GNOME Calendar is one of the few decent desktop calendaring apps available on Linux — and it’s going to get better.

Georges Stavracas, GNOME developer, gives an overview of new features and changes that are headed to the app.

And spoiler: it’s a whole lot of awesome.

GNOME Calendar — Planned Features

GNOME Calendar is, to my mind, the most accomplished app of its kind currently available on Linux, and builds on innovative touches offered by the short-lived California.

So the addition of new sidebar might not sound like the most revolutionary thing, but when you’re trying to keep on top of multiple calendars and appointments it really helps to have some degree of concision.

The plan for GNOME Calendar is to add a sidebar similar to, but not identical, to the sidebar used in Fantastical 2, a third-party macOS app.

Georges says the sidebar, regardless of whatever form it ends up taking, will be able to be hidden (just like the Nautius sidebar). If you’re happy with the current layout you can rest assured that you’ll be able to keep using the app the way you like.

Also on the table is a new week view (GNOME Calendar currently only has monthly and yearly overviews), and support for adding and listing attendees to a scheduled event (likely through integration with GNOME contacts).

User testing of the app has thrown light on a few areas that need improvement, including the way in which people manage calendars. The plan is to introduce a new setup wizard, and make it easier to add and arrange multiple calendars.

Other items on the roadmap include creation of reoccurring events, natural language support, and reminders.