How to Share and Sync Your Family Calendar - Google, Outlook and iCal Guide

Most families are running at least two or three different calendar apps. Your partner uses Google Calendar. You have your work Outlook calendar. The kids' activities are on a wall planner. And somehow you're supposed to keep everything aligned.

The result is missed pickups, double-bookings, and the constant "did you put that in the calendar?" conversation.

SimpliHome's calendar solves this by acting as your shared family hub — a single place where everyone's schedule lives, that also syncs two-ways with the calendar apps your family already uses.

#How the SimpliHome Calendar Works

The SimpliHome calendar is built around your Circle — your household group. Everything is visible to everyone in the Circle (based on their permission level), making it the single source of truth for your family schedule.

Key concepts:

• Schedules — each person in your household has a schedule (e.g., "Tom's Schedule", "Emma's Schedule"). Events are assigned to a schedule so everyone knows whose commitment it is
• Events — individual calendar entries with title, date, time, location, and optional notes
• Views — daily, weekly, and monthly views of the full household calendar
• iCal feeds — a URL you can subscribe to from any calendar app, which keeps that app updated when SimpliHome events are added
• Google/Outlook sync — a full two-way connection that mirrors events between SimpliHome and your existing calendar

#Option 1: Connect Google Calendar (Two-Way Sync)

Best for: Google Workspace users and anyone who uses Google Calendar as their primary calendar.

Two-way sync means:

• Events you create in SimpliHome appear in your Google Calendar automatically
• Events you create in Google Calendar appear in SimpliHome automatically
• Updates and deletions sync in both directions

#How to Connect Google Calendar

1. Log in to SimpliHome
2. Go to Settings → Calendar
3. Click Connect Google Calendar
4. You'll be redirected to Google's authorisation page
5. Sign in with the Google account you use for your calendar
6. Grant SimpliHome permission to read and write your calendar events
7. You'll be redirected back to SimpliHome

Done. Your existing Google Calendar events will begin appearing in SimpliHome, and new SimpliHome events will sync to Google.

#What Gets Synced

• All events from your connected Google Calendar
• New events created in SimpliHome (to Google)
• Event updates — if you edit an event in either place, both update
• Event deletions — delete in one, it removes from both

#Tips for Google Calendar Sync

Choose the right Google account. If you have a personal and work Google account, connect the personal one for household events. Work calendars are often better kept separate.

Expect a short delay. After initial connection, it can take a few minutes for all your existing events to appear in SimpliHome. New events sync much faster — usually within seconds.

Colour coding. SimpliHome uses schedule colours to colour-code events. These will appear in Google Calendar as well, making it easy to see at a glance whose event is whose.

#Option 2: Connect Outlook / Microsoft Calendar (Two-Way Sync)

Best for: Microsoft 365 users, people who use Outlook for work, and anyone in the Microsoft ecosystem.

The Outlook integration works the same way as Google Calendar — full two-way sync using Microsoft's Graph API.

#How to Connect Outlook Calendar

1. Log in to SimpliHome
2. Go to Settings → Calendar
3. Click Connect Outlook Calendar
4. You'll be redirected to Microsoft's login page
5. Sign in with your Microsoft account (personal, work, or school)
6. Grant SimpliHome the requested permissions
7. You'll be redirected back to SimpliHome

Your Outlook calendar events will start syncing immediately.

#Connecting a Shared Work/Family Account

If your household has a shared Microsoft Family account or you want to share events from a work calendar:

• Each person in the Circle should connect their own Outlook account from their own SimpliHome profile
• Events from each connected account will appear in SimpliHome under that person's schedule
• This means the household calendar shows work commitments alongside personal events, so everyone can see availability

#Option 3: iCal Subscription Feed (One-Way, Read-Only)

Best for: Apple Calendar users, iPhone users who want their SimpliHome events in the Calendar app, or anyone using an app that doesn't have a direct SimpliHome integration.

An iCal feed is a URL that any standards-compliant calendar app can subscribe to. When SimpliHome events are added or updated, subscribing apps automatically refresh and display the latest events.

Important: iCal is one-way — events you create in Apple Calendar or another app will not appear in SimpliHome. For two-way sync, use the Google or Outlook integration above.

#Getting Your iCal Feed URL

1. Log in to SimpliHome
2. Go to Settings → Calendar
3. Find the iCal Feed section
4. Copy your unique iCal feed URL

Your iCal URL is personal to your account — keep it private, as anyone with the URL can view your calendar events.

#Subscribing in Apple Calendar (iPhone / Mac)

On iPhone:

1. Open Settings on your iPhone
2. Scroll down to Calendar
3. Tap Accounts → Add Account
4. Choose Other
5. Tap Add Subscribed Calendar
6. Paste your SimpliHome iCal URL
7. Tap Next → Save

Your SimpliHome events will now appear in the iPhone Calendar app.

On Mac:

1. Open Calendar app
2. Go to File → New Calendar Subscription
3. Paste your SimpliHome iCal URL
4. Click Subscribe
5. Configure the update frequency (every hour is a good default)
6. Click OK

#Subscribing in Google Calendar

Even if you're using two-way sync via Google Calendar already, you can also subscribe via iCal:

1. Open Google Calendar on the web
2. In the left sidebar, click the + next to Other calendars
3. Choose From URL
4. Paste your SimpliHome iCal URL
5. Click Add Calendar

#Subscribing in Outlook

1. Open Outlook (desktop or web)
2. Go to the Calendar view
3. Click Add Calendar → Subscribe from web
4. Paste your SimpliHome iCal URL
5. Click Import

#How Often Does the iCal Feed Update?

SimpliHome updates your iCal feed in real time whenever events change. However, how quickly your subscribing app picks up those changes depends on how often it polls for updates:

• Apple Calendar: every 5–15 minutes by default (configurable)
• Google Calendar: typically every few hours (cannot be changed)
• Outlook: configurable in settings

For near-real-time updates, use the Google or Outlook two-way sync instead.

#Sharing the Household Calendar With Family Members

SimpliHome's shared Circle calendar means every household member sees the same events automatically — no sharing links or permission management required.

For family members inside your Circle:

Invite them to your Circle (see the getting started guide) and they'll immediately have access to the shared household calendar.

For family members outside your Circle (e.g., grandparents, extended family):

You can share your iCal feed URL with anyone you want to keep in the loop. They subscribe to the URL in their own calendar app and they'll see your household events — read-only — without needing a SimpliHome account.

Important: The iCal feed contains all your household events. Only share it with people you trust to see your family's schedule.

#Managing Multiple People's Calendars

One of SimpliHome's most useful features is seeing everyone's schedule in one view, with clear colour-coding by person.

#Setting Up Schedules for Each Household Member

1. Go to Calendar → Schedules
2. Each household member should have their own schedule
3. Assign a colour to each schedule so their events are instantly identifiable

Example setup for a family of four:

• Mum — Blue
• Dad — Green
• Tom (age 12) — Orange
• Emma (age 9) — Purple

When you look at the weekly view, it's immediately obvious who's busy when and whether there are any clashes.

#Assigning Events to the Right Person

When creating a new event:

1. In the New Event form, look for the Schedule field
2. Select the relevant household member's schedule
3. Save

The event will appear in that person's colour on the shared calendar, and if that person has Google/Outlook connected, it'll sync to their personal calendar too.

#Handling Recurring Events

School terms, weekly clubs, regular work patterns — these are best set up as recurring events so you only need to add them once.

To create a recurring event:

1. Click Add Event
2. Fill in the event details
3. Toggle Repeating Event on
4. Choose the recurrence pattern: daily, weekly, monthly, or custom
5. Set an end date if applicable
6. Save

The event will appear on every matching date. If you need to change one occurrence without affecting the rest, open that specific event and choose Edit This Event Only (not Edit All Events).

#Importing an Existing Calendar

If you have an existing calendar exported as an .ics file — from another app, a school timetable, or a sports fixture list — you can import it directly into SimpliHome.

1. Go to Calendar → Import
2. Upload your .ics file
3. Choose which Schedule to import events into
4. Confirm the import

Events from the file will be added to your SimpliHome calendar in one go.

#Troubleshooting Calendar Sync

Events aren't appearing from Google/Outlook

• Check that the connection is still active under Settings → Calendar
• Try disconnecting and reconnecting the calendar
• Ensure you authorised the correct Google/Outlook account (not a work account you don't intend to share)

iCal feed isn't updating on Apple Calendar

• Apple Calendar can be slow to refresh subscriptions. To force a refresh: open the Calendar app, go to View → Refresh Calendars
• Alternatively, remove and re-add the subscription

Duplicate events are appearing

This can happen if you've subscribed to both the iCal feed and connected via two-way sync. Remove the iCal subscription and rely on the two-way connection only.

An event is missing from Google Calendar

• Check SimpliHome to confirm the event exists
• Check that the event's schedule is correctly connected to your Google account
• Wait a few minutes — sync can occasionally be delayed by a few minutes

Events I create in Google aren't appearing in SimpliHome

• Ensure the event was created in the calendar that's connected to SimpliHome, not a different calendar within your Google account
• Check the sync connection is still active under Settings → Calendar

#Quick Reference: Which Method Should I Use?

| Situation | Recommended Method | |-----------|-------------------| | I use Google Calendar as my main calendar | Two-way Google sync | | I use Outlook/Microsoft for work | Two-way Outlook sync | | I have an iPhone and want events in Apple Calendar | iCal subscription | | I want to share the calendar with a grandparent | iCal subscription (share the URL) | | I want a completely real-time sync | Two-way Google or Outlook sync | | I just want to view SimpliHome events in another app | iCal subscription |

#The Goal: One Calendar Everyone Actually Uses

The best calendar system isn't the most feature-rich one — it's the one your whole family actually checks. By connecting SimpliHome to the calendar apps your household already uses, you remove the friction that causes people to "forget" to add things.

When everyone's events flow automatically into the tools they already use, the household calendar becomes self-maintaining.

Set it up once. Then just live your life.