Although bubble.io is one of the most useful no-code platforms and provides a user with a lot of in-built features but the most extraordinary about bubble.io is its plugin store and compatibility with the plugins. Plugins are used in almost every application and thus are an essential part of any bubble app. The plugins save you time by providing you with a new feature instead of writing code for every functionality. And the best part is many of the plugins are free to use, you don’t have to pay any developer to add your desired functionalities instead you can use a cost-effective plugin.

Today we will discuss the simplest of plugins i.e., a date/time picker plugin. While the in-built bubble’s date and time selector is very useful and you can add many functionalities and conditions but many alternatives can serve as a better option. Now we have two types of plugins, ones that allow us to customize an already made calendar and the others that would enable us to make our calendars.

Air Date/Time Dropper

The first plugin is the Air Date/Time Dropper built by Zeroqode. This plugin is of the first type. It offers multiple features. Some of the pros and cons of this plugin are:

Pros:

• This plugin comes with different themes and gives you a range of colors to choose from, hence can be an ideal tool when you want your calendar to go with the color scheme of your app. In my personal opinion, this plugin will go very well with the app with bigger UI elements.
• The second very cool feature of this plugin is that it allows you to use two modes a small and a large mode.
• The calendar allows you to select a maximum and minimum year and format of your own choice.
• To make the selection of an early year easier, you can increment or decrement the selected year by 10 years.
• Another cool thing about this plugin is that it gives you multiple languages to choose from. The user can set a language of their own choice.

Cons:

• It doesn’t let you select a date range.
• You cannot customize the days.
• The theme options are limited; you only get to choose from one of the five themes.

Air Date/Time Picker:

The second plugin I find very useful is the Air Date/Time Picker which is also by Zeroqode. Although it is in some ways similar to the Air Date/Time Dropper it offers some unique features.

Pros:

• It includes multiple languages, color choices, and a custom date/ time selector.
• The color selection in this plugin is a little different from the first one in the way that the time dropper allows you to select the theme whereas this plugin will enable you to set a color for the days and dates.
• It also allows you to select a range of dates unlike the first one.
• One very cool feature of this plugin is that you can block any or multiple days of the week, which can be a handy feature if you are using it in an application for a business that is closed on some days, where you allow the user to make an appointment.
• Moreover, you can also select the time along with the date, so instead of using two different elements for date and time, you can only use this element to select both.
• When selecting a time, it allows you to select a 12-hour clock or a 24-hour clock format. Another good feature of this plugin is that the selection of year, date, and month is all very easy. Unlike the bubble time selector, it gives you
• You can customize the flow, instead of showing the whole calendar at first you can let the user select the year first, then the month, and then the date.
• Similar to the first plugin, it allows you to customize the date range by specifying a maximum and minimum.
• The plugin also offers clear, current date and auto options.

Cons:

• Some cons of this plugin in my opinion are that it doesn’t provide you with many UI options.
• Secondly, it closes as soon as you have made your selection.

Calendar Tool

Unlike the first two, the calendar tool allows you to make your customized calendar from scratch. Some pros and cons of this plugin are stated below.

Pros:

• In my opinion, the most helpful feature of this plugin is that you can use this plugin to generate dates and months of your own choice.
• You can define your own1 conditions and display data accordingly.
• You can have innumerable UI designs and customizations.

Cons:

• Some cons to using this plugin are that it would take you too much time to make your calendar, as you will have to arrange the elements by yourself.
• Secondly, the whole purpose of the plugin is to make the development process faster, instead of you making an element from the scratch./li>
• You will have to define your conditions and formats to display data according to your requirement

My Opinion

Hence, in my opinion, Air Date/Time Picker by Zeroqode is one of the best alternatives to the bubble.io date/time picker, as it offers the most features and lets you customize with minimal effort. The Air/Time Dropper is a good option but lacks some features, whereas, the Calendar Tool, although can be very useful in some scenarios requires a lot of time and effort. But, in the end, it all comes down to your usage and requirements.

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