Google Calendar CalDav colors in iOS

Question

Level 1

8 points

Google Calendar CalDav colors in iOS

I recently upgraded phones and had to switch from Exchange to CalDav in order to sync my Google calendar to my iPhone. However, none of the colors are syncing with any accuracy. I am sure this is a situation where Google will blame Apple and Apple will blame Google, and customers like me will just be crushed between them. However, with a simple change in Calendars Apple could solve the problem.

Through CalDav Apple is supposed to also sync the color of the calendar. Instead of appearing as selected, the colors appear dark and dim. In the case of red, orange, yellow, and brown they appear almost indistinct.

Additionally, in iOS 8 Apple allows me to change the colors of calendars from Yahoo and Microsoft Outlook. They only prohibit changing the calendar colors with Google.

These two issues mean that all my Google calendars appear almost monochromatic, which undermines the reason I use multiple calendars. Apple need to change this implementation to allow me to change the colors or they need to accurately read the Google calendar colors coming from CalDav.

Is there any way that I can change the colors myself? It seems I am at the mercy of the software.

iPhone 6, iOS 8.2

Posted on Mar 18, 2015 4:12 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 18, 2015 4:16 PM in response to BWS84

Rather than adding the Google calendars as as a CalDav account, have you tried just adding them through the standard Google settings? Settings>Mail, Contacts, Calendar>Add New Account>Google?

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Answer 2

BWS84 Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 18, 2015 6:18 PM in response to IdrisSeabright

Yes, adding it through either the built-in Google settings and through CalDav gives the same result, muted dark colors. The built-in Google account option essentially uses CalDav and CardDav to add calendars and contacts. Thanks for the suggestion.

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Answer 3

csilv

Level 1

9 points

May 13, 2015 3:07 PM in response to BWS84

BWS84, I had the same question as you and I figured out a solution to getting your desired colors (or perhaps, a work-around.)

1. Login to Google Calendar via a web browser.

2. Under "My calendars", click the right menu for a calendar and choose "Edit color...".

3. A "Choose custom color" will appear, it will be preconfigured to the color you had selected.

4. Click on "OK" in the custom color window. (You do not have to make any changes to the color.)

5. Repeat steps 1-4 for each calendar.

After doing this, launch Calendar on iOS and it should shortly update your calendar colors matching the colors on the web.

The summary here is that pre-selected colors in Google Calendar do not sync correctly with iOS. So the solution is to always use custom colors which do sync properly.

Hope this helps,

Chris

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Answer 4

Aug 24, 2015 10:19 AM in response to csilv

Thank you! This worked perfectly!

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Answer 5

Jan 1, 2016 12:32 AM in response to csilv

Thank you so much!

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Answer 6

Apr 20, 2016 10:36 AM in response to csilv

This is a fantastic tip. Not a silly workaround or half measure response, but a real, functional solution. Thanks!

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Answer 7

SpcFilho

Level 1

4 points

May 9, 2016 4:07 PM in response to csilv

It is a really great tip. It worked for as well. It's so crazy imagine that a simple "re-choose a custom color" would resolve that problem...

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Answer 8

Jun 6, 2016 4:07 PM in response to csilv

Thanks so much for this info. I see that this has worked for many people on this thread; however, this is not working for me 😟

I have added my google calendar to my iPhone in the iPhone settings, and followed your directions to a T. But my iPhone calendar is still a terrible sludge brown color instead of the custom color I selected per your instructions. Have been refreshing my calendar on my phone since 20 minutes ago and no change; I turned the phone off and back on again too.

Any ideas on why these instructions did not work this time? How can I "fix" the horrible calendar color?

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