jjtd

Q: .ics files -  outlook meeting.ics attachment won't open

My Iphone can't open outlook meeting invitations. It shows up in email as a meeting.ics attachment that will not open.

The old blackberry did it perfectly, was sent as meeting info with no meeting.ics folder to open (in this case not open)

This is an extremely basic yet important function that should be elementary to any business enterprise phone.

What am I doing wrong?

Posted on Aug 7, 2008 9:59 AM

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Q: .ics files -  outlook meeting.ics attachment won't open

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  • by mlb32704,

    mlb32704 mlb32704 Aug 10, 2010 7:16 PM in response to jjtd
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 10, 2010 7:16 PM in response to jjtd
    This is the ONLY reason why I do not purchase an iPhone, and an absolute showstopper as far as I am concerned in terms of the viability of an iPhone for business as well as personal use. Wake up Apple, the world is standardized on Outlook, and I should be able to view, accept, decline, etc. an Outlook Calendar invitation on an iPhone just like I would on any Windows Mobile device or the like. This is so simple and obvious, I am just shocked as to why Apple would not provide for this functionality. I've read through years of messages on this topic, plenty of outstanding requests for this, my only conclusion is that Apple just doesn't want to do it. So for now, I'll leave the iPhone to the teenyboppers and soccer moms, and continue using a substandard Windows Mobile device that I can see my Outlook Calendar invites on. Pathetic.
  • by palantir,

    palantir palantir Aug 25, 2010 3:01 PM in response to jjtd
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 25, 2010 3:01 PM in response to jjtd
    Missing .ics support is a pain - that may be clear so far. I have found a work-around through the use of NuevaSync though. Costs me $25 per year but then it synchronizes my Google account - Mail - Calendar - Tasks and Contacts to a virtual Exchange server. Next, set-up your Exchange account on the iPhone and voila - everything in Sync. Works like a charm! I can read .ics invites and it pushes the invite into my calendar! The only thing to now sort out is which of my 3 calendars the meeting invites gets pushed into. So far so good, but that may be by coincidence.

    Just to be clear on this: I have NO relation whatsoever to NuevaSync. Just a happy user of their software, as I am a happy user of (most of) my Apple iPhone and all my other Apple goodies...
  • by mlb32704,

    mlb32704 mlb32704 Aug 25, 2010 6:22 PM in response to palantir
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 25, 2010 6:22 PM in response to palantir
    Neat! A very clever albeit extensive, and expensive, workaround to this issue. Unfortunately for me, half of my MS Outlook Calendar invitations are being generated via an Exchange server (for work). The rest are personal via POP, I don't supposed NuevaSync is going to work for that? Also, up until this point, I've held off on using Google or any Web based application for the storage and management of Calendar functions, if I could make it work for all and see those ics files on the iPod for both Exchange and POP, then I would pay the bucks but I think that's not going to work. Thanks anyway.
  • by palantir,

    palantir palantir Aug 26, 2010 12:06 PM in response to jjtd
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 26, 2010 12:06 PM in response to jjtd
    Well... depends. First of all, Gmail provides the options to have your Gmail account read your POP3 account(s) for you. That's hurdle one. You then basically turn a POP3 account(s) into a virtual Exchange Server using NuevaSync. Secondly, I have seen a little patch on Cydia to connect to two Exchange Servers on one iPhone. Last, Google allows the creation of multiple calendars which you can then all sync to your iPhone (again via NuevoSync) and see all calendars combined in your iPhone.

    Combine these three and you can 1) connect to your Exchange Server for your real Exchange account and 2) connect to the second one for your POP3 account(s). Wouldn't that work for you?

    I guess you could test this using the free NuevaSync account. Only when you also want to use mail synchronization you need their Premium account ($25 per year) but you can test that for 5 days first.

    It's a bit of fiddling to make it all fit together but a great joy now that I have it all operational!

    Hope this helps!
    Ronald
  • by mlb32704,

    mlb32704 mlb32704 Sep 10, 2010 12:47 PM in response to palantir
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 10, 2010 12:47 PM in response to palantir
    Ronald:

    You officially get my Belated Late Hit Gift - Man of the Year award...

    Signed up for the NuevaSync trial last night, set it up without issue this morning. Basically, I forwarded my main e-mail address (which is POP/SMTP) to a GMail address (IMAP, which NuevaSync requires), and started running tests by sending myself Outlook Calendar invitations. Lo and behold, they show up, with full details in pop up fashion, in my iPod's Mail inbox!! It was THAT easy, I didn't even have to mess with Google Calendar to do it.

    There are all of three drawbacks, none of which are major to me - one, an accepted invitation populates a new "NuevaSync" Calendar, as opposed to the main Calendar I use on the iPod. So when you go to sync, you wind up with multiple entries in multiple calendars - one entry for the NuevaSync on the iPod, one entry from Outlook via iTunes to the iPod. For me, no big deal whatsoever, they're color coded and clear as day, I can easily delete one or the other without issue when I'm ready. Two, iPod on WiFi appears "sleepy" to the NuevaSync servers, I don't really get "push" notifications until I go into Mail, and even then it takes a second or two for it to "interpret" the ics file and show me the details. Again, no big deal for me. The company makes it clear that push functionality is solid on an iPhone using cellular versus an iPod using WiFi. Third, $25 per year might be steep for many looking for just this one piece of functionality like me. However, if you check out their Web site, NuevaSync has many, many business oriented capabilities built into their product, including but not limited to email push, syncing of calendar categories and tasks, etc. So far, this appears to be a SOLID product and I'm still in trial mode with an iPod. Now I can start to seriously think about an iPhone 4 for business and personal use, thanks to Nueva Sync. And no, I don't work for the company either. But I've got to tell you, the support that I received from them as a prospective buyer over the past day has been UNBELIEVABLE - quick, concise, meaningful responses to direct questions about their product, how to set up and use it, potential issues, etc., etc. I even got a message from their President today who evidently rolls up his sleeves from time to time and gets involved, imagine that?

    Anyway, I digress. Great product so far, may have filled in the last of the blanks for me in making the move to an iPhone. Anyone with similar issues should definitely check this product out. 5 day trial is free, all you need is an IMAP based email account and you're there.

    ■'Push' Sync your Email
    ■Sync calendar categories
    ■Meeting invitiations
    ■Tasks sync
    ■Remote Wipe
    ■Priority technical support
    ■Dedicated servers
  • by Dutty Persian,

    Dutty Persian Dutty Persian Sep 21, 2010 9:14 AM in response to jjtd
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 21, 2010 9:14 AM in response to jjtd
    oh man, I am too frustrated with this calendar invite fiasco. I don't know how apple dares to say they've catered to the business world... well maybe, ONLY if you have an exchange account set up.

    Don't worry, google exchange account sync will find a way to adjust themselves... and will steal apple's "ingenious" way of doing things. But it's ok, now I have facetime!!! lol right
  • by James Quigley,

    James Quigley James Quigley Sep 23, 2010 6:40 PM in response to jjtd
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 23, 2010 6:40 PM in response to jjtd
    OMG!! Just purchased Calendar Happy from the app store and it works!! Cost is $2.99, but you forward your invite to their email address (save it as a contact after purchase so that you just have to start typing "Happy" It immediately emails you back a converted attachment that you can open and add to your calendar! This is what you have all been waiting for!
  • by mlb32704,

    mlb32704 mlb32704 Sep 23, 2010 8:54 PM in response to James Quigley
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 23, 2010 8:54 PM in response to James Quigley
    Holy cow, it really does work! AND it populates your main iPod/iPhone Calendar versus a separate one (i.e. NuevaSync). I only wish that I knew about this app before I purchased NuevaSync but whatever, great find, thanks for posting.
  • by frunze,

    frunze frunze Oct 12, 2010 1:18 PM in response to mlb32704
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 12, 2010 1:18 PM in response to mlb32704
    I read someplace that ics reader will be available with the next iPhone upgrade (4.0.2?) in November 2010 - can someone confirm, please? Pretty, pretty please? I've resisted getting a blackberry but surviving without a live calendar is becoming increasingly hard.
  • by WizGnomeX,

    WizGnomeX WizGnomeX Oct 14, 2010 2:59 AM in response to frunze
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 14, 2010 2:59 AM in response to frunze
    Well it is still not working in version iOS 4.1
  • by fivebig,

    fivebig fivebig Oct 28, 2010 12:58 PM in response to jjtd
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Oct 28, 2010 12:58 PM in response to jjtd
    UPDATE: Apple will include .ics support in iOS 4.2. Release date is November 2010.
  • by ChrisUnder,

    ChrisUnder ChrisUnder Nov 1, 2010 7:55 AM in response to fivebig
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 1, 2010 7:55 AM in response to fivebig
    I have tested an .ics file in 4.2 beta and it works correctly
  • by stevemorales,

    stevemorales stevemorales Nov 15, 2010 9:37 AM in response to jjtd
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 15, 2010 9:37 AM in response to jjtd
    I'm using iOS 4.1 on my iPhone 4 and it still show as a .ics attachment and I'm not able to open it. What's the deal with apple's support for non Exchange users?
  • by mikefradette,

    mikefradette mikefradette Nov 22, 2010 10:59 AM in response to jjtd
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 22, 2010 10:59 AM in response to jjtd
    I have 4.2.1 installed and when I select a .ics attachment in my email, nothing happens.
  • by cliffordmt,

    cliffordmt cliffordmt Nov 24, 2010 8:19 AM in response to mikefradette
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 24, 2010 8:19 AM in response to mikefradette
    I upgraded my iPhone 3GS to 4.2.1 and the .ics attachments can now be opened. However, two issues I have noticed:

    1) Different time zones do not appear to be supported. I opened an .ics for a meeting at 3 PM Eastern and it should have been added to my calendar as 2 PM Central, as that is my time zone. however, it was added as 3 PM Central.

    2) I received an .ics to cancel one meeting out of a recurring meeting, and while the .ics attachment displayed as a link that could be tapped, when I did tap it nothing happened.

    Baby steps I guess, but we're slowing getting there to full support of .ics attachments.
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