unaccountably tavern: How to create and accept Calendar invitations on your iPhone and iPad

Thursday, January 17, 2013

How to create and accept Calendar invitations on your iPhone and iPad

If you've got friends and family that use the default Calendar app on their iPhones and iPads, you can easily collaborate and share events and calendars with each other. This is great for families who want a shared calendar due to having a lot of events in common. If you've got colleagues that you work with often and share the same schedules, inviting them to calendars and events you've already created makes life a lot easier than sending emails that don't need to be sent. They can also do the same and share theirs with you.

Follow along and we'll show you how.

How to share an event on your iPhone and iPad

Launch the Calendar app from the Home screen of your iPhone and iPad
Either create a new event or tap an existing event you'd like to share.
Tap on the Edit button in the upper right hand corner.
Tap on Invitees under the Edit options menu.
Either start typing the name of a contact, or tap on the blue + button in the right of the to field to access your Contacts list.
Tap the contact name and, if they have multiple email addresses, tap the email address you want to send the invitation to.
Repeat the process for each person you'd like to invite.
Tap the Done button in the upper right hand corner when you're finished.

The invitation will now be sent by email to everyone you've added.

How to accept an event invitation on your iPhone and iPad

Launch the Calendar app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
Tap on the Inbox button in the lower right hand corner, or tap on the grayed out event that appears outlined in your event list
Tap accept to add the event to your calendar. Tap decline or maybe to refuse the invitation or wait so you can decide later.

How to share a calendar on your iPhone and iPad

Note: Calendar sharing currently only works with iCloud calendars. Both you, and the person you want to share the calendar with, have to be using iCloud.

Launch the Calendar app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
Tap on the Calendars button in the upper left hand corner of the main calendar view.
Tap on the blue arrow next to the name of the iCloud calendar you'd like to share.
Tap the Add Person... option under the Shared with... header.
Either start typing the name of a contact, or tap on the blue + button in the right of the to field to access your Contacts list.
Tap the contact name and, if they have multiple email addresses, tap the email address (remember, iCloud only) you want to send the invitation to.
Repeat the process for each person you'd like to invite.
Tap the Done button in the upper right hand corner.

The calendar will now be shared with everyone who's iCloud account you've added.

How to accept a shared calendar invite on your iPhone and iPad

Launch the Calendar app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
Tap on the Inbox button in the lower right hand corner, or tap on the grayed out event that appears outlined in your event list
Tap on Join Calendar to accept the shared calendar. Tap Decline if you don't want to add the shared calendar.

The shared calendar will now appear in your list of calendars and filter into your Calendar app.