The Apple Core

Jason D. O'Grady & David Morgenstern

How-to: Sync subscribed calendars OTA in iPhone 3.0

By | June 20, 2009, 11:25am PDT

Summary: One of the largest omissions in the iPhone software to date has been its inability to sync subscribed calendars Over-The-Air (OTA). This has been especially annoying for iPhone owners that subscribe to other people’s calendars, especially families and coworkers that share calendars in iCal. There are two ways to sync calendars to the iPhone. The first [...]

One of the largest omissions in the iPhone software to date has been its inability to sync subscribed calendars Over-The-Air (OTA). This has been especially annoying for iPhone owners that subscribe to other people’s calendars, especially families and coworkers that share calendars in iCal.

There are two ways to sync calendars to the iPhone. The first is to connect your iPhone via the USB dock cable and syncing in iTunes, and the other is to sync OTA with MobileMe. The problem is that they’re mutually exclusive. If you need to see your spouse’s subscribed calendar (for example) on your iPhone you were forced to sync with a cable, OTA syncing of a subscribed calendar simply wasn’t possible in iPhone OS 2.2.1.

Apple added OTA subscribed calendar syncing in iPhone OS 3.0 but it isn’t easy to find. Below I’ll show you how to do it.

With iPhone OS 3.0, you can subscribe to calendars or configure CalDAV calendars by going to: Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account…

Then click on “other” at the bottom of the “Add Account…” screen:

Then click on “Add Subscribed Calendar” at the bottom of the Other screen:

Then enter the server address and other fields as required on the Subscription screen and tap “Save.” If you want to subscribe to more than one calendar simply repeat the process for all of the calendars that you want to add to your iPhone.

If you already subscribe to shared calendars in iCal, you can find the calendar’s server address by clicking on its name (in the left pane under Subscriptions) and then by selecting File > Get Info (or Command-I). You’ll see a window that looks like this, where you’ll need to transcribe the address from the “Subscribed to:” field to Server field on your iPhone in the step above.

Boom, you’re done. OTA subscribed calendar syncing is here, hallelujah.

A list of Apple’s most popular iCal calendar subscriptions is available on their Web site.

It’s worth noting that calendars added to your iPhone are not synced with MobileMe, so the calendars you subscribe to on your iPhone may be different than the ones that you subscribe to on your Mac.

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Topics

Jason O'Grady is a journalist and author specializing in mobile technology. He has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets and his PowerPage blog has been publishing for over 15 years.

Disclosure

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady is the creator and editor of O'Grady's PowerPage, which has been publishing mobile technology news since 1995. He maintains an advertising relationship with the following legacy advertisers on the PowerPage:

  • Amazon Associates
  • Google Adsense
  • Tekserve
  • Advertising on the PowerPage is brokered by a third-party agency (BackBeat Media) and he recuses himself from these negotiations.

Biography

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

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RE: How-to: Sync subscribed calendars OTA in iPhone 3.0
upinson 11th Oct
@brainp Pulauweb Web Hosting Murah Indonesia
Blogger Nusantara Blogpreneur Indonesia
0 Votes
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alternate subscription process
brainp 20th Jun 2009
You can also just email the webcal address to youself
(webcal://ical.mac.com/ical/UK32Holidays.ics for instance), open the
email on your iphone and click the link. Your phone will ask if you want
to subscribe to the selected calendar. Say yes and you're there.
@brainp Pulauweb Web Hosting Murah Indonesia
Blogger Nusantara Blogpreneur Indonesia
0 Votes
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Thanks for the how-to!!
NonZealot 20th Jun 2009
I found this very helpful in stepping me through one of the less intuitive aspects of the iPhone. Much appreciated.
But then you get TWO copies of the calendar, one from OTA syncing, and one from syncing via itunes! I'd like to add a calendar that would sync either way, but into just one calendar on my ipod.
0 Votes
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How do I find the Server or URL of, let's say, my sister's google calendar that I currently have as a delegate in iCal?
0 Votes
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RE: How-to: Sync subscribed calendars OTA in iPhone 3.0
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 10th Oct
Beneficial material, numerous many 2012 nfl jerseys thanks toward the author. It truly is puzzling to me now, but typically, the usefulness and importance is mind-boggling.

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