Why Most Calendar Apps Fail at the Month View
By Jonathan Jones•Published on January 18, 2026•Updated on January 20, 2026
App Design
Loading content…
Loading popular posts...
Most calendar apps solve the wrong problem.
They keep adding views, features, and toggles, but overlook the one thing people rely on most when planning their time: the month view.
If you use your calendar daily, especially for work or creative projects, you’re not constantly asking “what’s next today?”. You’re asking something bigger.
What does my month actually look like?
The month view is where you:
It’s the overview. The map. The thing that lets you think ahead instead of reacting.
And yet, in most calendar apps, it’s the weakest view.
Coloured dots look clean but tell you nothing. You still have to tap in just to understand what’s happening, which defeats the point of a month view.
Tapping a day often jumps you into a different view, breaking context and forcing you to bounce back and forth just to compare dates.
Some apps over-design the interface with layers and gestures. Others barely invest in the month view at all. In both cases, it ends up being decorative instead of useful.
A proper month view needs:
This is harder than showing a list of events. But it’s also far more valuable.
Most apps don’t prioritise it, so it never gets done properly.
Tapcal was built with the month view first, not as an afterthought.
Instead of dots, it shows:
You can glance at the month and immediately understand what’s coming up.
This works both:
No guessing. No tapping just to get basic information.
When your month view works:
That’s the difference between managing events and actually planning your life.
Most calendar apps never fix this.
Download TapCal from the app store and try it out for yourself! - https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/tapcal/id6751503116