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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

DocOrtho

Level 1

0 points

Oct 15, 2013 1:50 AM in response to edwardaggie98

Has anyone tried to change the color in the iCloud web calendar?

Worked for me on my MacBooks.

o_m_r

Level 1

5 points

Oct 15, 2013 2:45 AM in response to DocOrtho

DocOrtho wrote:

Has anyone tried to change the color in the iCloud web calendar?

Worked for me on my MacBooks.

I did try that as well, but it did not fix the bug for me on MacBook Pro, iPhone or iPad, running OS X ML, iOS 6 or 7 😟

Oct 15, 2013 3:19 AM in response to o_m_r

I rang Apple Support here in the UK yesterday. Whilst the guy I spoke to was really nice, he had no explanation as to why we're all having such problems with this. As I DON'T have a Mac, he suggested I try this:

iOS: How to back up your data and set up your device as a new device

- but he warned that it was a difficult and time-consuming workaround with no guarantee of success...

He also suggested I might try and learn to love purple!

Aaaagh!

Oct 15, 2013 4:51 AM in response to edwardaggie98

I'm in the same boat here. We have 3 kids, all with varying schedules, that we have linked between our phones. With so many people, the colors help us know who is doing what and when. I LOVED the calendar when I first got an iPhone, but now I loathe it. Not only has it changed our colors, but they are all varying shades of the same two colors. Impossible to tell who is who! I'm ready to dump the calendar and use another app if Apple doesn't fix this soon. I want my old calendar and options back! Please fix this Apple!

Oct 15, 2013 6:16 AM in response to edwardaggie98

Seriously Apple, This bug STILL hasn't been fixed?

What's the point in having a custom colour option if it doesn't work???

RTE1953

Level 1

4 points

Oct 15, 2013 11:55 AM in response to James McKinstry

Someone suggested exporting the offending calendar (after backing up) and renaming it as "work enterprise" or "at home" or something other than home or work, then trying to reimport it, and fix the color.

I'm trying to live with purple for a bit, to see if this goes away again, like it did in August. My other purple calendar I changed to green, and that seems to stick. Only affects certain calendar names.

Ugh. I agree with YeshuaJames, who said we pay more for Apple and it "just works." So I have unmet expectations here, besides the frustrations, increases my emotional response.

Oct 15, 2013 11:57 AM in response to edwardaggie98

Seriously driving me crazy. My 3 calendars are now purple and 2 shades of blue...... Apple needs to fix this bug ASAP. The old calendar was much easier to use on the phone prior to upgrading to IOS 7.

Surge74

Level 1

36 points

Oct 15, 2013 3:43 PM in response to DocOrtho

I tried but it did not solve the problem

o_m_r

Level 1

5 points

Oct 15, 2013 6:09 PM in response to RTE1953

RTE1953 wrote:

Someone suggested exporting the offending calendar (after backing up) and renaming it as "work enterprise" or "at home" or something other than home or work, then trying to reimport it, and fix the color.

I'm trying to live with purple for a bit, to see if this goes away again, like it did in August. My other purple calendar I changed to green, and that seems to stick. Only affects certain calendar names.

Ugh. I agree with YeshuaJames, who said we pay more for Apple and it "just works." So I have unmet expectations here, besides the frustrations, increases my emotional response.

I have not tried the export then rebuild method, but there are conflicting results, with some saying that worked and others saying it didn't. I will say that my "work" calendar name was ammended as you mentioned, so I'm not sure that would make any difference. At least it hadn't for me. There seems to be various scenarios of this issue and that it doesn't only effect "work", etc. named calendars.

o_m_r

Level 1

5 points

Oct 15, 2013 6:12 PM in response to Westindiandiva

Westindiandiva wrote:

I rang Apple Support here in the UK yesterday. Whilst the guy I spoke to was really nice, he had no explanation as to why we're all having such problems with this. As I DON'T have a Mac, he suggested I try this:

iOS: How to back up your data and set up your device as a new device

- but he warned that it was a difficult and time-consuming workaround with no guarantee of success...

He also suggested I might try and learn to love purple!

Aaaagh!

Coincidentally, after this issue began for me, I've also upgraded my iOS devices to iOS 7. For both devices (iPhone & iPad) I did a full restore, meaning wiped the devices clean and reinstalled iOS and manually configured settings and downloaded apps. This has had no effect on the Calendar color issue in my experience unfortunately. 😟

So, I've had the same issue both before and after reinstalling iOS and upgrading to iOS 7, as well as trying to adjust the color of the Calendar ("work") on every instance of the app I have, i.e. iCloud web site, OS X 10.8, iOS 6 & 7.
I have not tried to export the affected calnedar, then deleting from Calendar app, then rebuilding a "Work" calendar and importing the the original appointments into the newly created calendar. But some others have said that did not work for them anyway...

o_m_r

Level 1

5 points

Oct 15, 2013 6:14 PM in response to edwardaggie98

...and btw, my affected calendar was shared, so I tried adjusting the share permissions as well as removing the share, then trying to adjust the color, both unsuccessfully.

Oct 16, 2013 7:16 AM in response to carole322

This worked for me! Thank you carole322.

MDJCM

Level 1

4 points

Oct 16, 2013 11:07 AM in response to edwardaggie98

Mine has just returned to normal, maybe Apple has fixed it, I will report back if it breaks again.

Irish27

Level 1

4 points

Oct 16, 2013 11:28 AM in response to MDJCM

My calendar has also returned to normal colors...Finally. This was a real pain in the rear, I hope Apple has a handle on this and it won't be happening again!

Oct 16, 2013 11:38 AM in response to Irish27

After reading the above posts, I went back into Calendar and changed the colours - so far, they've stayed put. Thanks!

Calendar colors keep changing