Google Calendar adds an option to suck all the fun out of your schedule (APK Teardown)

Google Calendar is rolling out a new feature that gives users more control over the visual aspects of the app. If you’re someone who has ever been both charmed and overwhelmed by Google Calendar’s colorful event illustrations, you’ll be happy (or indifferent?) to hear that a toggle is now being added to let you turn those off.

While playing around with Google Calendar’s latest version (2024.42.0-687921584-release), we stumbled upon this handy new option within the app’s settings. For the uninitiated, event illustrations, also known as “flairs,” are automatically generated images that appear beside events in the calendar view. These images are triggered by keywords in event descriptions, such as “cinema” or “coffee,” and provide a visual cue for quick identification. Each month also features a unique illustration reflecting seasonal themes and holidays.

Back in September, we reported that Google Calendar was adding a whole new set of flairs for all sorts of events and even updating the monthly ones. And now, it seems the app is also adding the option to turn them off completely. So if the artsy flair isn’t your thing, you’re free to cut them out of your life.

You can see how the app looks with the event illustrations turned off. Personally, it feels pretty drab and monotonous without those vibrant little touches. That said, I can see the appeal for those who need to squeeze as much information as possible into their calendar. With the illustrations gone, you’ll definitely notice more events fit on your screen, which is helpful if your schedule is jam-packed.

Once you turn them off, these illustrations won’t appear even on the event details page after you tap on an individual event. But I wouldn’t blame you if you’d instead stick to those sweet, eye-catching images instead of staring at endless rows of dull office meetings.

Notably, turning off event illustrations currently only applies to events and doesn’t seem to affect the monthly illustrations. Turning off month illustrations has been an option on larger devices (tablets or screens with a DPI greater than 600) for quite some time now, but that feature hasn’t yet made its way to smartphones.

The new toggle isn’t available for everyone just yet, but it should make its way to your Google Calendar settings soon.