Import ICS into Apple Calendar
Apple Calendar still does the one-shot dump: File → Import, or open the file on iPhone. CalCollapse can also upload and replace an .ics into an iCloud calendar you already have — with labels and busy blocks. It will not stay current until you replace the file.
Apple still owns the one-shot import
If someone mailed you an .ics file, or you downloaded one from a website, Apple Calendar will take it. That is the whole of File → Import:
- On iPhone.Open the file in Files or in Mail and add it to Calendar. Pick which calendar should receive the events when the prompt asks.
- On Mac.Calendar → File → Import, then choose the .ics file.
- It will not stay current.A file is a snapshot of the calendar at the moment it was saved. If the publisher later moves a game, the copy in Apple Calendar does not find out. There is no refresh, because there is no URL left to refresh.
CalCollapse can upload and replace
School and team season schedules often arrive as a file, not a live URL. CalCollapse treats that file as a named source, the same job as a webcal, writing into an iCloud calendar you already have. A later upload on that pair replaces the previous copy. It is not Apple’s dump, and it is not a live feed.
- Same destination, same presentation.You pick an iCloud calendar you already own. CalCollapse never creates, renames or deletes one. Labels and busy blocks work the same way they do on a webcal. Several sources can share that destination.
- Replace updates only what this pair wrote.Events that disappeared from the new file are removed from iCloud — only ones this source wrote. Same UIDs update; they do not stack as duplicates. Anything you added by hand is invisible to it.
- It will not stay current.There is no polling a file. When you get a new copy of the schedule, upload it onto the same pair. Until then the iCloud copy is the last file you gave us.
A live URL is still a different thing
Most publishers that offer a download also offer a subscription link — a webcal:// or https://…ics address that still points at a calendar they keep updating. That is the feed CalCollapse refreshes on a schedule. Use the file source only when a file is all you have.
What it does
Reads the file you upload, or the feed you paste
An uploaded season schedule, or a TeamSnap team, a ParentSquare school calendar, a secret Google iCal address, or any other publisher that offers a webcal or HTTPS .ics URL. Several sources can share one destination. Not a Google import, and not inbound email.
Writes them into a calendar you already own
You choose an existing iCloud calendar as the destination. CalCollapse never creates, renames or deletes an iCloud calendar, and it only edits the events it wrote itself — anything you added by hand is invisible to it.
Goes one way. A file does not refresh.
Replace the file when you have a new copy. A live feed is different: Changes reach iCloud every 15 minutes. You can trigger a run yourself too; every run is logged with what it moved.
What it will not do. CalCollapse does not compete with Apple’s File → Import. It does not poll a file, import from Google as a dump, or ingest calendars from email. Events flow one way into iCloud. An event that exists only in iCloud stays there. Editing a synced event in Apple Calendar will be overwritten the next time that source is applied.
How it works
Sign in with Apple
This only identifies you. It grants no calendar access of any kind — that comes later, and separately.
Connect iCloud with an app-specific password
Generated at account.apple.com and revocable there at any time, without telling us. Apple offers no calendar-only credential to third parties, so this is the narrowest grant available.
Upload the .ics, or paste a live URL if you have one
If all you have is a file, upload it and pick an iCloud calendar you already have. If the publisher offers a webcal or HTTPS .ics address, paste that instead — that copy can stay current. Google is not required.
Pick an iCloud calendar you already have
Several sources can share that destination. Each keeps its own label so you can still tell a soccer practice from a school early-release once they sit in the same calendar. A file writes immediately and then waits for a replace. A live feed: The first sync runs immediately, and every 15 minutes after that.
What it costs
One calendar writing into iCloud is free, which is enough if the scattering is only between one file or feed and your phone. Collapsing several sources at once, or connecting Google accounts as well, needs the unlimited plan. Billing is handled by Stripe; card details never reach this app.
Questions
How do I import an ICS file into Apple Calendar on iPhone?
Open the .ics attachment in Files or Mail and choose to add it to Calendar. The events land in whichever calendar you pick at that prompt. It is a one-shot copy: if the publisher later moves a practice, the phone will not find out.
How do I import an ICS file on a Mac?
In Calendar, choose File → Import and select the .ics file. Same limitation as on the phone: the events are pasted in once and then sit there, even if the source calendar changes.
Will the imported events stay up to date?
No. A downloaded .ics file is a snapshot. Apple Calendar will not go back to the publisher for updates, and neither will a CalCollapse file source. For a calendar that still changes, you need a live webcal URL, or you need to replace the file when you get a new copy.
Can CalCollapse import an uploaded ICS file?
Yes, as a replaceable source into an iCloud calendar you already have — not as Apple's one-shot File → Import. Upload the file, pick a destination you already own, and optionally label the events or write them as busy blocks. A later upload on that same pair updates matching UIDs and removes only events that pair wrote. It will not stay current until you replace the file. There is no polling, no Google import, and no inbound email ingest.
What is the difference between Apple's import and CalCollapse's upload?
Apple's File → Import dumps events into Calendar once and forgets where they came from. CalCollapse keeps the file as a named source: the same pair can be replaced, labelled, or reduced to busy blocks, and it only ever edits events it wrote. Neither stays current on its own. A live webcal:// or https://…ics URL is the thing that keeps updating.
Do I have to create a new iCloud calendar?
No. You choose one from the calendars you already have. CalCollapse never creates, renames or deletes an iCloud calendar, and it only ever edits the events it wrote itself, so anything you added to that calendar by hand is invisible to it.
Which way do events flow?
One way, from the file or feed into iCloud. Editing a synced event in Apple Calendar does not push back to the file or to TeamSnap, ParentSquare or whoever published the feed; it is overwritten the next time that source is applied.
How current does a file source stay?
It does not. CalCollapse stores the uploaded bytes and writes them once. There is no polling a file. Replace the file when you have a new copy. A live webcal is different: Changes reach iCloud every 15 minutes.
What does it cost?
One calendar writing into iCloud is free, whether that calendar is a webcal, an uploaded .ics file, or a Google calendar. Collapsing several sources at once needs the unlimited plan. Billing is handled by Stripe; card details never reach this app.
Copying a live webcal into iCloud has a page of its own. What a webcal link is, versus a downloaded .ics, is explained here. If the feed is a team schedule, TeamSnap has a page of its own. A school calendar? ParentSquare works the same way. The setup walkthrough shows every screen before you hand over anything, and what we store and for how long is in the privacy policy.