This digital calendar helped my chronically disorganised family function better

A neat solution that syncs family calendars – and would be a useful addition to the household of busy creatives. Some glitches, but highly useable – especially the addition of entertainment apps.

Our chronically disorganised household is used to running on phones, a wall planner nobody updated and my memory. But that's a lot for anyone to manage, and it was fraught with failure. All this means I was glad to test Everblog's Home Calendar.

This device is a 21.5-inch touchscreen that puts everyone's schedules, 'chores', meals and photos in one place. It needs no subscription, and after a few weeks it's the first piece of family admin tech that has stuck. It's aimed at families, but I think creatives should look at it too, and I'll explain why. (See our review of the Everblog Fridge Calendar here.)

Setup

This is the part I put off for ages, dreading the inevitable glitches that come with new devices, and especially anything that involves family admin. Actually though, setup was mostly really easy. Syncing my calendars took minutes, as did adding the same calendars from other accounts. And much to the delight of my children, the photo library sync meant the screen had family pictures on it almost immediately. You can also download entertainment apps like Spotify and Netflix, which is handy when the screen lives in the kitchen.

Other reviewers agree it's simple on the whole, with one sticking point. Some found it easy to connect to the network, but said it takes dedicated time to get your lists and chores set up. That matches my experience – it took the best part of an evening. Compatibility is broad, too: it works with Apple, Gmail, Outlook or any calendar that supports sharing a URL.

Design and interface

It's a sleek physical build (luckily, since it'll take up quite a bit of wall space), with a clear display, and the interface is simple enough that my children use it without help. Each person gets a colour-coded profile, and the home screen lays out the calendar, chores, meal plan, apps and photos in separate blocks so it's easy to understand at a glance. It's also bright enough to read from a distance, which is helpful when you're busy doing something else in the kitchen.

The interface is simple and intuitive, with a clear font and sensible spacing for the different elements. It isn't as customisable as I would have expected, you seem to get one choice of homescreen layout, but it doesn't really matter in the long run.

In regards to the profiles, one reviewer liked being able to toggle them on and off to cut clutter when a day fills up, but wished there were more colour options. I can see why, though I didn't have the same issue with only four of us. If you have a big family, you'll run out of distinct colours quickly.

Performance

It works really well. Syncing is clean and simple, it handles several people's calendars at once, and you can assign a profile to each event. Sync runs both ways, so an event added on the screen appears on our phones. It has changed how our family organises itself, and how I organise my work.

I should be straight that not everyone has had this experience. MacSources reported slow or unreliable calendar syncing, and said the upcoming events list only showed an event added on the device itself. That review is several months old, and I haven't had the problem, but check whether it's been fixed if syncing matters to you. Another reviewer found that some of the device's own features don't sync with each other, so certain items had to be entered more than once. And The Gadgeteer couldn't get a work Outlook calendar to sync, which they put down to strict employer security rather than the device. If your work calendar sits behind a locked-down IT setup, expect the same.

Why should creatives care?

Having the family's logistics on a screen in the hallway frees up my brain for other projects. I'm not holding school appointments, work schedules and who's cooking on Thursday in my head, so that space goes to actual work. If you're a freelancer or run a studio, that headroom matters more than any feature on the spec sheet.

There are a couple of practical extras for creative people. The companion app lets you add events, chores, recipes and goals away from the screen, and they show up straight away. There's also an AI import tool that can pull in events and tasks from a photo, voice recording, PDF or email. If client briefs and booking confirmations reach you as PDFs and emails, that could save some retyping.

I'd like to see a dedicated work view. With multiple profiles already in place, a separate view for client appointments, deadlines and calls would make it a proper studio calendar as well as a family one. For now I keep work events in their own profile, which does the job, but it isn't the same.

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