Key Takeaways
- Google may merge Tasks into Calendar by integrating task lists and subtasks directly in the calendar.
- This was spotted in an APK teardown for the 2024.42.0-687921584-release build of Google Calendar.
- Google has not announced anything, and recently created a new Tasks extension in Google Gemini.
Google may up to some shenanigans with Calendar and Tasks. There are rumors of a potential merger between the two, creating the ultimate redundancy loop as Calendar takes over Tasks’ job.
The assimilation of Tasks into Calendar was spotted in an APK teardown of the 2024.42.0-687921584-release build of the Calendar app (via Android Authority). Google seems to be experimenting with letting users edit subtasks and manage task lists directly within Calendar. The Tasks app becomes useless.
The name of the game is task management
The new Calendar interface looks like it borrowed heavily from the Tasks app. It seems Google’s strategy here might be all about streamlining your task management. After all, Calendar already knows your tasks and displays any time-sensitive tasks you’ve created. You can currently create a task in Calendar, but if you want to get more granular and create subtasks, you’ll get shunted off to the Tasks app.
Merging Tasks with Calendar makes sense in this case. Calendar doing double duty could mean one less app cluttering our phones. But this leaves a glaring question, namely, what happens with Google Tasks?
Tasks only recently became an independent app
The app spent most of its life as an extension of Calendar and Gmail. It had a dated design for a long time and only recently became a standalone app. Even today, after six years, Tasks is painfully basic. It lacks a lot of the functionality of other task managers. For example, you cannot insert files, or see an overview of all your tasks for the day, and it does not understand natural language input.
On the other hand, Google has been forging ahead with Gemini integration for Tasks, and made it easier to add new tasks with voice commands. It seems the app has been receiving some love from Google, at least.
Google hasn’t officially announced a breakup with the Tasks app. This Calendar-Tasks integration could just be a flirtation. Google is notorious for throwing ideas against the wall to see what sticks. For now, consider this a preview of a rumor, and keep your eye on those app updates. Google could surprise us all.
