Apple and iCloud calendars

Get emailed when family or friends add, change, or delete events on a calendar you share in Apple Calendar.

If you share an Apple Calendar with family or friends, CheckTheCal can email you when one of them adds, changes, or deletes an event. That covers the swapped pickup, or the extra Saturday party, that someone added and didn't mention.

To do this, Apple needs to give the calendar a link we can read, which it calls a public calendar link. You can do this on a Mac, an iPhone or iPad, or at iCloud.com.

Before you start: read what "Public Calendar" means below. It takes a minute and explains exactly who can see what.

On a Mac

1. Open the Calendar app.
2. In the list of calendars on the left, find the one you want. If you can't see the list, choose Calendars at the top of the window.
3. Click the small share icon (it looks like a broadcast signal) to the right of the calendar's name.
4. Tick Public Calendar. After a moment, a link appears underneath.
5. Copy the link. It starts with webcal:// and contains icloud.com.
6. In CheckTheCal, choose Add a Calendar and paste the link in. There's no need to change webcal:// to https://; we do that for you.

On an iPhone or iPad

1. Open the Calendar app.
2. Tap Calendars at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap the info button (an "i" in a circle) next to the calendar you want.
4. Scroll down and turn on Public Calendar.
5. Tap Share Link…, then Copy.
6. In CheckTheCal, choose Add a Calendar and paste the link in.

At iCloud.com

This also works from a Windows PC or any computer without your Apple devices nearby.

1. Sign in at iCloud.com with your Apple Account.
2. Open Calendar.
3. In the sidebar, click the share icon next to the calendar's name.
4. Tick Public Calendar.
5. Copy the link that appears, and paste it into Add a Calendar in CheckTheCal.

What "Public Calendar" means

Turning on Public Calendar creates a link that anyone who has it can use to *view* the calendar, without a password. Nobody can edit the calendar with it, and Apple doesn't list it anywhere. The link is long and random, so it can't realistically be guessed, but anyone you give it to can read your events.

How CheckTheCal looks after your link:

• We never share your calendar links, and we only use them to check for changes.
• We fetch your calendar over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection.
• Links are hidden in our emails, in the app, and in our logs. We show the site's name, never the full address.
• Our backups are encrypted.

For the full detail, see our Privacy Policy and Terms.

Turning it off later

To stop sharing the link, go back to the same setting and turn Public Calendar off. The old link stops working immediately. If you turn it back on later, Apple makes a brand-new link, so anyone with the old one can't use it.

If you do this, delete the calendar from CheckTheCal too, or add it again with the new link. Otherwise we'll tell you we can't reach it.

Still stuck? Browse all guides or email support@checkthecal.com.