Etar review: a calendar that stays on the phone

Etar is a free open-source Android calendar for anyone who wants a simple schedule and a real choice about where events live.¹² It shows calendars already stored on the phone, including one you keep only on the device.¹ If those events should also appear on another device, you add a sync app. Etar does not include one.¹

Last checked October 28, 2026.

At a glance

What it is: A free open-source Android calendar that reads the phone’s calendar storage, including an offline calendar.¹

Works on: Android 6.0 or newer.²

Price: Free to install from F-Droid.²

Licence: GNU GPL version 3.0 only, except where the project notes otherwise.²¹

Best for: An Android schedule that can stay on the phone, or calendars synced by an app you choose.

Official site: Etar on GitHub

What Etar does (and how it protects your privacy)

Etar is the calendar you open on the phone. The project calls it an open-source calendar made for everyone, and an enhanced version of the calendar from the Android Open Source Project, the public base of Android.¹ You get month, week, day and agenda views, a light theme and a dark theme, and a home-screen agenda widget.¹ The current copyright line of the Etar Project starts in 2015.¹

The privacy benefit is where events sit. Etar uses Android’s calendar storage, the shared place on the phone where calendar apps keep events, and it can show every calendar that storage already holds.¹ Create an offline calendar when the schedule should stay on the phone.¹ A synced calendar can be a Google calendar, another CalDAV server (the usual standard for calendar sync), or a server you host. The project’s guide says hosting your own server is how you keep full control of the data and still use one calendar on more than one device.¹

Etar does not include a CalDAV client, so sync needs another app. The guide names DAVx⁵.¹ You choose which calendars appear, and which one receives a new event.¹ Reading and creating events needs calendar permission. Contacts access is optional. The project says you can refuse it the first time you create an appointment, and guest search and location suggestions then stop.¹

Key features of Etar

Several views: Month, week, day and agenda, with a light theme and a dark theme.¹
An offline calendar: Keep a schedule on the phone without a sync account.¹
Calendars the phone already has: Etar shows Android’s calendar storage, and you pick which calendars appear.¹
A home-screen widget: An agenda widget lists what is coming up.¹
Calendar files: Share, import and export ICS files, the usual calendar-file format.¹
A week that starts when you want: Version 1.0.57 lets any weekday be the first day, and it can show overlapping events in a staggered layout.²
Narrower file access: Version 1.0.56 uses SAF, Android’s system file picker, to avoid a broad storage permission, and it no longer overrides another app’s sync settings.²
Many languages: The interface is multilingual.¹

Pros and cons of Etar

Pros

Free on F-Droid, with source published under the GNU GPL.²¹
An offline calendar keeps events on the phone.¹
The privacy policy says Etar does not use the Internet permission and does not send your data to the project.³
It can show a Google or CalDAV calendar already stored on the phone.¹
F-Droid signs version 1.0.57 from the published source, and a later rebuild check is not marked as failed.²⁵
Version 1.0.57 was added to F-Droid on 31 July 2026.²

Cons

The current build needs Android 6.0 or newer, and the project publishes it as an Android app.¹²
No CalDAV client, so sync needs a second app such as DAVx⁵.¹
Answering a report that Etar had left the Play Store, a project member wrote that the Play Store maintainer did not complete developer verification. A return is up to other members.⁴
ICS import is unstable, with known bugs. Be careful if a provider sends invitation email on its own.¹
Guest search needs contacts permission. Refusing it turns those suggestions off.¹
A synced calendar is only as private as its account, whether that is Google or a server you choose.¹

Is Etar safe and private?

The privacy policy says Etar does not collect information from users, does not send your data to the project, and does not use the Internet permission.³ That permission is what lets an app open network connections. F-Droid’s page for version 1.0.57 still lists other access: seeing which networks exist, reading and changing calendar events, reading contacts, and finding accounts on the phone. Its text says the app can read all calendar events stored on the phone.²

An offline calendar stays in Android’s calendar storage on the phone. A cloud calendar stays with that account. The guide says a Google calendar is one option, and that hosting your own server keeps full control while one calendar is used on more than one device.¹ Version 1.0.56 also stops Etar from overriding another app’s sync settings.²

F-Droid says version 1.0.57 is built and signed by F-Droid and matches its source archive.² A reproducibility check dated 19 October 2026 lists that version without the mark used for failed rebuilds. The page says successful entries match the published app.⁵ The project describes Etar as an enhanced version of Android’s older open-source calendar.¹ The licence is the GNU GPL version 3.0 only, except where the project notes otherwise.²¹

How to get started with Etar

On Android 6.0 or newer, install the F-Droid client. F-Droid recommends that client so Etar can update through the store.²
Install Etar from its F-Droid page. The suggested version is 1.0.57, added on 31 July 2026.²
Allow calendar read and write access so Etar can read and create events.¹
Create an offline calendar if the schedule should stay on the phone.¹
To use a server, install DAVx⁵, add the account there, then let Etar show that calendar.¹
Choose which calendars are visible, and which one new events use.¹
Refuse contacts access if you do not want guest search. Treat ICS import with caution when a provider sends invitation email on its own.¹ For the mailbox those invitations arrive in, FairEmail is a separate app.

Who should use Etar (and who might prefer something else)

Etar suits someone who wants a plain Android calendar and cares where the schedule is stored. Use an offline calendar when the phone is the only copy. Use DAVx⁵ with a server you trust when events should appear elsewhere. For to-do lists, Tasks.org is a separate task app. Etar stays the calendar.

For a year view, holidays and celebrations, Fossify Calendar is another open-source Android calendar. Its site says it does not request the Internet permission, and that data can still sync through accounts already on the device.⁶ Etar fits when you want the calendar based on Android’s own, with an offline option and a separate sync tool. It is an Android app, and this build needs Android 6.0 or newer.²

Frequently asked questions

Is Etar free?

Yes. F-Droid offers Etar as a free download, under the GNU GPL version 3.0 only.² The project licenses the published source under the GPLv3, except where otherwise noted.¹

Is Etar safe?

The privacy policy says Etar does not collect user information, does not send data to the project, and does not use the Internet permission.³ F-Droid signs version 1.0.57 from the published source.² Events still sit in Android calendar storage: offline on the phone, or with whatever account you sync.¹

Does Etar work on iPhone?

No. The project publishes Etar as an Android app, and the current F-Droid build needs Android 6.0 or newer.¹²

Does Etar sync Google Calendar?

It can show a Google calendar already in Android’s calendar storage. The project says that kind of cloud calendar is one option, and that Etar has no CalDAV client of its own.¹ To sync a server, including one you host, add an app such as DAVx⁵.¹