Birthdaybook for Mac

Why I kept missing important dates

I'm awful at remembering birthdays and other events. To fix this I tried adding alerts to my address book and even used a Facebook app, plus a few other free alternatives, but nothing reliably reminded me when it mattered.

What I chose instead

I ended up using Birthdaybook, a small, free, standalone program built specifically to track important dates and trigger reminders. Its sole purpose is to store events (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) and notify you ahead of time so you don't forget.

The app imports contacts directly from Address Book and can export events to iCal so everything appears on your calendar. It has a low memory footprint and runs quietly in the background. The developer issues frequent updates, and the most recent refresh introduced a cleaner interface that fits well with Leopard.

How you can browse contacts

• Sort people by their age to find the oldest or youngest contacts quickly.
• View all events in chronological order so you can see what’s coming up next.
• Look up names organized A–Z when you want to find a specific person fast.

My takeaway

If you need a focused, lightweight tool to keep birthdays and special occasions from slipping by, Birthdaybook is a practical solution — uncomplicated, integrates with your Mac contacts and calendar, and keeps reminders simple and reliable.