Calendar Glitch

[XBenedict]

I noticed (after missing an appointment) that my calendar entries were appearing in my calendar on the wrong days. Took me a while to work out what was going on - but here it is. If anyone knows a fix, or has experienced the same thing, I'm interested to know. Maybe I just have a dud Ipad.

Assume you have an all day entry in your calendar - let's say starting from the 9th of the month and ending on the 15th of the month. You want to enter a new event on the 14th. You open up the calendar, then open up the month view, then double click on the 14th. You then enter your event and click add. It goes into your calendar on the 9th - ie the first day of the current all day event - not the 14th. This seems to work in all cases except where the start of the all day event is on or before the current day.

I've just upgraded my Ipad to an IPad Air. Frustrating to find something basic like the calendar cannot be trusted.

 

[twerppoet]

Sorry. I couldn't duplicate the problem. Have you updated the iPad Air to the latest version of iOS, 8.1.3. I don't know if there were any calendar bugs fixed with the last two updates, but there might have been.

A couple things you said are a bit off. I'm sure it's nothing, but I'll mention it anyway, for the sake of clarity. Or perhaps I'm not understanding the method you are using to add an event.

By click, I'm guessing you mean tap. Double tapping a day in month view does not add an event. It takes me to the day view of of that day. I have to tap and hold to add an event to that day.

You should also try a restart and/or a reset. This often fixes odd behavior; especially in the native apps. A reset is an especially good idea right after an update. It seems to settle things in more firmly.

Reset: (on the small chance you're not familiar with it): Hold down the power and home buttons until you see the Apple logo, then release. The iPad will reboot. Nothing is deleted.

 

[XBenedict]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I have 8.1.3. Also tried the reset. It is still occurring.

By double click, I mean double tap on the rectangle that represents a day in a month in the month calendar view. This should take me to the day I tap - but instead takes me to the first day of any all day event that passes through the day I have tapped on. So you end up on the wrong day - and until I noticed, I was adding events to the wrong day. I'm careful not to tap on the blue line that represents the all day event - and when I double tap, the whole day rectangle lights up - so it seems like it's working. Somehow the whole rectangle is linked back to the all day event - rather than the relevant day.

I found that when I use the tap and hold method you suggest above, I do go to the right day.

If you are not able to reproduce it, maybe something is wrong with my machine. It's pretty much brand new.

 

[dhewson777]

Sounds like possible user error. It does sound like you're opening an existing event rather than creating a new one.

I just played around in my calendar, double-tapping does not create a new event on any view. You have to tap the plus in the top right to create a new entry.

 

[J. A.]

Or tap and hold on the day/time of the event, as mentioned by twerppoet above. This will also create a new entry.

 

[twerppoet]

...
I found that when I use the tap and hold method you suggest above, I do go to the right day.

If you are not able to reproduce it, maybe something is wrong with my machine. It's pretty much brand new.

You have to do the double tap in a blank part of the day for it to open to that day's view. If you accidentally double tap the event then, as you describe, it opens to the first day of that event. If you have a lot of events for that day it would probably be easier to use an alternate method to enter the new event.

Double tapping on the day's number, or just to the left of it, also works; but requires a bit of accuracy.

Personally I almost always use the Fantastical 2 app. I like how it presents information better, and how it works. Calendar 5 is also pretty good. My preference for Fantastical is mostly about it having a version for my iMac, that shows up in the status bar.

Both have the option to sync with the native Calendar app, so no extra setup is required.

 

[XBenedict]

I'll describe again what is happening as it sounds like some of you may have got side tracked by my first description. I'm not trying to add an event BY double tapping a day. I'm trying to double tap to take me to the relevant day, THEN adding an event in the usual way. Here is hopefully, a clearer description.

I open the month calendar view. Lets say there is an all day event that runs from the 12th to the 28th. I want to add an event on the 17th. To minimise your concerns about "fat finger error", there is nothing else in the calendar on the 17th - just one blue line passing through the day showing the all day event. I double tap on a part of the rectangle for the day - but avoiding the blue line. I get taken to the day on which the all day event starts and the all day event is highlighted. If I now enter my event by adding the plus sign at the top right hand corner (thinking I'm on the 17th) it goes onto the 12th.

I can reproduce this consistently. It makes no difference if I tap the day number in the day rectangle or a blank part of the rectangle. No matter how careful I am when tapping, I can't produce the result that you all seem to be achieving - ie. you go to the day view for the day you have double tapped.

I've also tried tapping the blue line to see what result that produces. If I single tap, I either get a pop up inviting me to edit the event, or, in some cases, the calendar crashes (which doesn't seem a good sign). If I double tap the blue line I go to the first day of the all day event with that event highlighted - ie the same result as a double tap on a blank part of the day. It's like the all day event infects the whole day.

Hopefully that is clear. If you can't reproduce it, I should probably take it back to the shop.

 

[J. A.]

When I double tap an all-day event that lasts for a few days, I get the same result as yours. So your device is working right.

Double-tapping takes you to the first day of the all day events, and when you add an event there, it will be added to that day, no matter where you tapped before.

There are two ways to add an event:
Using the + sign in the Calendar app, at the top right.
Tapping and holding on the day where the events should take place.

Double tapping is not one of the options.

 

[XBenedict]

How about if you double tap a blank part of the day - ie avoiding the blue line? This used to work for my previous Ipad.

 

[XBenedict]

Oh - and to be clear - I'm NOT trying to add an event by double tapping. I'm trying to get to the day view for the day I tap. At the moment I am being redirected to the wrong day.

 

[twerppoet]

Yes. That was what I was doing.

But for the heck of it I played around some more, testing a few more combinations and in more detail; and suddenly it was doing what you describe, some of the time. More experimentation narrowed down the exceptions.

If the all day even was the only event, then it goes to the day view of the first day of the multi-day-all-day event. If there is any other single day event (all day or hourly) it goes to the day tapped on. (I did not test multiple multi-day-all-day events across the same day).

So if a person has a moderately crowded calendar they might never see your issue, assuming they even use multi-day-all-day events.

My only suggestion is for you to change your habits to adding events using the tap-hold method previously described. That, or use a third party calendar app; also mentioned.

Your iPad and Calendar app are not defective; or at least no more defective than mine.


Edit: Posted this before I saw Johanna's reply, so consider it independent verification; and an explanation why some of us couldn't duplicate your problem.

 

[XBenedict]

Thanks very much for doing that Twerppoet. If you can produce the same thing that does suggest there is nothing wrong with my machine. Very helpful.

 

[twerppoet]

No problem.

It was unlikely to be a problem with the iPad hardware, even if it was only you. The next step (after a reset) would have been to restore the iPad, and if that had not worked then force a new install of the current software using DFU mode. Both something the Apple Store would have probably done before replacing your iPad. Unless they were super busy, in which case they might have decided it was quicker to just give you a new one and fix/refurbish the old one when they got around to it.