Can't set Calendar Alerts for Google Calendar

Question

Level 1

4 points

Can't set Calendar Alerts for Google Calendar

I have several Google Calendars for my work and personal schedules. I've used Apple Calendar (formerly iCal) on my Mac, and the Calendar app on my iPhone to interact with my Google Calendars for years with no issues.

After upgrading to Mountain Lion, I can no longer set alerts on any Google Calendar events. When I edit a Google Calendar event using Apple Calendar, I can change any field, including the 'Alert' settings. However, when I click to save my changes, the alert settings are entirely removed.

In Calendar Preferences, I can set a default alert that applies to all my Google Calendars, but I can't change the settings for any individual calendar event. If I attempt to do so, then Apple Calendar removes all alerts from the event.

UPDATE: It seems the problem is that Google Calendar doesn't know what to do with a "Message with sound" alert type. You can use "Message" and it works fine (with no sound obviously).

MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.2), 2.2 GHz Intel Core i78 4G RAM

Posted on Nov 13, 2012 3:33 PM

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Answer 1

beattz

Level 1

5 points

Dec 10, 2012 3:54 AM in response to metapede

Strange, I am experiencing the exact problems you describe, however it doesn't matter whether the alert is set as "message" or "message with sound".

By default, events created in a Google calendar have an alert of "mesage, 30 minutes before". If I try to change the time, add a new alert, or remove the default alert, inevitably it get's reset to the default state.

Furthermore, If I change the alert using Google Calendar in a web browser, the event in Calendar (aka iCal) doesn't get updated, it stays at 30 minutes. Sometimes I receive the alert an hour before anyway, despite what Calendar indicates. Very Frustrating.

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Answer 2

beattz

Level 1

5 points

Dec 10, 2012 4:24 AM in response to beattz

UPDATE: I found a post on Google forums that suggests editing any other field in the event at the same time as trying to edit the alert reminder time. For some reason that forces the changes to be synced.

http://productforums.google.com/d/msg/calendar/5HXYcwuuRVc/H01wtJqDz-YJ

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Answer 3

dmertl

Level 1

0 points

Sep 12, 2013 12:11 PM in response to beattz

I confirm that beattz update works for me. Was able to create an event with "Message" alert type, but when editing I had to set a "Message" alert and modify another field.

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