Shared calendars now sync to mobile phones

Microsoft

We are rolling out a feature update that enables shared calendars to sync to mobile phones. This update will make it possible to sync all your Office365 shared calendars to your mobile phone for any permission level (view, edit, or delegate permissions). In addition, you can now share a calendar or accept shared calendar invitations from Outlook on iOS and Android.

 

Existing shared calendars will not be upgraded as part of this change, and they will continue to sync only to Outlook on the web, Windows, and Mac. Only shared calendars that are accepted after these changes are released will sync to mobile phones.

 

The shared calendar will only sync to mobile phones if:

  • The calendar is shared between users who are both hosted in Exchange Online
  • The calendar is accepted from a sharing invitation using Outlook on the web, iOS, or Android

 

We'll be gradually rolling this update starting on 9/18 and rollout will be completed by 9/22.

 

You can find more details about shared calendar improvements at the article located here.

117 Replies
Hi Ralph, in order to have the calendars show up in mobile, we have to migrate them from the old model of calendar sharing to the new model of calendar sharing. We are currently in an "opt in" period until all Outlook client work is completed, and then we will begin the service-side migrations that will automatically upgrade users and have the behavior you describe above (the calendars just start showing up). If you want to see it sooner, you can learn more about the work in progress here: aka.ms/sharedcalendars

Classic Microsoft arrogance - rolling out new features without thinking about the implications and suggesting a "solution" that forces iOS users to use a Microsoft app instead of the native iOS mail app.

 

Pathetic.

Hi Jonathan,

I'm sorry to hear that you're frustrated. However, making shared calendars sync to all apps - not just our own Microsoft/Outlook apps - was very important to us when we developed this new model of shared calendars, and syncing to the native iOS calendar app is absolutely supported. The Mac OS X Mail app is using a legacy API, but we're told that the client will soon upgrade to modern, supported APIs, so we're optimistic that your calendars will also appear there when Mac releases those changes.

We are currently in an opt-in period, which means that users need to manually opt-in to upgrade their shared calendar from the "old model" to the "new model". You can do this by re-sharing & re-accepting the invite using Outlook web, iOS, Android, or Windows (monthly channel). Once on the new model, you'll see the calendar in Outlook Mobile, and you'll see it in 3rd party mobile apps as well.

--Julia

If I have an O365 SharePoint calendar synced with my Outlook account, would this SPO calendar be accessible calendar on the outlook mobile app?

Hi Karl, if you add it as an ICS (internet calendar subscription), it would show up on your mobile apps.

We were aware that one could import an ICS file for a point in time snapshot of the calendar. What we need is an iCal subscription to the SPO calendar. Are you saying there is a way to do this?

 

What we have are School SPO sites with calendars and Principals with personal outlook calendars.

Our principals would like to see their school calendars with real time syncing to avoid situations like double booking themselves.

I agree complete. We have on premise Exchange 2013 and I'm constantly amazed how many bugs we find and how featureless the product it. We want the same features on our mobile devices that we have in Outlook for desktop. Nope, we just don't get those.

You are a little bit to enthousiastic there. The native outlook app does not support shared mailboxes/calendars. So even the native app does not provide a solution.

Has anyone answered this question?  I have a public folder calendar that will not share to IOS.

Julia, how does one unselect these calenders? I am using Office 365 on desktop, and IOS calender / Week Cal on my Iphone, and my calender is a total mess showing other's appointments. We just want this on desktop! It's totally confusing on mobile...

Hi Andolini,
When you're viewing the calendar from Outlook on iOS or Android, tap your profile picture in the top-left to view the list of calendars. Unselect the calendars that you do not want to have visible on mobile, and you'll no longer see them when viewing the calendar.
--Julia

Hi,

When will you automatically upgrade all shared calendars to new spec?

 


@Julia Foran wrote:
Hi Ralph, in order to have the calendars show up in mobile, we have to migrate them from the old model of calendar sharing to the new model of calendar sharing. We are currently in an "opt in" period until all Outlook client work is completed, and then we will begin the service-side migrations that will automatically upgrade users and have the behavior you describe above (the calendars just start showing up). If you want to see it sooner, you can learn more about the work in progress here: aka.ms/sharedcalendars

 

Hi, we don't currently have a timeline for when we will begin automatically upgrading calendars. The easiest way to self-upgrade today is to open the calendar using Outlook for iOS or Outlook for Android. By opening from the mobile phone, the calendar is automatically upgraded.

The option is available from the mobile app by going to the Calendar module, viewing the calendar list (tap the icon in top-left), and then click the Calendar+ icon again in the top-left.
I hate to jump on an old thread but can you clarify what exactly is needed on the mobile device to access the shared calendar?
Hi, you just need to be using Outlook for iOS or Outlook for Android to add or view a shared calendar.

1. From the Outlook app, tap to vie your calendar list.
2. You'll see an icon in the top-left that is a Calendar+ icon. Tap that.
3. Click "Add shared calendar".

As long as your mailbox is hosted in Office 365, you can add the calendar of any other user, conference room, or shared mailbox within your organization that is also within Office 365.
Hi Zoltan, Group calendars are not supported currently. There are discussions on how to best support it but no timeline or plans yet.

I mentioned above but should have clearly mentioned that group calendars aren't supported. You can only open the calendar of another user, conference room, or shared mailbox.
That's quite bad. Thanks for the answer Julia.
Thanks Julia.

This appears to work now with existing shared calendars without having to go through the re-inviting and re-accepting process mentioned in earlier posts.

Is that correct?
Mapsjohn: Correct- with the new option in Mobile, you can just add / open from Mobile without having to re-share & re-accept.