AskBobbie vs a shared Google Calendar
The fair comparison, written by the side with something to sell: what a well-kept shared Google Calendar gives a family, what Bobbie adds, what it costs, and when Google alone is enough.
By The AskBobbie team · 29 September 20262 min read
We make Bobbie, so read this with that in mind. We have tried to make it the comparison we would want if we were choosing, which means saying clearly when a shared Google Calendar is enough.
What a shared Google Calendar gives you
Set up well (here is how), it gives every grown-up the same calendar on every device, free, with colours, reminders and recurring events. It is where one of you probably already lives. For a family whose dates are few and whose grown-ups both look, it is enough.
What Bobbie adds
The reading. The school's email, the ParentPay request, the photo of the letter, the voice note, the message forwarded from the class group: Bobbie reads each one into the dates, the money, what to bring and what to sign, files it under the right child, and puts it in an Inbox for a tap. The typing that Google leaves with you is the part Bobbie does.
The money. Google Calendar has no idea of £12.50 due by Friday. Bobbie keeps what is owed, to whom, by when, and marks it paid when the receipt arrives.
Asking. "What's on Thursday for Leo?" "What do I owe the school?" "What's for tea?" In the app or on WhatsApp, answered from the calendar.
WhatsApp. The phone in your hand is the way in: photos, voice notes, forwarded messages, and a child's phone linked without an account.
The rest of the house. Dinners, the shopping list, to-dos, all in the same place, all askable.
The round-up. A summary of tomorrow the evening before, ending with what is waiting in the Inbox.
What Google keeps over Bobbie
- It is Google: it will be there in twenty years.
- It is in every app and device on earth.
- It has no Inbox to check, because nothing arrives unbidden. If you only ever type things in yourself, an Inbox is a step you do not need.
Together
Connect Google to Bobbie and both are true: your Google events appear in Bobbie beside the family's, and with Show the AskBobbie calendar in Google on, Bobbie's confirmed things appear in Google. See the two switches. This is how most early-access families run it.
When to choose which
- Google alone: two grown-ups who both look at it, a school that sends little, and dates that are easy to type.
- Bobbie with Google: a school that sends fifty things a week, a household where one person is the calendar, or anyone who wants to ask rather than look.
Further reading
Questions people ask
- Do I have to give up Google Calendar to use Bobbie?
- No. Connect Google and your events show in Bobbie alongside the family's, and with one switch Bobbie's things show in Google. Most families keep both.
- What does Bobbie cost?
- Nothing during early access. When that changes we will say so in the app a month ahead, and there will always be a way to export the calendar to Google.
- When is Google alone enough?
- When every grown-up already looks at the same calendar, the school sends little, and typing the dates in is not the problem. Plenty of families are there; if you are, stay.