Tell me how to use our family's iDevices for a family calendar

[Just Kate]

Both dh and I have an iPhone and an iPad, and ds has an iPod. I would like to use some app to keep track of family activities and with dh being out of town more than he's home, I think an app would be beneficial for everyone. What are your favorites?

[JenneinCA]

Calendar.

 

We use calendar and everyone can look at it from their device and add things if necessary.

[Hypatia.]

We also just use the Calendar.  We have one labeled Home (or Family) that goes for everyone, for things that everyone needs to either go to or at least be aware of.  I'll add appointments from my phone and they'll automatically show up on my computer, the iPads, DH's phone & iPad.  It's the only thing that keeps me from spacing on everything.

[Just Kate]

So I can share my calendar?

 

How do I do this?

[PeterPan]

You just use the calendar that comes with your apple devices.  Go into the Settings and turn on iCloud.  Select to have your calendars sync with iCloud.  Then go into the calendars and their settings to determine *which* calendars sync to iCloud. You're able to have multiple calendars within your calendar, and each one can have its own color.  So you could color code everything for Johnny blue, Suzy pink, Mom purple, Dad yellow, or whatever.  I labeled all the calendars consistently: DD-private, DD-social, DD-school, Mom-private, Mom-social, etc. etc.  That way I can go on each device and check the specific calendars I want to show and uncheck the ones I DON'T want to show.  I don't need my personal calendar (with my personal info, iykwim) on my dd's computer.  Totally organized.

 

I finally got this done on our devices and it's AWESOME. 

 

Oh, and I cheat.  I now use Calendars5 for the app on my i-devices instead of the regular calendar.  It takes the data coming in from the synced iCal and uses it.  So we can change something in an iMac or laptop in iCal and it changes in Calendars5 as well.  I can use Siri and say add to calendar, and when it adds it to iCal it will also go into Calendars5.  Slick!  I like the visual of Calendars5 better, no other reason.  You can look at screen shots and decide for yourself. 

 

(I keep saying iCal, but it's now called Calendar, lol.)

[PeterPan]

And to be clear, ALL the devices have to have it turned on in settings to Sync with iCloud.  

[PeterPan]

Sorry to keep going, hehe.  The other reason I love having all the calendars sync through iCloud is I can then add something to dd's calendar from my phone or computer!  You may have noticed when you add an event in iCal it wants you to select which calendar.  That's where you're adding that color coding or label.  So if I want to add a Zoo Days event to my dd's calendar, I can do it from *my* computer just by entering it and putting the DD-school label on it.  Then it appears on her calendar.  Neat!   :001_wub: 

[Just Kate]

Woo hoo! Thank you so much! I was looking at calendars that require a monthly/annual subscription, but this is exactly what I was looking for. :)

[PeterPan]

You can sync through Google calendar as well, if some of your devices are android or pc.  

[felicity]

Can I ask a question about syncing the calendars across devices? I'm trying to put our regular calendar on my ds iphone using calendar but I don't think I can since his email address is tied to the phone. I hope that makes sense and is that correct? I'm not finding a way around it but it seems like there should be one. Thanks.

[Mrs Mungo]

I use the Cozi app. Everyone with a phone has it downloaded to their phone. We use a shared family calendar. When one person adds an event, it updates the calendars across everyone's devices. It is simple to use.

[zimom]

We use the Cozi app also for our family calendar.   I prefer to use my regular calendar on my devices just for my own personal stuff, Cozi is for the whole family.   We also use the other features of Cozi, tasks, shopping lists, etc.  We use the free version and it works very well for us.  Hubby and DD1 may be at the grocery store and I may think of something else I need, add it to the Cozi shopping list and it shows up automatically on DD1 Cozi shopping list at the store.  

 

Calendar events I can assign to the whole family, or just certain family members which is one of my favorite features.  

[PeterPan]

If you need to sync lists and notes, remember (op) you can also do that with the Notes application on your devices.  iCloud will sync it just fine and you can do the same thing, creating folders where each user has their notes.  

 

I also really like Wunderlist, which has accounts so you can sync.  I have just been using it on my iPad to plan projects and things.  I didn't even realize there's now a desktop app.  So then you can sync your Wunderlists across all your devices.