A: Yes, there used to be a few subtle differences between the yCal version available on this site and the version available in the Apple Mac AppStore. Why? Well, Apple has set up a few rules for offering apps via the AppStore which restrict us in what we can offer in yCal. So the download on this website used to be a "full featured" version of yCal, while the Mac AppStore (MAS) version had a few restrictions.
The MAS version does not group calendars by server, does not handle event attendees, and does not support shared configuration files — but offers syncing configurations via iCloud, instead. Unfortunately (and inexplicably), Apple does not expose all functionality users would expect on their publicly documented CalendarStore API. In order to offer this functionality, we needed to make use of internal (undocumented) APIs of Mac OS X — which is against Apple's rules for the AppStore, so we can only do it in the version available on this site. With OSX 10.10, however, Apple changed their internal APIs and broke our "hack" — with the consequence, that on systems running MacOS 10.10 and above, there is practically no difference between the two versions of yCal.
Note:In case you should have bought yCal from the Mac AppStore already, you're NOT doomed: you can simply download the full featured version from this site and copy it over on your current installation. yCal will pick up your AppStore license — so no need to buy it twice!
A: Just make sure you're using your email address in the "license owner" field, and copy the lengthy character string from your registration email to the "license key" field.
A: Currently, yCal only interacts with your Mac's local calendar store by using Apple's CalendarStore API. Consequently, yCal only shows the contents of your local copies of (possibly online) calendars, and changes you make in yCal only affect these local copies, as well.
However, that does not mean you're limited to local calendars! Apple's standard calendaring app that comes with every Mac ("iCal" or "Calendar") automatically syncs the local calendar store with online calendars. So just make sure to run Apple's iCal (on OS X prior to 10.8) once in a while (there's a preference option in yCal to start iCal in the background automatically) to have your calendars synced.
With OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, things have become even simpler: there's no need to start Apple's Calendar app to push changes (things will be done in the background automatically). However, to get updates from iCloud or CalDAV servers, start up Calendar anyhow.
A: Unfortunately, there is no specific support in Mac OS X to access online calendars directly. We also didn't find a good and freely available third-party CalDAV library (written in Objective-C) out there in the wild, yet.
In our opinion, it's not a real show stopper, since you can use Apple's iCal to do the synchronization (on OS X 10.6 and 10.7). With OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, the system anyway syncs all changes in the background automatically — without the need to open Apple's Calendar app.
However, we are aware that running iCal (or Calendar) to sync calendars may feel a bit cumbersome. And there are other limitations with Apple's built-in mechanisms, too — e.g., not being able to add/modify online calendars or to add attendees to events. So the next big thing we're working on for an upcoming yCal release is our own native CalDAV implementation.
A: Well, this is one of the limitions in the programming interfaces provided by Mac OS X. As yCal currently relies on the native CalendarStore framework, there is no way to setup, edit, or delete calendar sources. For the same reason, you can only create or delete local calendars within yCal.
We are aware that this is a nasty limition, and we're working on native CalDAV support for the next major release of yCal. This will allow for direct manipulation of online calendars. For the time being, please use Apple's iCal (or Calendar) app to create, edit, or delete online calendars.
A: yCal has a built-in mechanism to automatically check for updates. By default, yCal will once in a while check whether there is a newer version available at www.ycalapp.com. Rest assured that your privacy is retained and no user-specific or private information is sent in this request! We won't check your user information, your yCal license, or anything else.
By the way: you can configure the 'check for updates' behavior in yCal's preferences.