Is it possible to put an alert on a calendar entry I didn't create?

June 2, 2020 9:11 AM

I would like to attach alerts to events I've been invited to and events that appear in calendars I'm subscribed to. I use a Macintosh and iPhone. I haven't found any way to do that. The workaround is to create my own event at the same time and put the alert on that. It works, but it clutters up my calendar.

Here are the main two scenarios:

1. I subscribe to several Google calendars for clubs that my children belong to. The calendars show the club meetings, which happen once or twice a week. I'd like to attach at alert to those meetings, so I can remind my children to log into zoom and participate in the meeting.

2. I accept an invitation to an event. Sometimes the invitation came through Google but it can also just be an ICS file that I get when I sign up for a performance or something online. I have to remember to attend these meetings / performances and I need alerts to help me remember.

I use a Macintosh with the stock Calendar app and an iPhone with Fantastical. Attaching an alert to a calendar entry seems like the sort of thing a computer should be able to do. Creating a separate, duplicate event just so I can have an alarm go off does not seem like something I should have to do.

Is there any solution here, or do I just have to suck it up and create those duplicates?

posted by Winnie the Proust to Computers & Internet (1 answer total)

I'll be watching this with interest, since it's something that bugs me as well. However, here's a work-around that would remove some of the clutter, at least: create a new calendar called "From Invitations" and put the duplicate events there. Then hide the "From Invitations" calendar. I'm 95% sure you'll still get the alerts, but when you look at your calendar you'll only see one event.
posted by Johnny Assay at 11:05 AM on June 2, 2020 [2 favorites]