12 Managing Calendars

When it comes to time management, your iPhone is definitely your friend. Using the iPhone’s Calendar app, you can view calendars that are available on all your devices. You can also make changes to your calendars on your iPhone, and they appear on the calendars on your other devices so you have consistent information no matter which device you happen to be using at any time.

Getting Started

The Calendar app does what it sounds like it should: It allows you to view and manage one or more calendars. This app has lots of features designed to help you work with multiple calendars and accounts, manage events that other people are invited to, and more. You don’t have to use all these features, and you might just want to use the Calendar app’s core functionality, such as to record doctor appointments, dinner reservations, and similar events for which it is important to know the time and date (and be reminded when those times and dates are approaching).

To make your calendars accessible on multiple devices, you should store your calendars on the Internet cloud, using iCloud, Google, or similar service. If you don’t have an online account, go to Chapter 4, “Setting Up and Using an Apple ID, iCloud, and Other Online Accounts,” and set up at least one account to work with calendar information. When that’s done, you’re ready to continue in this chapter.

When you set up an online account for calendars, you can use multiple calendars at the same time. For example, you can use one calendar for personal events and another for club activities. You can work with all your events at the same time while displaying events in different colors to distinguish the calendar they are on.

You also can show or hide different calendars. You might want to see only your personal calendar, so you can hide other calendars to focus on it.

Speaking of online accounts, you can enable calendars on multiple accounts at the same time. For example, you can have a set of calendars managed in iCloud and another set stored in Google. It’s easy to add events to your calendar, and you can use the app to search for specific events so you can find them quickly.

It can also be useful to share calendars. For example, you can create a calendar to share with a group of friends so that everyone can see that calendar on their devices.

Viewing Calendars and Events

When you use the Calendar app to view and work with your calendars, you can choose how you view them, such as by month, week, or day.

To get into your calendars, move to the Home screen and tap the Calendar app (which shows the current day and date in its icon). The most recent screen you were viewing appears.

Most of the time, you’ll be looking at your calendars in various views, such as showing a month, week, day, or event. You can easily get more information about your events, set alarms, and update event details.

Configuring Calendars

You can configure the calendars you see within the Calendar app. For example, you might want to see only your personal calendar or you might want to see all of your calendars at the same time. You also can change certain aspects of a calendar, such as the color with which its events are highlighted.

To configure the calendar information you see in the app, perform the following steps:

On a Home screen, tap Calendar.

If you have only one calendar, skip to step 3. Otherwise, tap Calendars to see all your calendars. If you don’t see this at the bottom of the screen, you’re already on the Calendars screen (look for “Calendars” at the top of the screen) or you are on the Inbox; in that case, tap Done and then tap Calendars.

The Calendars screen displays the calendars available, organized by the account from which they come, such as ICLOUD or GMAIL (the names you see are the descriptions of the accounts you created on your iPhone). By default, all your calendars are displayed, which is indicated by the circles with check marks next to the calendars’ names. Any calendars that have an empty circle next to their names are not displayed when you view your calendars.

Tap a calendar with a check mark to hide it. The check mark disappears and the calendar is hidden. (The calendar is still available in the app, you just don’t see it when you’re viewing your calendars.)

To show a calendar again, tap its name. It’s marked with a check mark and appears when you’re viewing calendars.

Tap Info (i) to see or change a calendar’s settings. Not all types of calendars support this function, and those that do can offer different settings. The following steps show an iCloud calendar; if you’re working with a calendar of a different type, such as a Google calendar, you might not have all of the same options as those shown here. In any case, the steps to make changes are similar across all available types of calendars.

Change the name of the calendar by tapping it and then making changes on the keyboard; when you’re done making changes, swipe down the screen to close the keyboard.

To share the calendar with someone, tap Add Person, enter the email address of the person with whom you’re sharing it, and tap Add. (Sharing calendars is explained in more detail later in this chapter.)

If the calendar is shared and you don’t want to be notified when shared events are changed, added, or deleted, set the Show Changes switch to off (white). When this switch is enabled (green) and someone makes a change to a shared calendar, you receive notifications about the changes that were made. If the calendar is not shared, you don’t see this switch.

Swipe up the screen.

Tap the color you want events on the calendar to appear in.

If you want alerts to be enabled (active) for the calendar, set the Event Alerts switch to on (green). This is helpful because you’re notified about events as they get close.

To make the calendar public so that others can subscribe to a read-only version of it, set the Public Calendar switch to on (green), tap Share Link, and then use the resulting Share tools to invite others to subscribe to the calendar (more on this later in this chapter).

To remove the calendar entirely (instead of hiding it from view), tap Delete Calendar and then tap Delete Calendar at the prompt. The calendar and all its events are deleted. (It’s usually better just to hide a calendar as described in step 3 so you don’t lose its information.)

Assuming that you didn’t delete the calendar, tap Done to save the changes you made.

Edit other calendars as needed.

Tap Done. The app moves into viewing mode, and the calendars you enabled are displayed.

Navigating Calendars

The Calendar app uses a hierarchy of detail to display your calendars. The highest level is the year view that shows the months in each year. The next level is the month view, which shows the days of the month (days with events are marked with a dot). This is followed by the week/day view that shows the days of the week and summary information for the events on each day. The most detailed view is the event view that shows all the information for a single event.

Viewing Calendars

You can view your calendars from the year level all the way down to the week/day. It’s easy to move among the levels to get to the time period you want to see. Here’s how:

Starting at the year view, swipe up and down until you see the year in which you’re interested. (If you aren’t in the year view, keep tapping Back [<] located in the upper-left corner of the screen until that icon disappears.)

Tap the month in which you’re interested. The days in that month display, and days with events are marked with a dot.

Swipe up and down the screen to view different months in the year you selected.

To see the detail for a date, tap it. There are two ways to view the daily details: the Calendar view or the List view. Steps 5 through 8 show the Calendar view, whereas steps 9 through 11 show the List view. Each of these views has benefits, and, as you can see, it is easy to switch between them.

To see the Calendar view, ensure the List icon is not selected (isn’t highlighted). At the top of the screen are the days of the week you’re viewing. The date in focus is highlighted with a red rounded rectangle when that day is today or a black rounded rectangle for any other day. Below this area is the detail for the selected day showing the events on that day.

Swipe to the left or right on the dates to change the date for which detailed information is being shown in the lower part of the screen. As you change the date being displayed, the black (or red when the events are for the current day) rounded rectangle indicates the date for which detail is shown.

Swipe up or down on the date detail to browse all its events.

Tap an event to view its detail and skip to step 12.

See the events in List view by tapping the List icon so it’s highlighted.

Swipe up and down to see the events for each day.

Tap an event to view its detail.

Swipe up and down the screen to see all of the event’s information.

View information about the event, such as its location, repetition, and relationship to other events on the calendar.

Tap the Calendar or Alert fields to change these settings.

If there is a second alert, tap Second Alert to change it (not shown on the figures).

Tap any links or documents attached to the event to move to information related to the event.

Read notes associated with the event.

Tap a location to get directions to it.

Use the Maps app to get directions.

Tap Calendar to return to the Calendar app.

Tap the date to move back to the week/day view.

Tap Back (<, which is also labeled with the month and year you are viewing) to move back to the month view.

To view your calendars in the multiday view, rotate your iPhone so it is horizontal. You can do this while in the week/day view or the month view.

Swipe left or right to change the dates being displayed.

Swipe up or down to change the time of day being displayed.

Tap an event to see its details.

Adding Events to Calendars

There are a number of ways you can add events to your calendar. You can create an event in an app on a computer, website, or other device and sync that event onto the iPhone through an online account. You can also manually create events in the Calendar app on the iPhone. Your events can include a lot of information, or they can be fairly basic. You can choose to create the basic information on your iPhone while you are on the move and complete it later from a computer or other device, or you can fill in all the details directly in the Calendar app. You can also add an event by accepting an invitation (covered later in this chapter).

Tap Add (+), which appears in the upper-right corner of any of the views when your phone is vertical (except when you are viewing an event’s details). The initial date information is taken from the date currently being displayed, so you can save a little time if you are on the date of the event before tapping Add.

Tap in the Title field and type the title of the event. As you type, events that are similar to the one you are creating are suggested; tap this to create the new event based on the suggestion. Then you can change the details to be specific to the event you are creating.

Tap the Location bar and type the location of the event; if you allow the app to use Location Services, you’re prompted to find and select a location; if not, just type the location and skip to step 6.

Type the location in the Search bar. Sites that meet your search are shown below. The results screen has several sections including Recents, which shows locations you’ve used recently, and Map Locations, which are sites that the app finds that match your search criteria.

Tap the location for the event; tap Current Location if the event takes place where you are. You return to the New Event screen and see the location you entered.

To set the event to last all day, set the All-day switch to the on position (green); when you select the All-day option, you provide only the start and end dates (you don’t enter times as described in the next several steps). To set a specific start and end time, leave this setting in the off position (white); you set both the dates and times as described in the following steps.

To set a timeframe for the event, tap Starts. The date and time tool appears.

Swipe up or down on the date wheel until the date on which the event starts appears in the center.

Swipe up or down on the hour wheel until the event’s starting hour is shown.

Scroll and select the starting minute in the same way.

Swipe up or down to select AM or PM.

Tap Ends.

Use the date and time wheels to set the ending date and time (if applicable) for the event; these work the same way as for the start date and time.

To make the event repeat, tap Repeat and move to Step 15; for a one-time event, keep the default, which is Never, and skip to step 16.

Tap the frequency at which you want the event repeated, such as Every Day, Every Week, and so on; if you want to use a repeat cycle not shown, tap Custom and create the frequency with which you want the event to repeat.

To configure travel time for the event, tap Travel Time; if you don’t want to configure this, skip to step 22.

Set the Travel Time switch to on (green).

Tap Starting Location to build a travel time based on a starting location and skip to step 20.

To manually set a travel time for the event, tap it and skip to step 21.

To use your current location as the starting point, tap Current Location. Alternatively, use the search tool to find a starting location, and then tap it to select that location. This works just like setting a location for the event. Or you can choose a recently used location. The travel time is calculated based on the starting and ending locations entered for the new event. You can configure alerts based on this travel time as you see in later steps.

Tap New Event.

To change the calendar with which the event is associated, tap Calendar (to leave the current calendar selected, skip to step 24).

Tap the calendar with which the event should be associated.

To invite others to the event, tap Invitees; if you don’t want to invite someone else, skip to step 29.

Enter the email addresses for each person you want to invite; as you type, the app tries to identify people who match what you are typing. You can tap a person to add him to the event or keep entering the email address until it is complete. You can also tap Add (+) to choose people in your Contacts app (see Chapter 8, “Managing Contacts,” for help using that app).

Repeat step 25 until you’ve added everyone you want to invite.

Tap Done. You move to the Invitees screen and see those whom you invited.

Tap New Event (<).

To set the amount of warning time at which the alert plays before the event that is different than the default, tap Alert; if you want to use the default alert, skip to step 31.

Tap when you want to see an alert for the event. You can choose a time relative to the time you need to start traveling or relative to the event’s start time.

To set the amount of warning time for the second alert that is different than the default, tap Second Alert; to use the default, skip to step 33.

Tap when you want to see a second alert for the event. If you have included travel time in the event, the At or before start of travel time options are useful because they alert you relative to when your journey should begin.

Tap in the URL field to enter a URL associated with the event; if you don’t need to add this, skip to step 36.

Type the URL.

Tap done.

Tap in the Notes field.

Type the information you want to associate with the event.

Tap Add. The event is added to the calendar you selected, and invitations are sent to its invitees. Alerts trigger according to the event’s settings.

Searching Calendars

You can search for events to locate specific ones quickly and easily. Here’s how:

Tap the magnifying glass.

Type your search term. The events shown below the Search bar are those that contain your search term.

Swipe up or down the list to review the results.

Tap an event to see its detail.

Swipe up or down the event’s screen to review its information.

Tap Back (<) to return to the results.

Continue reviewing the results until you get the information for which you were searching.

Tap Cancel to exit search mode.

Sharing Calendars

You can share your calendars with other people to enable them to both see and change your calendar, according to the permissions you provide. If you set the View & Edit permission, the person is able to both see and change the calendar. If you set someone’s permission to View Only, she can see, but not change, the calendar.

Move to the Calendars screen. Calendars you’re sharing are indicated by the Shared with name text just under the calendar name, where name is the name of the person with whom you are sharing the calendar.

To see who is currently sharing a calendar, or to share a calendar, tap Info (i) for the calendar to be shared. If the calendar is currently being shared, the SHARED WITH section appears on the Edit Calendar screen. This section contains the names of and permissions granted to the people who are sharing the calendar. The status of each person’s acceptance is shown under his name (Accepted, Pending, or Declined).

Tap Add Person to share a calendar (whether or not it’s currently shared) with someone else.

Type a person’s name or email address, tap a name or email address that the app suggests based on what you are typing, or use the Contacts app to choose the people with whom you want to share the calendar. (You can add multiple people at the same time.)

Tap Add. You return to the Edit Calendar screen, and see the person you added on the SHARED WITH list. The person you invited receives an invitation to join the calendar you’re sharing. If he accepts, the shared calendar becomes available in the calendar app he uses. As people make decisions about the calendar you’re sharing, the status below each invitee’s name changes to reflect the current status. You also see notifications when an invitee responds, if you allow the app to provide notifications to you.

If you don’t want a person to be able to change the calendar, tap View & Edit.

Slide the Allow Editing switch to off (white); the person will be able to view but not change the calendar.

Tap Back (<).

When you’re done sharing the calendar, tap Done.

When you’re finished configuring calendar sharing, tap Done.

Managing Calendars and Events

Following are some more points about the Calendar app you might find helpful:

• You can change an existing event by viewing it and tapping Edit. Use the controls on the Edit Event screen to change the event; you have the same options as when you create an event.

• To remove an event from your calendar, view it, tap Edit, swipe up from the bottom of the screen, tap Delete Event, and then tap Delete Event at the confirmation. The event, and all the information it contains, is removed from your calendar.

• You can use the List view when you are viewing the calendar in Month view. Tap the List icon (just to the left of the magnifying glass). The list opens at the bottom of the screen and shows the events on the day currently selected (the date is in a black rounded rectangle unless the day selected is today, in which case the rounded rectangle is red).

• You can see today’s events at any time by opening the Widgets Center (move to a Home screen and swipe to the right) screen. In the UP NEXT widget, you see information about the next event on your calendar. You can view the current day’s calendar in the CALENDAR widget; tap an event in the widget to see its detail. (See Chapter 3 for more information about working with the Widget Center and widgets.)

• When an event’s start time matches the alert time, an onscreen notification appears (according to the notification settings for the Calendar app) and the calendar event sound you’ve selected plays. To take action on a calendar’s notification, you can press the notification to view its details; you can tap the details to move into the Calendar app or close the notification by tapping Close (x). You can swipe up from the bottom of a notification to manually close it without taking further action on it.

• When you share a calendar with someone, he receives a notification sent to the email address you used. If the recipient chooses to accept the invitation, he can view (and edit) the calendar in his calendar app. If not, he doesn’t see the calendar. You receive notifications in both cases.

• When you move to a calendar’s information screen, you see the status of people you’ve invited, such as Pending if they haven’t made a decision or Accepted if they have accepted the invitation.

• When you receive an invitation, the event is tentatively added to your calendar until you make a decision about it. The status changes as you accept, tentatively accept (Maybe), or decline invitations.

• If an event gets canceled after you accept it or indicated maybe, you receive a notification in your Inbox that displays a strikethrough through the event’s title. Tap Delete to remove the event from your calendar.

• Siri is useful for working with calendars, as discussed in the sidebar “A Better Way to Create Events” earlier in this chapter, especially for creating events. See Chapter 13 for more detailed information about using Siri.

• You can publish a calendar by making it public. When you do this, anyone who can access the shared calendar on the Web can view, but not change, the published calendar. This puts the calendar on the Web, where it can be viewed with a web browser. This is unlike a calendar you share with someone, which adds your calendar to her calendar app.

  To make a calendar public, move to its Edit Calendar screen and slide the Public Calendar switch to on (green). Tap Share Link. Then tap Mail to send the link via email, tap Message to send it via the Messages app, or tap Copy to copy the link so you can paste it elsewhere. Tap AirDrop, Twitter, or Facebook to share the link in those ways. A person can use the link to view your calendar or, if the person uses a compatible application, to subscribe to it so it appears in her calendar application.