minical is a free iPhone calendar with a monthly view and 21 types of Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, so you can check your schedule without opening the app. It has 4.8 stars from 6,119 App Store ratings, and the complaint that comes up most often in reviews is the ads in the free version.
Quick verdict
If you want a clean month calendar on your Home Screen or Lock Screen, minical is worth trying. Many reviewers call it easy to use, and many like the look. The widgets and the color options each get praise from several reviewers. Where it falls down is ads and reliability: several reviewers complain about ads in the free version, several had widgets stop working (mostly in early 2024), and a few say their events vanished. If you need more than a month view in the app, or Apple Reminders on the calendar, look elsewhere: a few reviewers ask for each.
minical at a glance
| Developer | minical Inc. |
|---|---|
| Store listing | minical on the App Store |
| Price | Free; in-app prices not in our data (one reviewer mentions a one-time Pro fee of about $12, another mentions $13) |
| Ads | Not stated in the listing; reviewers say the free version shows ads and Pro removes them |
| App Store rating | 4.8 stars from 6,119 ratings |
| Downloads | Not in our data |
| Version / last updated | 5.12.0 / September 30, 2026 |
| Requires | iOS 17.0 or later |
| First released | March 26, 2021 |
| Data checked | November 2, 2026 |
What is minical?
minical is a calendar app with “a simple, intuitive minimalist design,” the listing says. It opens to a monthly calendar, and its widgets put your schedule on the Home Screen or Lock Screen. It syncs with iCloud Calendar and Google Calendar, so it can sit on top of calendars you already use.
Key features
- Widgets: Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, 21 types on iPhone and 26 on iPad.
- Monthly calendar: a month view for checking your schedule at a glance.
- Color-coded events: color individual events and group them by color.
- Event editing: input suggestions, event templates, notes, URLs with previews, locations, recurrences, and copying an event to several dates.
- Maps: opens locations in Apple Maps, Google Maps, Naver Map or Waze.
- Notifications: multiple alerts per event, a daily summary, 7 notification sounds, and an icon badge with today’s date, the week number or the number of events today.
- Sync and backup: iCloud Calendar, Google Calendar and others, plus sharing events through them.
- Design options: 38 color themes, dark mode, 10 fonts and 21 app icons.
- Regional settings: 48 languages, first day of the week, week numbers, holidays, 12- or 24-hour time, time zones and traditional calendar dates in supported regions.
- Accessibility: VoiceOver, the system text size and adjustable event text size.
- Other: dimming past events, Focus mode and Shortcuts, action buttons and Control Center controls, event participants, and join buttons for Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and Webex.
minical vs. what a widget app should have
“Listed” means the App Store listing names the feature, “Partial” means it covers part of it, and “Reviews only” means reviewers describe it but the listing doesn’t. “Not listed” means neither the listing nor the reviews in our data show it. minical is a calendar, so rows about weather, music, health and custom data sources are left out.
Must have
| Feature | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Home Screen widgets in several families | Listed | 21 widget types on iPhone |
| Lock Screen widgets | Listed | One reviewer likes the two-week Lock Screen widget; one in August 2026 says theirs no longer appears |
| Design editor | Partial | Color themes, fonts and event colors; no free-form editor listed |
| Ready-made designs or templates | Partial | 21 widget types and 38 color themes |
| Common data (time, date, weather, calendar, battery) | Partial | Calendar and date only |
| Widgets that stay up to date | Not listed | Several reviewers report widgets that stopped updating, went blank or vanished |
| Transparent or wallpaper-matching backgrounds | Not listed |
Should have
| Feature | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Smartwatch faces or complications | Not listed | One reviewer wants an Apple Watch app |
| Tap actions that open apps | Partial | Action buttons, Control Center and join buttons for video calls |
| Sharing or importing designs | Not listed | |
| Help, tutorials or a support contact | Reviews only | One reviewer got a reply that didn’t solve their problem; another says they got no reply |
| A usable free tier | Reviews only | One reviewer says most features are free; two others say the free version is too limited or not really free |
| Restoring purchases on a new device | Not listed |
Nice to have
| Feature | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Live Activities / Dynamic Island | Not listed | |
| Tablet and desktop support | Partial | 26 widget types on iPad; two reviewers want better Mac or laptop support |
| Shortcuts or automation integration | Listed | Shortcuts app and Focus mode |
| One-time purchase instead of a subscription | Reviews only | A few reviewers say Pro is a one-time purchase |
| No ads | Reviews only | Reviewers say the free version shows ads and that Pro removes them |
Common problems reviewers report
The data we collected doesn’t include developer replies, so this table shows each problem and when it was reported, not an official fix. Older reports may describe earlier versions; version 5.12.0 may behave differently.
| Problem | What reviewers report | When |
|---|---|---|
| Ads while adding events | A few reviewers say an ad appears after they add an event; others describe loud pop-ups and full-screen ads they couldn’t skip | May to June 2024; ad complaints continue to January 2026 |
| Widgets stopped working | Reviewers say widgets went blank, turned black, stopped updating or didn’t appear; one says a Lock Screen widget shows while editing but not on the Lock Screen | January to March 2024; August 2026 |
| Events disappeared | A few reviewers say nearly all their events, or their weekly events, vanished | August to October 2026 |
| Only one Google calendar | One reviewer couldn’t show a single Google calendar without syncing it through Apple’s Calendar | July 2026 |
| App froze | One reviewer says the app froze on the first screen, twice | March 2026 |
Pros (from user reviews)
- Easy to use: many reviewers call it easy, simple or intuitive. Two found parts of it awkward: deleting items, and closing the new-event panel.
- Clean look: many reviewers like the design, calling it clean, aesthetic or cute.
- Widgets: several reviewers praise the widgets. They name a 3-day widget, one showing today and the next two days, a two-week Lock Screen widget and a full-month Home Screen widget.
- Events on the month grid: a few reviewers like seeing event titles right on each day of the month view.
- Color coding: several reviewers like coloring events and changing the look. Two want more color choices.
- One-time Pro: a few reviewers like that Pro is a one-time purchase, and a few say it was worth paying for.
- Sync: a few reviewers say it syncs with the Apple or other calendars they already had.
Cons (from user reviews)
- Ads: several reviewers complain about ads in the free version. They describe an ad after adding an event, loud pop-ups and full-screen ads they couldn’t skip, and one reviewer in December 2025 got an explicit 18+ ad. Two others say they rarely or never see ads.
- Widget problems: widgets went blank, stopped updating or didn’t show for several reviewers, most of them in early 2024.
- Lost events: a few reviewers say their events disappeared, all of them between August and October 2026.
- No Apple Reminders: a few reviewers want Apple Reminders shown on the calendar.
- Month view only: a few reviewers want views beyond the month view, and two of them ask for a week or agenda view.
- Mac: two reviewers want better support on a Mac or laptop.
Most reviews in our data are 5 stars. The data we collected doesn’t include a star breakdown of all 6,119 ratings, so we can’t say how common these complaints are across all of them.
Pricing
minical is free to download, and the listing doesn’t give in-app prices. Reviewers say the free version shows ads and that Pro removes them. One reviewer in August 2026 says they paid “$12 or however much” once, with no yearly subscription; another in May 2024 mentions $13. Check the price in the app before you pay.
Privacy and permissions
We couldn’t read the App Store privacy label or a permissions list for minical, so we make no claim about what data it collects. The listing links to a privacy policy at minical.app/privacy.
Who it’s for
minical suits you if you want a month-at-a-glance calendar widget with event titles on each day, color coding and a one-time upgrade. It also works if you already use iCloud or Google Calendar and want a cleaner view of it. It’s a weaker fit if you need a week view in the app, Apple Reminders on the calendar, or a Mac app, or if you won’t put up with ads and don’t want to pay. Since a few reviewers lost events, keep your calendars synced to iCloud or Google Calendar.
FAQ
Is minical free?
Yes, minical is free to download. Reviewers say the free version shows ads and that a one-time Pro purchase removes them. One reviewer mentions paying about $12 and another mentions $13; our data has no official price.
What widgets does minical have?
The listing says minical has 21 widget types on iPhone and 26 on iPad, for the Home Screen and Lock Screen. Reviewers name a 3-day widget, a widget with today and the next two days, a two-week Lock Screen widget and a full-month widget.
Does minical sync with Google Calendar?
Yes. The listing says it syncs with iCloud Calendar and Google Calendar and can back up events to them. One reviewer in July 2026 says you can’t show a single Google calendar on its own without syncing it through Apple’s Calendar.
Does minical work with Apple Reminders?
The listing doesn’t mention Reminders, and a few reviewers ask for it. If you need tasks and events in one view, that’s a gap.
How this review was put together
We haven’t tested minical. This review is based on public information from official sources: the app’s Google Play or App Store listing and rating breakdown, the developer’s website when there is one, and recent user reviews on the store with the developer’s replies. Features and claims are the developer’s own descriptions; what users like and dislike comes from the store reviews. Everything was checked on November 2, 2026. Apps change with every update, so check the store listing before you install.
