How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone

Q: "I have sync issues with iCloud: I have multiple calendars on my Mac. This is where I keep track of all my dates. I have activated all the proper settings for syncing across from iMac to iPhone. When I go to the Mac version and display the calendars. I see three groupings, which all I have ticked in the left panel. When I see the calendar on my iPhone, only that one calendar which shows up in the first two groups. What happened to the rest calendars? Why my Mac calendar not syncing with iPhone and I can't see them on my iPhone? Any suggestion?"

Generally speaking, as long as you have turned on iCloud for calendar and sign in the same iCloud account on all your iOS and OS devices, including iPad, iPhone, MacBook, iMac, the calendars will be synced among the devices automatically without any error. If you are unlucky to encounter Mac calendar not syncing with iPhone like said above, you can refer to the fixes below to troubleshoot.

How to fix Mac calendar not syncing with iPhone

1. Turn off iCloud Calendar and turn it on again

  • Go to System Preference > iCloud.
  • Turn off iCloud calendar by unchecking the box of Calendars and choose Delete from Mac. Then, turn off iCloud.
  • Wait for about 30 seconds, go to System Preference > iCloud. Check Calendar and turn on iCloud Calendar. Wait for a while, and go to your iPhone calendar to check the calendars are updated or not.

2. Make sure you have signed in the same iCloud account

Go to the Settings on your iPhone and check whether you have logged in the same iCloud account as that on Mac, which is the basic fix for iCloud not syncing problem.

3. Make sure you have checked all the calendars

Go to the Calendar App on your Mac, tap Calendars form the bottom center to check whether all the calendars are ticked or not in the left panel. If you the calendars you want to sync to iPhone haven't been ticked, they won't be updated.

4. Check your default account

Go to the Calendar App on your Mac, and choose Calendar > Preferences, On the General tab, make sure that one of your iCloud calendars is the default.

How to sync data between iPhone and Mac when iCloud syncing not working on  iPhone

If you need to transfer data from iPhone to Mac immediately but the iCloud still not working, how to make it possible? Here is an easy and free solution to move data from iPhone to Mac to update data by using EaseUS MobiMover Free, the ultimate iOS data transfer tool to backup iPhone data to PC/PC without iCloud, transfer data from iPhone to iPhone without iTunes, and add contents to iPhone/iPad in a data-safe way.

Download for PC Download for Mac 

Step 1. Connect iPad to your Mac with a USB cable. Once connected, tap "Trust This Computer" on your device's screen. Open EaseUS MobiMover and select "Phone to Mac" on the main screen. Click "Next" to start transferring data from iPad to your computer.

How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
Make sure Calendars is selected to sync calendars from a cloud service such as iCloud with Calendar on your Mac.

Your calendars from the selected cloud service should now begin syncing with your Mac. However, not all calendar services support push syncing, and even when they do, you may prefer scheduled syncing. To check or change the sync interval:

  • Open the Calendar app, and go to Calendar > Preferences > Accounts > Account Name > Account Information.
  • Choose Push (if available) or a time interval from the Refresh Calendars pop-up menu.
  • Note: Calendars sync only when your device has an Internet connection. If you make a change when your device is offline, it syncs the next time a connection becomes available.

    The process for syncing reminders on a Mac or iOS device is almost identical to that for syncing calendars, except:

    • Only iCloud and Exchange support syncing reminders.
    • The sync interval for reminders is not adjustable.

    Sync Calendars in iOS

    1. Tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
    2. If the account you want to use for syncing calendars (iCloud, Exchange, Google, or CalDAV) is not already listed at the top, tap Add Account and follow the prompts to add it.
    3. Tap the account name and make sure Calendars is turned on for that account.

    Your calendars from the selected cloud service should now be syncing with your iOS device.

    If you don’t have an account with a cloud service that supports calendar syncing (and can’t or don’t want to get one), it’s possible to sync calendars (though not reminders) directly between a Mac and an iOS device using Wi-Fi.

    First make sure your iOS device is configured for Wi-Fi syncing as described on this Apple support page. Then, in iTunes, select your iOS device, click Info, and make sure Sync Calendars is selected. Select either All Calendars or Selected Calendars (in which case, make sure the calendars you want to sync are checked). Then click Sync.


    Page 2

    In the digital world, the word “sharing” is right up there with “cloud”—it’s overused, ambiguous, and often misleading. Sharing sounds like a self-evidently good and useful activity, but there are so many different things to share and so many ways to share them that what should be a simple task often becomes confusing and frustrating. Even an everyday activity like sharing a file is rarely straightforward—should I email it to you, upload it to a cloud storage service and send you a link, hand you a flash drive containing the file, or use any of a dozen other methods? The answer depends on numerous variables, and may be different for each person.

    Part of the problem is that the word “sharing” doesn’t refer to just one concept. If I share a chocolate bar with you, that means I have less chocolate to eat (so don’t even ask). On the other hand, if you share your ideas with me, I have something more but you don’t have any less. And if we share a taxi, we both benefit—we get where we’re going while paying less per person.

    What’s true for candy and cabs is also true of digital data. Your wonderful Apple devices (including the Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and Apple TV) enable many kinds of digital sharing, but what “sharing” means depends on the context:

    • Syncing: In this form of sharing, copies of the same data are automatically kept up to date in multiple places—when you “share” a calendar or “share” Safari bookmarks using iCloud, this is what happens. Syncing can happen between your own devices or between users.
    • Sending: This is a type of sharing in which I give you a static copy of some piece of information—when I “share” a URL or an email attachment with you, this is what happens. Sending is intrinsically one-way and read-only.
    • Broadcasting: I can also provide one-way, read-only, dynamic access to a resource while continuing to control it—when I “share” my screen in a Google+ Hangout or “share” audio from my iOS device to an AirPlay speaker, this is what happens. Broadcasting is similar to sending, except that with broadcasting, people or devices I’ve shared a resource with see (or hear) any changes I make.
    • Sharing: I can provide read-write access to a resource—when I “share” my iPhone’s Internet connection or “share” a folder using OS X File Sharing, this is what happens. This is similar to syncing, except that with syncing, data lives in multiple places; with sharing, the shared resource or data is in only one place.

    This book covers all four senses of sharing (which sometimes overlap), but it uses the more specific terms syncing, sending, and broadcasting for clarity when describing activities that fit those definitions above.

    Bear in mind that this truly is a “crash course”—it doesn’t cover every detail or option, but rather shows you the quickest and simplest way (or two) to accomplish each task.

    All the techniques in this book work with OS X 10.11 El Capitan, iOS 9, or both. Many also work with older versions of the two operating systems—perhaps with minor modifications. I haven’t spelled out those differences or compatibility issues, but in general, the older your version of OS X or iOS, the less likely you’ll find that everything works as described.


    Page 3

    This ebook was published in December 2015 by TidBITS Publishing Inc. It was written by Joe Kissell and edited by Kelly Turner.

    This ebook explores the many ways in which users of Apple devices can share digital data and resources—across their own devices and with other people. No matter what you want to share or how you want to share it, this book likely explains how to do it.

    Digital Sharing for Apple Users: A Take Control Crash Course, version 1.3

    Copyright © 2015, alt concepts inc. All rights reserved.

    • Use the link in Ebook Extras, near the end, to download the latest version of the ebook in PDF, EPUB, or Mobipocket format.
    • If you downloaded this ebook from the Take Control Web site, it has been added to your account. If you bought it elsewhere, you can add it to your account; see Registering Your Ebook.

    Tip: You can read about putting Take Control ebooks on various mobile devices and computers in Device Advice.

    All blue text in this ebook is hot, meaning you can click (or tap) it, just like a link on the Web. Some links take you to a Web page. Other links, like the Ebook Extras link above, go to a different part of the ebook.

    If you click a link that takes you to a different part of the ebook, you can return quickly to your previous spot if your ebook reader offers a “back” feature.

    For example, if you use iBooks to read the EPUB version of this ebook, click the “Back to” link at the lower left. Or, if you use Preview on the Mac to read the PDF version, choose Go > Back or press Command-[.

    Note: For help with menus, paths, and other basic topics, check out Read Me First: A Take Control Crash Course, available for free on the Web or as a standalone ebook in PDF, EPUB, and the Kindle’s Mobipocket format.

    What’s New in Version 1.3

    This book contains numerous small changes that reflect the latest versions of OS X, iOS, and various apps and services. The most significant changes are these:


    Page 4

    Each chapter in this book stands alone, so you can read them in any order. But please read the Introduction first, because it includes important information about how this book uses key terms.

    Photos & Videos

    Files

    Personal Data

    This book is current as of OS X 10.11 and iOS 9.1, but details are bound to change as Apple updates its operating systems. Be sure to click this book’s Ebook Extras link every so often—you may find a free update to the book or read useful information on the blog.

    Hardware Resources


    Page 5

    Macs have had built-in file sharing since System Software 2, back in 1987. With a few clicks, you can make one or more folders—or even your entire disk—available to other Macs or PCs on your local network. Another computer (your own or someone else’s) can easily connect to your shared folder or volume, see and open the files inside, and—if you’ve granted the necessary permissions—make changes to those files.

    Although Apple has made some changes to the “plumbing” of OS X file sharing in recent years, it still looks and acts pretty much the same, at least from the perspective of other Macs (Windows PCs have an easier time connecting than they once did).

    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
    Turn on File Sharing in the Sharing pane of System Preferences to allow other Macs and PCs on the local network to access shared folders on your Mac.

    Depending on how you set up OS X file sharing, what you get is either true two-way sharing or one-way broadcasting. I use file sharing constantly to access files on other Macs of my own, and it’s also useful in a home or small-office environment where several people need ongoing access to a subset of each other’s files.

    OS X file sharing is great for what it does, but it’s not ideal in every situation. Accessing your own shared Mac from a remote network is hit-and-miss, even with iCloud’s Back to My Mac feature, which is supposed to make it almost foolproof. It’s even worse for other users on remote networks—getting that to function may require lots of fiddling with routers, DNS services, and other networking esoterica. And, mobile devices generally won’t be able to see your shared files, even if they’re on the same Wi-Fi network as your Mac. In all those cases, you’ll have better results if you Sync Files and Folders across Devices or Sync Folders with Others.

    Enable File Sharing

    1. Open System Preferences > Sharing.
    2. Select the File Sharing checkbox in the list on the left, as shown in the figure above.

    The window shows the addresses at which other computers can connect to your Mac. Your Mac should also appear in the Finder sidebar of other Macs on your local network, under Shared.

    By default, you can access everything on your drive when you connect from another Mac with your login username and password. To give others access to your data, you must first add the folders you want to share and give each user the desired level of access permission.

    1. Click the plus
      How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
      button under Shared Folders.
    2. Navigate to the folder you want to share, select it, and click Add. Repeat as needed.

    Add a User

    1. Select a shared folder .
      How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
      Add shared folders and specify user permissions in this portion of the window. You can also change user permissions using the pop-up menu next to the user’s name, or click the minus button to delete a user.
    2. Click the plus
      How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
      button under Users.
    3. Select a user from Users & Groups or Contacts.
    4. Click Select.
    5. For new user accounts, enter and confirm a password, and click Create Account. When prompted, enter your login password and click Modify Configuration. Then select Users & Groups, select the new user, and click Select.

    If you have more than one user account on your Mac, you can also share files between accounts. The easiest way to do this is to put any files you want other users to be able to access somewhere in the /Users/Shared folder.

    If another user wants to send you a file privately, without using the /Users/Shared folder, she can go to /Users/your-username/Public and drag the file to the Drop Box folder. Only you can see items other people have placed in that folder.

    Note: Adding an OS X file sharing account does not create a new user account on your Mac. The accounts you create here are only for file sharing.


    Page 6

    We hope that you found this book both useful and enjoyable to read. We welcome your comments and questions in individual chapters. You can also send us email.

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    Registering Your Ebook

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    • If you already have a Take Control account, log in to your account, and then click the “access extras…” link in the previous bulleted list.
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    Note: If you try these directions and find that your device is incompatible with the Take Control Web site, contact us.


    Page 7

    Let’s say I’ve told you about a friend or business colleague and I want you to have that person’s contact information. I could, of course, copy the address, phone number, and other details into an email message or instant messaging app, but if that data is already in Contacts for OS X or iOS, I can send it all to you much more easily in a special format called a vCard, which the app will happily generate for me. (A vCard can hold information for one or more contacts.)

    In this chapter, I talk about contact sending. That means any changes I make to the contact’s record won’t sync with you later on (if you want to do that, see Sync Contacts with Others), but either one of us could independently make changes to the record that would sync across our own devices (see Sync Contacts across Devices).

    Export a vCard in OS X

    The OS X Contacts app lets you create a vCard containing any number of contacts—for example, to share the details for everyone involved in a project.

    Once you have the vCard, you can manually email it, send it as a Messages attachment, share a Dropbox link, or send it in any other way of your choosing.

    If your goal is to send multiple contacts in a single vCard, this is the best way to do it:

    1. In Contacts, select one or more contacts.
    2. Chose File > Export > Export vCard.
    3. Choose a name and location for the exported card and click Save.

    You can now send that file to someone else the same way you’d send any other file—see Send Files to Others. The recipient can open Contacts and choose File > Import to import the contacts.

    The record in Contacts that contains your own information—sometimes called the “Me” card—can be exported and sent just like any other vCard. However, Contacts in OS X offers shortcuts—go to Card > Share My Card and choose Email My Card, Message My Card, or AirDrop My Card.

    Sometimes I want to send someone a contact record, but not the whole thing. For example, I may feel comfortable sharing a contact’s phone number and email address but not her physical street address. Unfortunately, Contacts offers no way to export a vCard with only a portion of the contact’s information—it’s all or nothing.

    One exception: your own card. In Contacts > Preferences > vCard, select Enable Private Me Card. Then open your card, click Edit, and deselect the Share checkbox on the right for each item you don’t want included in your own vCard.

    You can also open a vCard in your favorite text editor (it’s just plain text) and delete the lines containing information you don’t want the recipient to see. But be careful—if you delete too much, the card may not import correctly.

    Send a vCard in OS X

    To send any individual contact entry as a vCard, first select the entry in Contacts and click the Share

    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
    button in the lower-right corner. From the pop-up menu , choose one of these:

    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
    In Contacts for OS X, click the Share button and choose an option from the pop-up menu.
    • Email Card: Opens a new message in Mail with the vCard attached.
    • Message Card: Opens a floating Messages window with the vCard attached—just enter the recipient’s name and click Send.
    • AirDrop Card: Opens an AirDrop window with the vCard attached.

    Note: Your Share menu may have more or fewer options than what you see here. Choose More to set which apps can add items to the menu—but note that not all are applicable to Contacts.

    Send a vCard in iOS

    Sending contacts from Contacts in iOS is almost the same as on the Mac, except that iOS lets you send only one contact at a time:

    1. In the iOS Contacts app, navigate to a contact record.
    2. Tap Share Contact to open a sheet .
      How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
      In Contacts for iOS, this is a portion of what you see after you tap Share Contact. The AirDrop area at the top shows any nearby devices with AirDrop enabled. Third-party apps can add new icons to the bottom.
    3. Tap:
      • Message: A new message appears with the vCard attached—just enter the recipient’s name and tap Send.
      • Mail: A Mail message opens in an overlay with the vCard attached.
      • AirDrop area: Tap a user/device displayed in this area to send the vCard. (Not available on older iOS devices.)

    Note: In iOS, third-party apps can also appear here as avenues for sharing.


    Page 8

    When I speak at conferences, I sometimes want to give attendees PDF handouts or other digital goodies. Or, I might want to give away something on Twitter or in an email promotion, for a short time only. In cases like these, I don’t want to Sync Folders with Others (as in the previous chapter) or Send Files to Others (as in the next). I want to make the files available to an indeterminate number of people without my having to contact or approve each one individually—and without requiring anyone to sign up for an account with a cloud provider or download special software.

    While I want to make it simple for recipients, I also want to be able to limit access to the files (say, require a password or make them available only for a limited time) while remaining able to modify the original file (for example, to correct an error).

    The easiest way to do all this is to store the file in the cloud and then publicize a link to that file. In years past, this may have involved uploading files to a Web or FTP server and then managing it manually. But with Dropbox (or, in some situations, iCloud Drive), nearly the whole process can be automated.

    Note: Although I use Dropbox and iCloud Drive as a examples in this chapter, most other cloud storage services offer similar capabilities, with slightly different steps involved.

    First, make sure the file(s) to which you want to broadcast links are located in your Dropbox folder (or one of its subfolders). Then…

    1. Select a file.
    2. Right-click (or Control-click) a file and choose Share Dropbox Link from the contextual menu .
    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
    This menu command is the fastest way to share a Dropbox link from a Mac.

    The URL for the shared item is copied to your Clipboard, and you can then paste it wherever it’s needed.

    1. In the iOS Dropbox app, select a file.
    2. Tap the Share
      How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
      icon followed by Copy Link.

    The URL for the shared item is copied to your Clipboard.

    1. Log in to your account at dropbox.com.
    2. Select a file by clicking in its row but not on the filename directly.
    3. Click Share > Share Link. A link appears, which you can copy and paste—or fill in email address(es) and a comment to send it to someone.
    4. Optionally click the Change Permissions / Add Expiration link to modify sharing options (discussed in more detail just ahead).

    Modify Sharing Options

    On the Dropbox Web site, you can make two important modifications to a shared item—either as you’re sharing it from the site, or after the fact. (Mac shortcut: in the Finder, right-click or Control-click a shared file and choose View on Dropbox.com.) Then click the file’s Share button followed by Change Permissions / Add Expiration. Your options are:

    • Password-protect: Select the Only People with the Password radio button , fill in a password, and click Save Settings. Then the password, and not just the URL, are required to view or download the file.
    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
    Optionally add a password or expiration date to a link in this dialog.
    • Expire: Select the Yes radio button next to Add an Expiration Date to This Link, select a time period from the pop-up menu (30 days is the default), and click Save Settings. After this time has elapsed, the item will no longer be shared.
    1. Log in to your account at dropbox.com.
    2. Click the Links item in the sidebar.
    3. Click the X icon next to the link you want to stop sharing.
    4. Click Remove Link to confirm.

    Dropbox generates URLs that look like https://www.dropbox.com/s/blahblahblah/DocumentName?dl=0. iCloud Drive links are even longer and uglier. In other words: no one wants to type these links by hand.

    To make links shorter and simpler—which is especially important if you’re projecting them on a screen rather than passing around a digital document—I use a URL-shortening service. There are many to choose from; my favorite is Bitly.com.

    Simply paste the full URL into a field on the site, and it generates a much shorter one for you, such as http://bit.ly/a1b2c3.

    If you create a (free) account with the service and sign in, you can customize the end of the URL, for something like http://bit.ly/JoesPDF.

    Certain iOS and OS X apps, such as Apple’s iWork apps, contain a Share Link feature for any of their documents stored in iCloud Drive. (This does not apply to documents you’ve stored locally on your Mac’s disk.)

    • In supported Mac apps: Open a document stored in iCloud Drive. Then choose Share > Share Link via iCloud, followed by the name of an app or service (or Copy Link to put the URL on your Clipboard).

      Choose View Only from the Permissions pop-up menu. (Otherwise, you won’t just be broadcasting, you’ll be sharing—the other person will be able to edit the document.) Then click Share Document Type.

    • In the OS X Finder: Navigate to a file in iCloud Drive and select it. Then click the Share
      How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
      icon on the toolbar and choose a destination.
    • In supported iOS apps: With a document open, tap the Share
      How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
      icon > Share Link via iCloud . Tap View Only and then Share.
      How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
      After tapping the Share icon, tap here to share a link via iCloud.

      In the Share sheet , tap the name of an app (such as Messages, Mail, or Twitter), or an AirDrop destination, to send the link there; alternatively, tap Copy to put the URL on your Clipboard.

    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
    The iOS Share sheet lets you send the URL for a shared document in various ways.
    • In the iCloud Drive app for iOS: Touch and hold the file’s icon. In the popover that appears, tap More. Tap Share Item and then tap the desired destination in the Share sheet.


    Page 9

    You have a file you want to send to someone—a Pages document, a PDF, a ZIP file, or whatever—or maybe a few files. In this situation, you probably don’t want to Sync Folders with Others or Broadcast Download Links because there’s no need to provide ongoing access to the file or to generate a public URL; you need only a one-time, one-way delivery to a limited number of specific recipients. How should you do that?

    Note: Even though I’m talking about sending files to others, you can of course use any of these techniques to send files to yourself on another device, too. In most cases, it’s better to Sync Files and Folders across Devices, but this’ll work too.

    Most of us over a certain age immediately think of email for this purpose. That’s not ideal for large files or when the recipient is using a mobile device—but there are now some clever ways to avoid the traditional problems with attachments. Alternatively, you can use other Apple technologies, including Messages and AirDrop.

    Use Email Attachments

    One way to avoid the aggravations of emailing large attachments is to send links instead. In other words: copy a file to cloud storage, follow the steps in Broadcast Download Links to get a URL for it, and then email that URL. But that’s quite a hassle for one-off files.

    A better way, available in Apple Mail on 10.10 Yosemite and later, is a feature called Mail Drop. It’s enabled by default for iCloud accounts; for other account types, go to Mail > Preferences > Accounts > Account Name > Advanced and select Send Large Attachments with Mail Drop .

    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
    Enable Mail Drop for each of your accounts to eliminate the pain of emailing large attachments.

    With Mail Drop, you compose a message and drag files in to attach them, just as you normally would. But when you click the Send button, Mail uploads attachments totaling over 20 MB or so (and up to 5 GB) to iCloud and inserts a link to the files in the message.

    The recipient sees a link that can be used to download the attachments. iCloud stores sent attachments for 30 days and then deletes them.

    If you don’t want to use Mail Drop (or if your Mac isn’t running Yosemite or later), try a third-party Mail plug-in called CargoLifter, which does roughly the same thing.

    Unlike Mail Drop, CargoLifter can use any of nine cloud storage services (including Dropbox), as well as FTP, SFTP, or WebDAV. It can also compress files before copying them to cloud storage, and can be set to use cloud links only for files over a user-defined size (which you can override per message).

    On the other hand, it doesn’t remove files from cloud storage after a month (or ever), meaning you’ll have to manually cull those files if you don’t want them cluttering up your cloud storage.

    Use Messages

    You can use the Messages app to send files of up to 100 MB to individuals or groups. The only catch is that the transfer must use the iMessage protocol (the default in Messages), which in turn means the other person must be logged in to an iMessage account on a Mac or iOS device.

    To send a file in Messages for OS X, start a conversation and then drag and drop the file into the message field .

    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
    Drag a file right into the message field to send it in Messages on OS X.

    On an iOS device, you can send photos or videos from within Messages (see View Privately). You can also send files via Messages from within many iOS apps. Although the exact procedure varies from one app to the next, here’s how you do it with Apple’s iWork apps (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote):

    1. Tap the Share
      How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
      icon > Send a Copy.
    2. If applicable, tap to choose a file format.
    3. Tap Message.
    4. Fill in the recipient(s), enter any desired text, and tap Send.

    In other apps, look for a Share button or icon of some kind. (But note that some apps offer sharing only by email.)

    AirDrop lets you send files from one Mac or iOS device to another, on the fly—as long as the devices meet the necessary hardware and software requirements, are configured correctly, and are near each other (within about 30 feet); and the two users are able to cooperate actively in the exchange.

    That’s a lot of qualifications, and in real life, I’ve nearly always found AirDrop to be more trouble than it’s worth. However, if you’re still interested in using it, Apple’s Web site has step-by-step instructions for initiating an AirDrop transfer from a Mac or iOS device.


    Page 10

    Although it’s now extremely easy to Sync Contacts across Devices of your own, syncing contacts with other people is another story entirely.

    For example, my wife has her own list of contacts and I have mine, but those two lists have perhaps a hundred contacts in common—relatives, mutual friends, and neighbors. Except, my wife’s contact records don’t match mine. Maybe I have an outdated phone number for one person, or she’s missing an email address for another. If the two of us could sync the portion of our contact lists that overlaps, we could be sure we both had all the latest information at all times.

    I’m astonished that Apple hasn’t found an elegant solution to this problem yet; it’s conspicuously missing from iCloud Family Sharing, for instance. There are a few approaches you can take to kind of sync a subset of your contacts with someone else, but they’re imperfect at best.

    The best (albeit cumbersome) approach is to create a new account with whichever service you already use to Sync Contacts across Devices. For example, if you use iCloud for this purpose, set up an entirely new iCloud account, with a new username and password. You can do the same with a Google, Exchange, or CardDAV account.

    Then, on each device (and for each person), add the new account in System Preferences > Internet Accounts (OS X) or Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars (iOS), and make sure only Contacts is selected or turned on for that account.

    Note: A Mac or iOS device can have multiple iCloud accounts, but only the first one you configure can use the full range of iCloud services. So be sure to configure your personal iCloud account first, and then the contacts-only account.

    Rely on Social Networks

    Facebook and LinkedIn users can share their contact info with their network. So if you enable your Facebook or LinkedIn account on your Mac or iOS device, you can see the contact info from your friends on those networks.

    In theory, this is the ideal solution to syncing contacts, because you get everyone’s information with no manual effort. Instead of syncing your contact list with someone else, both people simply add the same network contacts.

    But not everyone makes their contact information public on social networks, includes all the details you may want, or keeps that information up to date.

    Those giant disclaimers aside, if you want to use this method of pseudo-syncing, all you have to do is sign in with your Facebook and/or LinkedIn account on each device and make sure Contacts is enabled for that account.


    Page 11

    I’m having a party on Friday night and I want all my friends to come. There’s also a business meeting every Tuesday morning that everyone in my department should attend, and a series of fundraising events the other members of my community group need to remember. If you, too, are responsible for planning events that other people need to know about, you’ll want a way to broadcast those events so that the relevant people can see them on their own calendars.

    One way to broadcast events is to publish an entire calendar, to which interested parties can then subscribe. When you do this, changes to your published calendar will appear (sometimes after a significant delay) on subscribers’ devices, but they’re free to ignore any or all of the calendar events. Publishing is appropriate for events that are entirely optional for attendees.

    Another approach is to invite specific people to an event (such as a meeting or appointment). In the process of adding the event to their own calendars, invitees are asked—though not required—to respond with “Yes,” “No,” or “Maybe” so that you, the event organizer, know who will be there. If you make changes to the event, you can notify all the other participants.

    Publish an iCloud Calendar

    1. Sign in to your account at iCloud.com.
    2. Go to the Calendar app.
    3. Click the Share
      How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
      icon that appears beside a calendar’s name.
    4. In the pop-up window, select Public Calendar.
    5. To inform other people of the calendar’s URL, you can either copy it and paste it into a message, or click Email Link to email it.
    6. Click OK.

    The recipient can add the calendar to Calendar by clicking the link you send.

    Note: The steps in Calendar for OS X are virtually identical. In Calendar for iOS, tap Calendars, tap the Info

    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
    icon next to a calendar name, and turn on Public Calendar.

    Send iCloud Event Invitations

    1. Create a new event.
    2. In the Calendar Web app at iCloud.com or in Calendar for OS X, click the Add Invitee(s) field. In the iOS Calendar app, tap Edit followed by Invitees.
    3. Type the name(s) or address(es) of those you want to invite.
    4. Click or tap Send.

    For invitees who use iCloud, the invitation appears in Calendar’s notification box on the iCloud Web site, as well as in Calendar on a Mac or iOS device.

    For other invitees, invitation email messages include buttons (or links) for Accept, Decline, and Maybe.

    In addition, the event on your own calendar is updated with icons reflecting each invitee’s status.

    Publish a Google Calendar

    1. In a Web browser, log in to your Google Calendar account.
    2. Click the tiny
      How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
      button that appears next to the calendar name when you hover over it, and then choose Share This Calendar.
    3. Select Make This Calendar Public.
    4. Click Save, and then click Yes to confirm.
    5. Once again click the tiny
      How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
      button that appears next to the calendar name and this time choose Calendar Settings.
    6. Right-click (or Control-click) the ICAL button next to Calendar Address and choose Copy Link (or Copy Link Address) from the contextual menu to get the calendar’s URL, which you can then send to other people.

    The recipient can add the calendar to Calendar by clicking the link you sent.

    Send Google Event Invitations

    1. In a Web browser, log in to your Google Calendar account.
    2. Create a new event.
    3. Under Add Guests, enter an invitee’s email address and click Add. Repeat to add more invitees.
    4. Click Save.

    Invitees receive an email invitation, which includes links for Yes, No, and Maybe along with a link to the event and an attachment they can use to add the event to their own calendar.


    Page 12

    I just read this fantastic article on the Web, and I want my friend to read it too. So I need to send the URL. The old-fashioned way would have been to go to my browser’s address bar, select the URL, copy it, open my email program, paste it, address it to my friend, and click Send. That may have been fine for 2004 (and yes, it still works), but there are now quite a few ways to deliver a URL to someone else that require far fewer steps.

    Almost every browser on every platform has a way to do this with just a couple of clicks or taps, and the biggest decision you’ll have to make is which delivery mechanism to use. My personal preferences are:

    • Email: If I want to make it easy for the recipient to keep a record of the link (and any accompanying text I may send), I use email.
    • Messages: If speed and efficiency are important but detailed commentary is not, using Messages is the way to go.
    • Social Networks: If I want to share the link with lots of people at once, I post it on Twitter or (less frequently) another social network.

    Safari for OS X

    With a Web page open, click the Share

    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
    button and choose a destination .

    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
    Safari’s Share menu offers many destinations for shared links.

    Fill in the recipient and any additional information that’s requested. Along with email, Messages, and Twitter, the menu lets you send URLs via AirDrop, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more—and third-party apps can add their own.

    Google Chrome and Firefox for OS X

    Chrome and Firefox don’t offer much in the way of sharing options, but you can choose File > Email Page Location (Chrome) or File > Email Link (Firefox) to send a link by email—or look for third-party extensions that let you quickly send links to other destinations.

    iOS Browsers

    In any iOS browser that supports Share sheets (including Google Chrome and Opera Mini), you can do the following:

    1. Tap the Share
      How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
      icon, if you see one. Otherwise, look for a Share command.
    2. Tap a destination in the Share sheet that appears . (If the destination you’re looking for isn’t there, try swiping the icons toward the left.)
    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
    Safari’s Share sheet contains icons for numerous destinations. Swipe to the left in each row to see more options.

    Some iOS browsers don’t use the Share sheet but have a similar method of their own. For instance, in iCab Mobile, tap the Share

    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
    icon > Sharing and then tap a command, such as Send URL by Mail.


    Page 13

    My wife and I frequently buy digital media from Apple that the other person would enjoy too. Although we’d come up with partial workarounds to read the same books or listen to the same music without buying it twice, the process was never pleasant. Add to that a kid or two who is constantly pestering us to buy iPad apps, and the desire to keep our respective photos of the family in sync, and we make the perfect audience for iCloud’s Family Sharing feature. If you, too, have wished for more convenient sharing of digital content in your family, you’ll appreciate Family Sharing.

    Family Sharing requires Yosemite or iOS 8 (or later), so I recommend using it only if all your devices are running recent versions of their respective operating systems. If your family fits that profile, here’s what you’ll get for up to six family members:

    • All family members’ purchases of media from Apple (music, TV shows, movies, books, and apps) are charged to the credit card of the person you designate as the family organizer . (A family member who has enough credit in their own Apple ID account can use that credit to buy something without using the shared card.)
    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
    Manage payment method and family members in this dialog within the iCloud preference pane.
    • Kids (who can get special Apple IDs of their own even if they’re under 13) can request media purchases from a parent, who must approve each one individually.
    • All family members can access each others’ media, although you can hide particular items of your own that you don’t want to share.
    • A shared family photo album, calendar, and reminder list are created.
    • Family members can more easily share their locations (with Find My Friends) and locate their devices (with Find My Device).

    Enable Family Sharing

    1. On a Mac, go to System Preferences > iCloud.

      Note: You can also enable Family Sharing on an iOS device. The process is similar—go to Settings > iCloud.

    2. Click Set Up Family.
    3. Click through five informational screens, confirming that you really want to do this, and agreeing to the terms and conditions.
    4. In the dialog that appears, you can click Add Family Member to add one or more family members:
      • For a family member who already has an Apple ID: select “Enter a family member’s name or email address,” enter the name or address, and click Continue.
      • For a child without an existing Apple ID: select “Create an Apple ID for a child who doesn’t have an account,” click Continue, and follow the prompts.

      Each invited adult will receive an email invitation and must follow its instructions to accept the invitation.

    5. Enter your credit card’s three- or four-digit security code when prompted.

    To add more family members, click the plus

    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone
    button and repeat this process. When you’re done, click Done. (To add or remove people later, go to System Preferences > iCloud and click Manage Family.)

    Each participating family member automatically has a Family calendar added to Calendar (on OS X and iOS) and a Family reminder list added to Reminders. So, any events or reminders you assign to Family will appear for all family members.

    Family Sharing creates a new shared photo album called Family in the Photos app on all the family’s devices—as well as in iPhoto running on Mavericks or later. Add photos to this album just like any other album, and they’re available to all family members.

    Use Find My Noun

    • Find My Friends: Turning on Family Sharing automatically adds all family members to each others’ Find My Friends app, so you can find out where each family member is (or, to be more accurate, where each person’s primary iOS device is).
    • Find My Device: On any or all of the family’s Macs and iOS devices, family members can enable Find My Device (Find My Mac, Find My iPhone, etc.) in System Preferences > iCloud (Mac) or Settings > iCloud (iOS).

      Once that’s done, when you open the Find My iPhone app for iOS, or the Find My iPhone Web app at iCloud.com, your personal devices appear at the top of the All Devices list (under a My Devices heading), followed by headings for each family member’s devices.

    Once Family Sharing is set up, media purchased from Apple by any family member is available to the other family members, and new purchases are charged to the organizer’s credit card. To see and download another family member’s purchases:

    • Mac apps: In the App Store app, click Purchased and then choose a family member’s name from the Purchases pop-up menu at the top.
    • iOS apps: In the iOS App Store app, go to Updates > Purchased (iPhone) or Purchased > My Purchases (iPad) and tap a family member’s name.

    Note: Some apps are not shareable among family members. (I have no idea why a developer would opt out.) Look at an app’s description in the App Store, and you’ll see a Family Sharing entry that says “Available” or “Not Available.”

    • Books: In iBooks for Mac, go to Store > Store Home and click the Purchased link. Then choose a family member’s name from the pop-up menu next to Purchases at the top. In iBooks for iOS, go to Purchased (and then, on an iPad, to My Purchases) and tap a family member’s name.
    • Music, TV shows, and movies: In iTunes for Mac, open the iTunes Store, click the Purchased link, and choose a family member’s name from the pop-up menu next to Purchased at the top. On an iOS device, open the iTunes Store app and then go to More > Purchased (iPhone) or Purchased > My Purchases (iPad) and tap a family member’s name.

    To hide an app you’ve purchased from other members of your family, do this:

    • iOS: Go to App Store > Updates > Purchased (iPhone) or Purchased > My Purchases (iPad), swipe an app name to the left, and tap Hide.
    • Mac: Go to App Store > Purchases, right-click (or Control-click) an app, and choose Hide Purchase from the contextual menu. Click Hide Purchase to confirm.

    Note: If you subscribe to iTunes Match, your matched or uploaded tracks won’t be available via Family Sharing because they weren’t purchased from Apple. But you can share them in other ways; see Broadcast an iTunes Library in Your Home.

    Use Ask to Buy

    If your family includes children, you may want to use Family Sharing’s Ask to Buy feature.

    Go to System Preferences > iCloud > Manage Family (Mac) or Settings > iCloud > Family (iOS), select a family member, and turn on Ask to Buy (it’s enabled by default for newly created children’s accounts).

    Thereafter, on that child’s devices, after the child clicks or taps the Buy or Install button in any of Apple’s apps where media can be downloaded and enters her password, an Ask Permission alert appears. When the child clicks or taps that button, a parent gets a notification to approve or decline.


    Page 14

    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone

    Joe Kissell is the author of numerous books about Mac and iOS topics, including Take Control of iCloud, Take Control of FileVault, and Take Control of Your Passwords. He is also a contributing editor to TidBITS and a senior contributor to Macworld, and has appeared on the MacTech 25 list (the 25 people voted most influential in the Macintosh community) since 2007.

    Joe has worked in the Mac software industry since the early 1990s, including positions managing software development for Nisus Software and Kensington Technology Group.

    When not writing or speaking, Joe likes to travel, walk, cook, eat, and dream (in both senses of the word). He lives in San Diego with his wife, Morgen Jahnke; their sons, Soren and Devin; and their cat, Zora.

    To contact Joe about this book, send him email and please include Digital Sharing for Apple Users in the subject of your message so his spam filters won’t intercept it.

    Although I currently write and speak about technology as my day job, I have a great many other interests. To find out what I’m up to, visit JoeKissell.com or sign up for joeMail, my free, low-volume, no-spam mailing list. You can also follow me on Twitter (@joekissell).


    Page 15

    How do i sync my mac calendar with iphone

    TidBITS Publishing Inc., publisher of the Take Control book series and TidBITS Web site, was incorporated in 2007 by co-founders Adam and Tonya Engst.

    Adam and Tonya are known in the Apple world as writers, editors, and speakers. They have been creating Apple-related content since they started the online newsletter TidBITS in 1990.

    In TidBITS, you can find the latest Apple news, plus read reviews, opinions, and more. TidBITS is the oldest continuously published digital publication on the Internet, and it was the first Internet publication ever to accept advertising, back in 1992. Maybe someday Google will say thank you.

    • Publisher: Adam Engst
    • Editor in Chief: Tonya Engst
    • Editor: Kelly Turner
    • Production macros: Joe Kissell
    • Cover design: Sam Schick, Neversink
    • Logo design: Geoff Allen, FUN is OK
    • Publishing system: Leanpub

    This is but one of many Take Control titles! Most of our books focus on the Mac and OS X, but we also publish titles that cover iOS, along with general technology topics.

    You can buy Take Control books from the Take Control online catalog as well as from venues such as Amazon and the iBooks Store. But it’s a better user experience and our authors earn more when you buy directly from us. Just saying…

    Our ebooks are available in three popular formats: PDF, EPUB, and the Kindle’s Mobipocket. All are DRM-free.