You can create events and to dos in BusyCal using natural language—simply type the details and BusyCal interprets them automatically.

To enable natural language processing, go to Settings > New Event Defaults and turn on Create with Natural Language. Once you’ve done this, the Title field for new events and to dos is replaced with a field that accepts freeform input.

Creating Events

You can create events with or without dates and times. Here are some examples:

• Lunch with Joe next Tuesday
• Lunch with Joe next Tuesday at 12:00
• Meeting with Joe Nov 7 at 3:00
• Staff meeting Thursday at 2:00
• Dentist at 2:00 Monday alarm 15m (adds an alarm 15 minutes before the event)
• Coffee at Starbucks 9:00 (adds Starbucks to the Location field)

Events are added to the default event calendar specified in Settings > New Event Defaults > Default Calendar, unless you specify a different calendar (see Setting the Calendar below).

Creating To Dos

You can create to dos with or without dates and times. If no date or time is included, BusyCal creates an undated to do with no due date. For example:

• Call Bob
• Call Bob tomorrow
• Call Bob next Tuesday
• Call Bob Nov 7
• Buy Toner

To dos are added to the default to do calendar configured in Settings > New To Do Defaults > Default Calendar, unless you specify a different calendar (see Setting the Calendar below).

Creating Journals

You can create journal entries by preceding the text with a “>”, “memo”, “log” or “journal”. Journal entries default to the current date unless specified. Here are some examples:

>Museum visit

memo Jimmy took his first steps today

log Project launched with hiccups yesterday

Journal entries are added to the default journal calendar specified in settings, unless you specify a different calendar (see Setting the Calendar below).

Setting the Calendar

Optionally, you can specify which calendar to create an event or to do on by including a slash (/) followed by the calendar name (e.g., ‘/work’) or a unique portion of the calendar name (e.g., ‘/w’). Here are some examples:

• Lunch with Joe next Tuesday /work = new event on Work calendar
• Lunch with Joe next Tuesday /w = new event on Work calendar, if no other calendars start with “w”
• Call Bob /work = new to do on Work calendar.
• Buy Toner /shop = new to do on Shopping calendar

Adding a URL

You can add an optional URL at the end of the phrase surrounded by angle brackets (e.g., ) to include a link to that URL. Here are some examples:

Buy Toner <www.amazon.com>

Apple Earnings Conference Call Tuesday at 2pm <investor.apple.com>

Adding an Attendee

If you enter the name of someone you are meeting with (e.g., “Meeting with Joe”), the person’s name will be underlined. Tap the name to display a list of matches from Contacts; tap one or more of the matching names to add those people to the event as attendees.

Adding a Location

If you enter a location (e.g “Coffee at Starbucks”), the location will be underlined. Tapping the location will display a list of matches from Location Services where you can further refine your search and select an item to set a structured location.