CalendarJack

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How CalendarJack works

CalendarJack puts a GroupMe group's events into the calendar app you already use. One person connects the group and sends a link. Everyone else opens the link and adds the calendar.

Before you start

  • CalendarJack is free. You need no new account to add a calendar.
  • You must be a member of the GroupMe group you want to connect.
  • Keep your phone nearby. GroupMe texts you a PIN code to sign in.

Make a calendar

  1. Open calendarjack.com. Tap Sign in with Google if you have a Google account. Tap Sign in with Microsoft if you use Outlook. Tap Continue with GroupMe if you have neither.
  2. Open New calendar and tap Connect GroupMe.
  3. Sign in at GroupMe with your phone number or email and your password.
  4. Enter the PIN code GroupMe texts you.
  5. Allow CalendarJack when GroupMe asks.
  6. Pick the group. Tap Make the calendar.
  7. Copy the link and send it to the group.

Add a calendar somebody sent you

Open the link the organizer sent. Then pick your calendar app:

  • iPhone, iPad, or Mac: tap Add to Apple Calendar. Confirm the subscription.
  • Google Calendar: add it by address on a computer, or sign in with Google and let CalendarJack add it for you.
  • Outlook: add it by address, or sign in with Microsoft (the account Outlook uses) and let CalendarJack add it for you.

A calendar you add by address arrives on your calendar app's own schedule. Apple checks about once an hour. Outlook checks every few hours. Google can take a day.

A calendar CalendarJack adds after you sign in gets new and changed events within about 5 minutes.

Your pages

  • Calendars lists every calendar you made and every calendar somebody shared with you. Each row says which calendar apps it is in.
  • A calendar's page holds its link, the events coming up, the calendar apps it is in, and its settings.
  • Connected accounts lists where your events come from and where they show up. Add an account there.
  • You lists the accounts that sign you in, the browsers you are signed in on, and Delete account.

Three verbs, three scopes

  • Remove takes one calendar out of one of your calendar apps. It stays in your other apps. The group keeps its link.
  • Disconnect takes one connected account out of CalendarJack. The confirm page names the calendars that leave with it.
  • Delete for everyone deletes a calendar you made. Every member loses it. The GroupMe group is not touched.

Each of these asks you to confirm first. Nothing happens until you confirm.

What Microsoft asks for

Microsoft asks for one permission, Calendars.ReadWrite. It covers every calendar in that mailbox. Microsoft offers no narrower permission for making a calendar. CalendarJack writes only the calendars it makes.

Some organizations need an administrator to approve an application. A row that says Waiting for your organization needs that approval. Signing in again does not help.

After you set it up

  • New and changed events arrive on their own. You do nothing.
  • Cancelled events drop off at the next refresh.
  • Each event's notes show who is going and who is not, as marked in GroupMe.
  • The calendar is read-only here. Edit events in GroupMe.

Staying signed in

  • Your browser stays signed in for 30 days. After that, sign in again.
  • Any connected account signs you in to the same CalendarJack account.
  • Sign out at the top of the page ends this browser only. Your calendars keep updating.
  • Sign out of every other browser on the You page ends every other sign-in and keeps this one.
  • Delete account and everything in it on the You page deletes the account, every connected account, and every calendar.

Settings on a calendar you made

  • Past events keeps the group's whole history, or the last 30 days only.
  • Turn off the old link makes a new link and stops the old one. Use it if a link went somewhere it should not have.
  • Delete for everyone removes the calendar and its link for every member.

Trouble

  • No PIN code arrives from GroupMe. Wait a while and try once more. GroupMe limits how many codes it sends in a short time.
  • GroupMe shows an error page. That page belongs to GroupMe. Wait and try again later.
  • A calendar says it needs attention. Open Connected accounts and tap Reconnect on the row that says so.
  • Events look a few hours old. Your calendar app decides how often it checks. That is normal.
  • A calendar is gone from your calendar app. Open its page. A row that says Removed offers Add it again.
  • You want to remove CalendarJack at Microsoft. Open account.live.com/consent/Manage for a personal account. Use the My Apps page for a work or school account.

Still stuck? Email [email protected].