Calends — merge multiple Apple calendars into one you can share (Mac/iPhone/iPad)

[draagyn1]

For years I've been looking for a way to take all the calendars in my Apple Calendar — two different Exchange calendars for work, plus a bunch of personal ones — and merge them into a single calendar I could share, so my wife and I can coordinate our schedules. The really frustrating part was the reverse direction: getting her schedule visible to me so we could avoid conflicts before they happen.

Some popular calendar apps can do this, but I work at a university, and only approved applications are allowed to access my Exchange account — so apps like Fantastical are blocked. What finally clicked for me: Apple Calendar on my Mac could already see everything. So I built an app that never logs in to any account. It just reads what Apple Calendar already shows and maintains a merged "master" calendar, which lives in Apple Calendar and shares through iCloud like any other calendar. My wife shares hers back, and conflicts finally show up ahead of time.

I originally made it purely for my own use, but I figure plenty of people have the same problem, so I've put it on the App Store. The more I used it, the more features I added that I didn't know I needed. The big one is privacy when sharing: each calendar feeding the shared one can show full details or just "Busy" — or any label you choose. That matters when certain appointments aren't for everyone's eyes, like when sharing availability with colleagues or staff.

It's called Calends — Mac, iPhone, and iPad: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6777328427
30-day free trial, then a one-time purchase — no subscription.

Happy to answer questions, and honest feedback is genuinely welcome.

 

[MacGizmo]

So I understand, does Calends give you another calendar that has all the others merged—In other words, if I have two calendars I maintain and my wife has two calendars she maintains – Calends essentially creates a 5th calendar that reflects the other four? I assume that would mean we each need to continue to maintain our two calendars.

If that is the case, then what calendar(s) would we add events/items to? Would that be the original four calendars, or the new Calends calendar?

Or does Calends REPLACE the original four calendars moving forward? Do we then only add events/items to the Calends calendar?

I can see the need for what Calends does, but it's unclear (to me anyway) by looking at the website what value Calends actually provides if all it's doing is giving me a (in my example) 5th calendar to look at that shows me what I can already see with the other four. I can't believe that's the case here, so please help me understand.

 

[draagyn1]

So I understand, does Calends give you another calendar that has all the others merged—In other words, if I have two calendars I maintain and my wife has two calendars she maintains – Calends essentially creates a 5th calendar that reflects the other four? I assume that would mean we each need to continue to maintain our two calendars.

If that is the case, then what calendar(s) would we add events/items to? Would that be the original four calendars, or the new Calends calendar?

Or does Calends REPLACE the original four calendars moving forward? Do we then only add events/items to the Calends calendar?

I can see the need for what Calends does, but it's unclear (to me anyway) by looking at the website what value Calends actually provides if all it's doing is giving me a (in my example) 5th calendar to look at that shows me what I can already see with the other four. I can't believe that's the case here, so please help me understand.

Good questions — you've got the model right. Yes: Calends creates a fifth calendar that mirrors the other four, and the originals remain the source of truth. You keep adding events to your original calendars exactly as before, and the merged calendar updates automatically. It doesn't replace anything — your four calendars don't know Calends exists. (You can also add one-off events directly to the merged calendar and the sync leaves them alone, but the normal flow is: originals in, merged calendar out.)

You're also right that if all it did was give you a fifth calendar to look at, it wouldn't be worth much — you can already overlay calendars visually in Apple Calendar. The value is in sharing:

1. Sharing several calendars as one: Instead of your wife subscribing to your two calendars (and you to her two), you each share a single merged calendar with the other. Same for sharing availability with colleagues or staff — they subscribe to one calendar, not a pile.
2. Sharing calendars that can't normally be shared: If one of your calendars is, say, a work Exchange account where the employer restricts sharing, Calends can still fold it into the merged calendar — because it never logs in to the account; it just reads what your Apple Calendar already displays.
3. Privacy: Each source calendar can contribute full details or just a "Busy" block (with a label you choose), so people can see when you're unavailable without seeing what any appointment is. Useful in occupations where the appointments themselves are sensitive.
4. It also de-duplicates events that appear on more than one of the source calendars, so the merged view stays clean.

And to your last point — even for personal use, I actually prefer looking at just the one merged calendar and hiding the four source calendars in the sidebar. Much tidier. But sharing is the reason it exists.

 

[MacGizmo]

Thanks so much for the explanation(s), it was extremely helpful. At first I just didn't get how it would make things easier, but now I can see exactly how this can not only simplify things, but also give the user more flexibility with what and how things are shared.

 

[draagyn1]

Thanks so much for the explanation(s), it was extremely helpful. At first I just didn't get how it would make things easier, but now I can see exactly how this can not only simplify things, but also give the user more flexibility with what and how things are shared.

Glad it helped, and I appreciate the comments — your questions actually made me tweak the website slightly to make it clearer what Calends does. If you ever give it a try, I'd love any feedback or suggestions.

 

[draagyn1]

Calends 2.2 is out, the biggest update since launch. I'm pretty excited about it.

The headline: Calends now watches itself. If one of your calendars ever needs attention (a work account signs out on your Mac, a source goes quiet), every one of your devices gets a notification naming the calendar and the device. It's delivered through your own iCloud, so there's still no server, no account, and nothing for your events to pass through.

Also new: per-calendar sharing detail. Each calendar feeding a merged one can show full details or just a busy block, with wording you choose ("Reserved", or "Clinic: Busy" with the calendar's name). Plus title rules for copied events, and renaming a calendar now just works, settings follow the new name.

Under the hood this release is a large rewrite of the sync engine's judgment: it hands off cleanly between devices, survives accounts being switched off and on, and when it's ever unsure, it pauses and asks instead of guessing.

As of 2.2, Calends is also available in France, with the App Store listing and website in French.

I suggest updating all your devices together, and allow notifications when asked, that's how the alerts reach you.

Happy to answer questions here as always.