How to Share Calendar Events on iPhone and iPad

I have started using this, and it’s pretty awesome… You need to have an email address for the person who you’d like to invite to an event, and so far I don’t think that facebook email addresses work. Give this a shot, and let me know if you figure something out that I might enjoy.

 

 

How to Share Calendar Events on iPhone and iPad

When iOS 5 came out in October 2011, it came with iCloud integration. In Apple’s attempt to highlight key features of iOS 5, some of the areas where iCloud shines have not been mentioned. iCloud offers a fantastic wireless syncing service which can also be linked between two people. Apple has not fully developed iCloud to share documents or photos but Apple has been able to achieve this with calendar and reminders. For example, if you are going out for dinner with friends you want yourself and your friends to have the same copy of the calendar event, which synchronises the event to both calendars. iOS 5 and iCloud can allow you to share calendar events on iPhone and iPad.

Just set up a normal event within the calendar application, registering details such as time, date and location. To invite people to the event, there is an ‘Invitees’ tab, located underneath ‘Repeat’ – exclusive toiOS 5. When selecting an email address in the ‘Add Invitees’ tab, select the invitees’ Apple ID/iCloud ID email address. If you are unsure of your friend’s Apple ID, ask them to go to Settings -> iCloud. At the top, their Apple ID/iCloud ID will be stated. Once you have selected the email and pressed done, iCloud will transfer the data to your invitee’s iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. You can add as many email addresses as you like.

The invitees will shortly, in approximately 5 minutes, receive a notification on their device which informs them of the invite. On their device, the calendar application will also show a red badge. When the calendar app is next opened, there will now be another red badge in the bottom right-hand corner. When this is pressed, a tray revealing invitations will appear. When they have clicked on the new invitation, they will see to an expanded view of event details. This includes; date, time, location, the host and others the invitation has been sent out to. The recipient will have options, located at the bottom, to submit whether they are available for the event.

When they have decided to either accept, maybe or decline the host will be able to view people attending by selecting the event in the calendar app. From here the host will be able to see how many people haven’t replied yet, how many are attending, unsure or declining. If the host was to make changes you make to the event, such as adding to the notes, all invitees who have accepted the invitation can view changes to the event by selecting the appointment in the calendar application.

This is the only official way to share calendar events on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The system could be smoother and I hope Apple add notifications of an update to an event in future software releases. It is a very handy feature to have in iOS 5 but Apple’s iCloud integration still needs some tweaking and perfecting.

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