Using the Google Calendar App
Using the Google Calendar App
The Google Calendar App allows you to keep a calendar in your pocket or handbag. But beyond a basic calendar, consider these other benefits:
- It can alert you prior to events.
- You can create recurring meetings.
- You can invite people to events.
- You can have multiple calendar views like day at a glance, week at a glance and more.
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Does your app look different?
The Google apps from different Apple & Android phones from different manufacturers will often have a different look. However, the basic functions of those apps should be similar. We have tried to stick to common functions in our lessons with emphasis on mainstream Google Apps..
Using the Google Calendar App
This Senior Tech Recipe will focus on the three core tasks of working with the Calendar App:
- Viewing your Calendar
- Creating Calendar events.
- Using the Google Assistant and the Calendar
Viewing your Calendar
The Google Calendar app provides a variety of view options to see your daily, weekly calendars and lists of events. An active user will certainly develop their own approach to viewing and maintaining their calendars. Here is an initial path to follow:
Launch the Calendar App by tapping its icon on the Home or App screen.
Pick Your Calendar View
Shown here is a Month at a glance calendar. With the Calendar app you can pick the Daily Weekly or Monthly calendar that meets your needs. For the personal calendars of many older adults, a Month-at-a-glance calendar is a good starting point. It shows all appointment for the month.
Change calendar views by tapping the Menu icon found in the upper right corner.
A menu will appear giving you the opportunity to choose the desired menu.
This menu will also provide the ability to select other items you wish to appear on your calendar like Events, Reminders and Birthdays.
You can also quickly switch to a Week-at-a-glance view by rotating your phone from portrait to landscape orientation.
Moving Forward and Backward in your Calendar
Moving forward to future events or backwards to previous events is as simple as left or right on any calendar. With a Monthly calendar you can quickly move to events in the next year.
Get More Detail
From the Monthly calendar you can tap on any day to get that day’s calendar with more detail than can be displayed on the Monthly calendar.
From the Daily View tap on any event to access the Full Details of the event.
Press the X on the Full Detail view to close the screeen. Optionally, you can press the back arrow to return to the previous screen.
How to create an event on your Google calendar
Adding an event to the calendar can be simple or can include functions like alerts, repeating events and other invitees. But you can also keep it simple by adding an event that only has a time and a date/time combination. Take this tour of the event creation process and choose your approach based on your needs:
1 Tap Calendar on your Android home screen. 
2 Tap on the + (plus sign) in the lower right hand corner.
3 Select the type of calendar items you wish to add.
Reminder – A simple entry with a title, a date-time and if the reminder is recurring. A reminder is a simple way to add calendar events.
Event – A calendar entry with a title, date-time, location and many more details. Reminders are easier with fewer options. For this step-by-step, let’s explore creating an Event.
4 Enter a Title that will appear on your calendar.
5 Indicate if you want the event to be an all day event. Blue is on. All day events work great to record events like anniversaries or vacation days that are not scheduled for a specific time. If all day is turned off, you can choose a specific start and end date and time. Hint: You could schedule birthdays on the calendar but it would be more efficient to put birthdays on the Contact record so it shows on your calendar every year.
6 Starts & Ends – Use the date – time picker by swiping up or down to change the date, minutes and AM/PM indicate for the time you want the event to start and end.
7 Indicating a Location for the event is optional or can be very specific to include an address. If you start to type, the app will use recent locations, locations from the Maps app and locations from your Contacts app as suggestions.
Optional elements Your event can also contain a number of optional/advanced elements if your events call for additional capabilities.
8 Tap Repeat if you wish to schedule a recurring event. This is perfect if you are recording a meeting that occurs on the first Monday of every month. . If you indicate a Repeat preference, use End Repeat to indicate Never end or pick a date.
9 Tap Add people to add additional ivities to the event. This will send an invitation to the email of the invitee.
10 Notification. Choose when you’d like to be notified about the event.. The default is a notification 10 minutes before the events.
11 Notes – Scroll down to find a field where you can add any notes that you would like to keep about the meeting or event. This could be agenda items, location details and more.
Using Google Assistant to Create and View Events
You can use the Google Assistant to quickly add events and reminders to your calendar. The process is quick, easy and highly recommended as a way of creating Calendar items.
Here is some basic commands:
Engage the Google Assistant by holding the Home button or saying “Hey Google” and speaking a command like:
- “Add a meeting to my calendar.” Google will ask questions about the date, time and title.
- “Schedule an event for me on Saturday at 8 PM.” Google will ask about the title.
- “Add an event called Birthday Dinner for Thursday at 6 PM.” Google will confirm
The Google Assistant will schedule the event and send invitations to other invitees.
You can also use the Google Assistant to access events on your calendar.
Summon “Hey Google” and ask:
- “What’s on my calendar?”
- “What’s on my calendar today?”
- “What’s on my calendar this week?”
- “When is the Birthday Dinner?”
Check for Understanding
Use the following four questions to determine if you understand the skills taught in this lesson.
- How do you change from a Daily to a List View in the calendar?
- What is the basic sequence to creating an event on your calendar.
- Can you use the Google Assistant to schedule an event?
Additional Information
The Senior Tech Club recommends the following additional resources for members that wish to pursue additional and/or advanced information on this recipe:
Google Help Center – Calendar Help
Senior Tech Club Recipes and Nuggets to help you stay organized
Number Title 
604 Use the Gmail app to Send and Receive Email 
632 Using the Google Calendar App 
631 Adding and Finding People in the Google Contacts App
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