Questions & answers
What CalCollapse does with your calendars. For the screen-by-screen flow, see Setting it up. Looking for a particular job? See use cases.
Questions
Which way do events flow?
One way, from Google, a webcal, or an uploaded .ics file into iCloud. Nothing is ever written back to the source. The Google access we ask for is read-only, so nothing could be written there even in principle.
Will it create or rename calendars in iCloud?
No. You pick a calendar you already have, and events are written into it. CalCollapse never creates, renames or deletes an iCloud calendar, and it only ever touches the events it wrote itself — an event you created by hand in that same calendar is invisible to it.
What if I edit a synced event in Apple Calendar?
Your edit will be overwritten on the next run. The source — Google, a webcal, or the last .ics file you uploaded — is the source of truth for anything synced, so a change that needs to stick has to be made there. A file source will not pick up a new schedule until you replace the file.
How often does it sync?
Changes usually reach iCloud within a minute of you making them, and every 15 minutes regardless. You can also trigger a run yourself from the dashboard at any time.
How far back does it go?
A Google calendar is synced from the last 90 days forward: everything still to come, and past one-off events that ended within that window. Older one-off events are left where they are, and a synced event is removed from iCloud again once it ages past the window. A repeating event is the exception and is carried across whole, however long ago the series began, because it still produces occurrences today. CalCollapse keeps calendars current rather than archiving them, so to move years of history once, export the calendar from Google and upload the .ics file as a source instead — a file is written in full, whatever dates it holds.
Can I sync a webcal instead of connecting Google?
Yes. After iCloud, paste a webcal or iCal URL — TeamSnap, ParentSquare, a secret Google iCal address, or any other feed that publishes one. Google is not required. Several feeds can land in the same iCloud calendar you already have, which is the usual reason to use this rather than adding each one as a subscribed calendar in Apple Calendar. How webcal sync works, what a webcal link is, and the same job for TeamSnap and ParentSquare. A downloaded .ics file can be uploaded here as a replaceable source, or dumped once in Apple Calendar — how file import differs from a live feed. It will not stay current until you replace the file.
Can I just add Google Calendar on the iPhone instead?
Yes — either as a Google account in Calendar settings, or by subscribing to the secret iCal URL. Both are documented at subscribe to Google Calendar on iPhone. The events will not be in an iCloud calendar either way, which is why the Watch, a family share, and everything else reading EventKit still will not see them as your own iCloud data.
Can I sync more than one Google account?
Yes. Connect as many as you like, and pair each of their calendars with whichever iCloud calendar suits it.
Why do you need an app-specific password?
Because Apple does not offer calendar-only access to third parties. An app-specific password authenticates to iCloud broadly, so it is a wider grant than this app needs — there is no narrower option we could ask for instead. We store it encrypted, use it only to read your calendar list and write synced events, and never log it.
Can I take that access back?
At any time, and without telling us: revoke the password at appleid.apple.com and access is cut off immediately. Disconnecting iCloud here deletes our copy of the password and stops syncing, but it does not revoke the password — only you can do that.
Is Sign in with Apple the same as connecting iCloud?
No, and the two are unrelated beyond both involving Apple. Signing in identifies you and grants no calendar access whatsoever, which is why connecting iCloud is a separate step with a separate credential.
Why does Google warn that the app is not verified?
Reading your calendar is what Google calls a sensitive scope, and an app asking for one shows that interstitial until Google has verified it. Ours is not verified yet.
Will the people on my Google events get invitations?
No. Synced events carry no scheduling properties at all, precisely so that iCloud cannot mistake a copy of your event for an invitation and email real people. The attendee list is preserved as text in the event’s description instead, so nothing is lost from what you can read.
What will my events be called in Apple Calendar?
Each event keeps its own title with the calendar’s label in front of it, so Team standup arrives as [Work] Team standup. The label and the Google account or webcal it came from are repeated at the foot of the event’s notes. On the free plan the label is the source calendar’s own name; on the paid plan you can name it yourself, turn the prefix off and leave titles exactly as they are at the source, or replace them altogether with busy blocks.
Can I sync my work meetings without showing what they are?
Yes, on the paid plan. Each calendar pair has a switch that reduces every event it syncs to a busy block: [Work] Busy at the time the meeting occupies. The title, notes, location, video link and attendee list are never written to iCloud — not hidden there, never sent — so a phone on a table shows only that the time is taken. What is kept is when it starts, how long it runs, whether it repeats, and whether it holds the time as busy or leaves you free. Your source calendar is untouched, as always.
Can I leave out events I have declined?
Yes, on the paid plan — it is a checkbox on each calendar pair, along with the label and whether it should prefix every event title. The free plan copies declined invitations across with everything else.
How do I stop syncing, or delete everything?
Stop a calendar pair to end that one sync. You will be asked whether to leave the events it wrote in iCloud or to remove them: leaving them keeps the copies where they are, no longer updating; removing them deletes every event that pair wrote, in the background, and nothing you added to that calendar yourself. Disconnecting an account stops everything that depends on it and leaves the events in place. What we hold and how long we hold it is set out in the privacy policy.
Something is broken. Who do I ask?
Write to support@calcollapse.com and a person will answer. A calendar pair that has been failing carries a link that fills in most of the message for you.