I’ve used Apple’s Calendar app for years, despite compelling third-party alternatives on the App Store, and one key iOS feature is a great example of why I’d have a hard time switching.
iOS provides convenient Apple Calendar event features in other apps
When comparing calendar apps, there are plenty of third-party options that offer more features than Apple Calendar.
Fantastical is a personal favorite. It excels at offering power user tools like scheduling, calendar sets, and more. Many iPhone users stick with Google Calendar or perhaps Outlook because they’re more custom-built for those calendar services.
But in a similar way, Apple’s Calendar app is designed to pair especially well with the iPhone and iOS—and has an exclusive system feature I use a lot.
Whenever someone sends a proposed meeting date and time, iOS recognizes that and Apple Calendar lets you take action on it.
This uses the iOS ‘data detectors’ system, which tags certain types of text on your iPhone as actionable.
When calendar dates are detected, you can tap the text to see a menu with the following options:
Add to Calendar
Add to Reminders
Show in Calendar
Copy Event
I use this feature all the time to quickly, conveniently manage my schedule.
My two go-to actions from the menu are ‘Show in Calendar’ and ‘Add to Calendar.’
The former jumps you into the Calendar app and shows you the specific day and time mentioned, that way you know exactly what else is going on at that time.
The latter provides a full pop-up, without leaving your current app, to create a new event in Calendar.
Both serve as shortcuts to help you quickly take action on any date and time you encounter—whether in the Messages app, in Apple Mail, or elsewhere across iOS.
In theory, if Apple ever offers a ‘default app’ feature for calendaring, these shortcuts will work with third-party apps too. For now, one workaround is to add all your various calendars to Apple Calendar—solely to benefit from these shortcuts—but then still do all other calendaring in your preferred third-party app.
I’ve done that at times in the past, but highly prefer the reduced mental clutter of keeping everything in Apple’s Calendar app for a seamless experience.
Do you ever use this Apple Calendar feature? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments.
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