Unable to open .vcs calendar attachment in mail in iOS 13

No, when I forward the mail with the .vcs to my own address, I am asked if I would like to download the full attachment. In fact, the missing part of the .vcs file is only then downloaded. Send the mail, open the new mail and the .vcs attachment works. Kind of cumbersome but it’s the only trick that I found until now! Due to an unknown reason, mail only downloads about 2/3 of the .vcs file. Forwarding it forces mail to download it completely.

Still does not work! Mail does not completely download the .vcs file! If I forward the mail, I am asked if I would like to download completely the attachment. If I open then the forwarded mail, the .vcs attachment is integrated into the calendar. Btw: it works fine on os catalina, the problem seems to be in ios 13.

Hey wbonetti,

If I understand correctly, you are trying to open a Mail attachment with Calendar, but it is not working. It seems like the Mail app is not working as expected. There are a couple things you can try that may be able to help. I would recommend you read these articles and use them to help troubleshoot the issue.

If an app unexpectedly quits, stops responding, or won’t open

"Open an attachment with another app

1. Touch and hold the attachment until a menu appears.
2. Tap , then choose the app you want to use to open the attachment.

Note: Some attachments automatically show a banner with buttons you can use to open other apps."

Work with email attachments on iPhone

Please don't hesitate to let us know if the steps resolved your issue or if you need additional assistance.

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. Have a good one.

Indeed. Before, it seemed ios recognized the attachments calendad info and by clicking on the vcs/ics attachment, ios would prompt you to add the calendar info to your calendar. It looks like that behavior was lost in the latest iOS iteration... considering vcs/ics attachments are so prevolent, this is one behavior they should add back into their plans.

Similar issue, but in my case I can no longer forward calendar invitations: when I do, I get an error message saying the attachment couldn't be opened. So the only way to forward an invitation is to do so from a different device (in my case a windows computer). So clearly under ios 13.X, there's an issue with how email treats calendar attachments that wasn't present before

I just noticed the same issue. Opening an email in the default mail app with a .vcs attachment no longer presents option to add to iOS calendar.

Tap and hold doesn’t have calendar option or ability to add a calendar option.

I have the same problem. Prior to iPhone iOS 13 I could tap on a vcs file attachment in the Mail app and get it entered directly into the Calendar app as an event. Now I can’t do it. The up arrow menu doesn’t have Calendar listed as a target app and there is no option to update the app menu.

Fix it ASAP. Thanks.

Last month I couldn't add events from the .VCS file when I received it on my Exchange Online/Office 365 account, but it worked on one of my other accounts (I don't remember if I used my Gmail or my iCloud email). Now today, adding events from the .VCS file doesn't work regardless of which account I use. I do get to preview the events in the file, though, by pressing and holding.

Edit: I was now using iOS 13.2, but I will update to 13.2.2 to see if that helps.

Is Apple intending to disable this functionality totally, forever?

Regards,

Mårten

Thanks so much! This constant deterioration of functionality was driving me crazy and having a functional workaround is truly a blessing.

A

The problem seems to be the mail server. If you use an exchange account (mostly work related), it just doesn’t work .....yet.

Yes i have the same problem, and I am using many different exchange mail and calendars. Just hoping it will be fixed