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Calendar colors keep changing

I haven't seen a question about this posted since iOS 5 came out (and most seem to come from the last decade).

I'm running iOS 5 on my iPhone 4 and my iPad 2. I use both iCloud calendars and I subscribe to a number of Google calendars, as well. This problem only manifests itself with the subscribed calendars. I'm glad that you can finally customize the color of a subscribed calendar, but your choices don't stick. I want my work calendar to be red, my travel calendar to be blue, my personal calendar to be green, and a fourth orange. I have set these by clicking on the Calendars tab at the top to show the list of calendars, then tapping Edit, and then setting the colors.

I don't know when it does this, but it will always change the colors to something else. And it's not consistent between the iPhone and iPad. So, for example, the work calendar, which I had set as red, is now purple on my iPad. It's green on my iPhone. I realize the color might not sync between devices, but if I set it as red on both, why is it changing them to something else?

Only thing I can tell is perhaps it happened when the iPad's screen shut off, or maybe when it synced.

Is this a known issue? Is there a workaround?

Posted on Oct 27, 2011 8:19 AM

Best reply

seanlun

Level 1

0 points

Posted on Nov 1, 2011 10:55 PM

I have five subscribed calendars on my iPad, and four of them are on my iPhone as well. And since updating to iOS 5, I have been having the same issue. This does not happen with any of my iCloud calendars, just the subscribed ones. Unfortunately, I don't have a fix either. I was here looking for one myself. But I thought I'd chime in just to say I'm dealing with the same thing.

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101 replies

MDJCM

Level 1

4 points

Oct 10, 2013 3:52 PM in response to carole322

Careful with this, I've tried this export/import before except iCal refused to import the events because of some silly URL security risk bug that made it impossible to import.

So do a Time Machine backup before for sure

Irish27

Level 1

4 points

Oct 10, 2013 6:14 PM in response to edwardaggie98

Very annoying having my calendar continually change color to purple. Can not easily detect what is mine or my wife's appointments. Apple....this should be a quick fix as it has happened before, PLEASE FIX!

Oct 10, 2013 10:35 PM in response to edwardaggie98

Adding my complaint about this to the list. 😟 All this cloud stuff is disaster waiting to happen (duplicating half my songs in itunes? really? <sigh>...glad it's just a color thing now. Who knows what it could be next month...

ihman

Level 1

0 points

Oct 11, 2013 2:49 PM in response to edwardaggie98

I have the same problem... actually it has happened before, when I had IOS5 or 6, now I updated to IOS7 and this annoying problem is back: some of my calendars are randomly changing colors (most of them to light purple). I hope they release a new IOS version that fixes this.

Oct 11, 2013 9:31 PM in response to MDJCM

I have the same problem on new iMac. One of three calanders that was originally green has changed to light purple and keeps changing back to light purple even after changing it to green again (by right clicking on the calendar, get info, then changing color at top right)

Nidia

Level 1

35 points

Oct 12, 2013 10:46 AM in response to billyblue

I'd also like to add my voice to this. I just noticed this start to happen today when adding my latest work schedule. The "Work" calendar now changes to purple and will not change to green, no matter what I do or where I change it. I'm a very visual person and my Work calendar has been green since iCal first came out. I hate this issue!

Apple, fix this!

Oct 13, 2013 7:59 AM in response to mdd770

after i did this ical updated. then it said a critical sync error happened. i quit it and reopened and it synced and changed the colour scheme again. also- i could not add 'home' kept it as untitled. super annoying to say the least.

RTE1953

Level 1

4 points

Oct 13, 2013 8:19 AM in response to James McKinstry

This is a new bug on iMac and IOS, coming from iCloud. happened for me after I installed updates on iMac. Certain calendars but not all change colors. Seems Apple wants us all to have a purple Work calendar.

It's called the "Barbie Dreamhouse" bug because of the colors that come up (purple and pink).

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9243117/_Barbie_Dreamhouse_bug_changes_Ma c_iPhone_calendars_to_gaudy_colors

Less than helpful, for those of us that used the color feature in calendar to keep our lives straight.

RTE

pvmac

Level 1

15 points

Oct 13, 2013 9:15 AM in response to RTE1953

@Carole332's fix worked for me, but I have to be clear about HOW I implemented it.

We have a MacBook Air, a Mac Mini, two different MacBook Pro's (an old 17" and a new 15"), an iPad 4, and two iPhones (a 4S and a 5). I keep all devices at the very latest updates.

The only devices that were affected by the color change were those owned by my wife: the MacBook Air and the Mac Mini. The calendar affected was her home calendar. In her case, the color it defaulted to was light blue. She wanted red.

I noticed that when I logged into iCloud.com/#calendar with her Apple ID, the color would revert immediately after making a change, but on the Air and Mini it would take a few seconds. Clue: the problem is in iCloud.

Working primarily on the Mini (just a choice I made), after exporting the affected calendar, I deleted that calendar from iCloud AND the Mac Mini AND the MacBook Air. It simply dissappeared on her iPhone. Then I recreated the calendar in iCloud and set the color to red. I waited for the calendar to propagate to the Mini. When it appeared there, I simply dragged the exported calendar onto the new calendar and that imported everything into that new calendar. It took a few more seconds to propagate to the other devices. Then I changed the color on the Mini to red. I then looked at the Air, saw the calendar was there, and changed that color to red. This morning, everything was as I left it, so I'm convinced the problem is solved.

Oct 13, 2013 1:41 PM in response to RTE1953

I just want to second all the comments here... I use Calendar a lot and depend on it. Please fix this!

o_m_r

Level 1

5 points

Oct 14, 2013 4:23 PM in response to RTE1953

RTE1953 wrote:

This is a new bug on iMac and IOS, coming from iCloud. happened for me after I installed updates on iMac. Certain calendars but not all change colors. Seems Apple wants us all to have a purple Work calendar.

It's called the "Barbie Dreamhouse" bug because of the colors that come up (purple and pink).

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9243117/_Barbie_Dreamhouse_bug_changes_Ma c_iPhone_calendars_to_gaudy_colors

Less than helpful, for those of us that used the color feature in calendar to keep our lives straight.

RTE

Thanks for sharing the article confirming the bug... I thought I was going crazy. My "work" calendar ha the same issue with purple only. Fascinating it only affects the "work" calendar.

At this point I think I'll just try to deal with it until a fix is released by Apple, but if I have the time I might try the export, then delete affected calendar, then rebuild the problem calendar... dragging the export back in method just in case.

Oct 14, 2013 4:44 PM in response to o_m_r

It affects home too. it changes the colour of home and work. and i cannot rename them either. i deleted them and added new in the icloud of my ical and i cannot put home- stays untitled. i can call it anything other than home- what the heck!

o_m_r

Level 1

5 points

Oct 14, 2013 4:46 PM in response to James McKinstry

Guess I really will just try and wait for the Apple bug fix then 😟

Oct 14, 2013 6:03 PM in response to edwardaggie98

I'm experiencing the same problem. I pay Apple to make software and hardware that "just works." Increasingly I am finding that it doesn't. Does Apple even pay attention to these issues? I don't see an offficial response here. Is there a better platform for communitacting our greivance?

Oct 15, 2013 1:44 AM in response to YeshuaJames

At least readingthis has stopped me sitting here with all 3 devices open, wondering why the **** I can't get rid of the **** purple. Hurry up and fix this, it's a pain in the bum. The updated 'improved' calendar on ios7 is hard to read now without my iMac having a dodgy colour problem on top of it. AND can I have an option to revert back to the older style calendar on my iPad and iPhone, please?

Calendar colors keep changing