For years, I stuck with Google Calendar because it was the path of least resistance. It is undoubtedly powerful, but its interface prioritizes engagement over utility. I prefer to keep my tools simple, so I finally decided to switch to Etar, an open-source alternative often loved by people who install LineageOS instead of using stock Android.
It’s a simplified calendar that focuses entirely on time management rather than ecosystem integration. While I didn’t expect a massive shift in how I work, swapping my primary calendar for something cleaner has slightly improved my productivity.
Google Calendar feels cluttered
Etar brings back the simplicity of Material Design
Google Calendar has become cluttered over the years, and I didn’t notice how much until I stopped using it. The Schedule view now shows illustrations for different event types, which look nice but don’t help me plan my day. There’s a persistent “Join with Google Meet” button even for personal reminders that have nothing to do with meetings. Tasks and reminders compete for space in the same view, making it harder to see what’s actually on my schedule.
I don’t need these features because I already have tools that handle them better. If I want to join a meeting, I’ll click the link in the event description. If I need task management, I use a dedicated app for that (I prefer simple to-do lists to Google’s implementation anyway).
Etar cuts out everything except the calendar itself. The week view shows my events in a clean, scannable format using classic Material Design. There are no illustrations, no integration prompts, and no features trying to justify their existence. It just shows me what’s scheduled and when, which is all I wanted from a calendar app in the first place.
Etar is only available for Android devices. You can download Etar from the Google Play Store, or it comes pre-installed if you’re running LineageOS. There’s no iOS version, so if you’re using an iPhone, you will need to look at other privacy-focused calendars.
I wanted to stop feeding my schedule to big tech
I’ve accepted that most of my data lives on someone else’s servers, but my schedule felt like one thing I could keep to myself. Google Calendar analyzes your events for smart features, shows you travel times based on your appointments, and uses that information to improve its services. I don’t need any of that.
Etar stores everything locally on my device, doesn’t require an account, doesn’t sync to the cloud by default, and doesn’t analyze my schedule in the background. I’m not claiming Google is doing anything nefarious with calendar data. Etar supports CalDAV, so I can sync my calendar across devices later. This means I can choose my own sync solution and take a step to make the Android productivity setup 100% open-source. But for now, local storage works fine and removes one more data stream feeding into an advertising profile I’d rather not build.
You don’t lose your existing events
Etar syncs perfectly with Android’s native calendar provider
Moving my events from Google Calendar was easy and fast. Etar uses Android’s built-in calendar storage, so any calendar already synced to your phone automatically shows up in the app. If you have a Google account signed in on your phone, those events appear in Etar without any extra steps. You just have to allow access to the Android native calendar. You can later choose which calendars to display by going to Etar’s settings and toggling them on or off.
If you’re not ready to fully commit, you can keep both apps installed. I used Google Calendar and Etar side by side for a week to make sure everything synced properly before I stopped using Google’s version.
A distraction-free interface helps me focus on what matters
Etar’s home screen widgets show upcoming events in a clean list format, which is exactly what Google Calendar’s widgets do. You can resize them and choose which calendars to display. There’s nothing groundbreaking here—both apps handle widgets similarly, though Google Calendar’s widgets are better in some cases. I’m not switching to Etar because of widgets, but because of the transparency and privacy benefits of open-source apps.
I’m using it because the entire app stays out of my way. Every time I open Etar, I see my schedule and nothing else. No suggestions to try Google Meet, no prompts to upgrade my storage, and no features I didn’t ask for competing for attention. The app does one thing well. I spend less time managing my calendar and more time using it.