US Holidays calendar is broken. Why?

This is a user-to-user forum. If you'd like to give feedback to Apple, use the Feedback page:

Product Feedback - Apple

Meanwhile, feel free to unsubscribe to the Apple provided calendar and use one (or more) of the many thousands of others available. Here's a place to start:

https://icalshare.com/

biggravy wrote:

Thanks, but "many thousands" of pre-existing calendars compounds the problem without solving it. iCalshare calendars are buggy. I've tried a couple that produce error messages and another that doesn't fix the original problem of including dross.

Then find one from a different source. That was just one possibility.

I posted here because giving Apple feedback as a single user doesn't get results. Addressing it to Apple was more a rhetorical flourish than anything else. I was hoping to get a suggestion along the lines of yours, only suggesting an avenue I hadn't already tried.

If you were the only person who posted to the Feedback page on the issue, it probably wouldn't result in a change. However, if enough people do, it may. Posting here will not motivate Apple to change at all.

There are no other options. You either use the holiday calendar provided or find another one that better meets your needs.

Let me make a suggestion: Create these calendars yourself, and publish them as subscription calendars. I subscribe to several calendars that I pay for; you could charge a small amount for them (the ones I subscribe to are 99¢ to $1.99). This is a great way to find out how important they are to other people. If you make money it would prove your point.

I do have 2 comments on your suggestions: There are no official government holidays in the United States. Neither Congress nor the executive have the power to create official holidays. The ones that are generally celebrated are by agreement, not "official", and not all are even observed everywhere (consider the millions of people who have to work in retail today on Memorial Day, a day which should be to honor those who have given their lives for their country rather than spending the time in sale after sale). The closest we have are days off given to Federal government employees, and only apply to them. While many states also follow the Federal Employee Day Off list, and many (but not all) banks and businesses do, not all of them are celebrated in every state. For example, Martin Luther King Jr's birthday, which is on the Federal employee days off list is not celebrated in several states. Neither is Washington's birthday, as it includes Lincoln's Birthday when called President's Day. OTOH, most states celebrate the day after Thanksgiving as a holiday, but it is not available to Federal employees. And contrary to a lot of expectations, Good Friday and Easter are not on the Federal Employee days off list. So you need to be more precise on what you mean as an "official" government holiday, as there are none.

Regarding your observation that the start of Ramadan is labeled as The exact date of this holiday is difficult to predict precisely I agree that it is badly worded, but what it really means is the exact start of Ramadan is interpreted differently by different sects, as explained by my Muslim business partner. The date on the calendar this year is actually a day early for some observers in the US, but it would be correct in Mecca. As the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, with each month starting on the new moon, the start of Ramadan is defined as the first sighting of a sliver of the crescent moon, but is that the local crescent moon, or the crescent moon over Mecca? So the only real imprecision is based on where you are located and which interpretation you follow. The date in the Apple calendar is the earliest it can start, which is a reasonable interpretation, given that anyone who plans to observe Ramadan will know what adjustment to make. The Jewish calendar, also a lunar calendar, has a similar problem with the start of many holidays, but has a different solution: If you are not located in or near Jerusalem, you celebrate some holidays on 2 days just to be sure. Christian holidays are also ambiguous; Eastern and Roman rites differ on the day of Easter. Coming back to your observation, the label should really be "earliest start of Ramadan." But anyone who celebrates it would know what was meant, anyway.

I was simply curious as to why Ash Wednesday was omitted.😕 This is the first year I have seen Multi faith observances. I was really just curious because Ash Wednesday was how I always knew when Mardi Gras was! ( Duh! the day before Ash Wednesday!!) Mardi Gras is rarely acknowledged because it is not observed in every state. We here in the New Orleans area observe it as one of our holidays…(banks, local government, schools, etc. are all closed) I can definitely add it myself and have Mardi Gras throws with the dates of Mardi Gras for the next 5 years printed on them! I just wanted to submit my query!

No one here would know why Apple chose not to include Ash Wednesday. You can certainly submit feedback to Apple suggesting that they add it back. Beyond that, it's probably going to remain a mystery.

Best of luck.