll out on iPhones.
