Can I link my Appointments calendar to iCal or book on specific days?
Status:
NewSubmitted byKBarnes66on10-27-201608:09 AM
Hi, I'm new to appointments and was wondering if it can also link with ICal? I prefer that over google calendar. Also, is there a way to set up scheduling for specific dates only?
@KBarnes66 - Welcome to the Seller Community, and to Square Appointments. We're excited to have you on board!
To get going, would you mind sharing what email client you use with your iCal? Are you using an iCloud email account? We currently only have a direct link with Gmail calendars. Having said that, Apple's iCal app supports gmail accounts. If you sync a gmail account through the Square Dashboard and through iCal - it would work!
For your second question, Square Appointments is designed with the intention of having a general calendar be avilable. Having said that, you could use the override hours feature to open available outside your schedule for indivdual staff members. If you check out Tom's Product Update thread, you'll find more details about how to set this up.
PS) If my answer solved your problem, would you mind marking it as "Best Answer"? That'll help the rest of the community find what they're looking for. If not, just write back, and I'll continue to help. Thanks!
Re: Sync external calendars with Appointments calendar on Square
Posted
03-20-2016
Hey there! Appointments Google Calendar Sync does enable you to import your Google Calendar events in such a way that they block off the time in your Appointments calendar.
What this means is that if you have an event from 12-1 on your imported Google Calendar, and that event is set to "Show me as Busy", your customers will not be able to book an appointment from 12-1 using your online booking site. There is currently no way to disable booking over blocked off time from the merchant-facing Calendar page.
Thank you for reaching out about this feature request for Appointments integrating with Apple Calendars. This is a popular feature request with our sellers, but I don't have any updates at this time.
As soon as there is something to share, one of our Community Moderators can post a Product Update to this thread for the announcement.
@StudioMedusa Well, they have actually never claimed to be working on the request to allow Apple calendar synching. They have just said they're "tracking the request".
I'm astonished they haven't implemented it by now, but I suppose since there is such a simple workaround (synch Appointments to a Google calendar, then add the Google calendar to your Apple one) the pressure on them to directly link to Apple is low enough to where they would prefer to focus on implementing other features.
Unfortunately, I feel Square is still in the "grow as fast as possible" stage, where they need to focus on the features that bring in the most revenue. This means features that might be merely nice for existing customers are very low priority. Clearly, even though this issue is annoying it's not bad enough to be causing many customers to leave.
Hi, Has anyone figured out how to sync their Apple calendar (iphone or ipad) with the square appointments calendar? I am sure I'm not the only one who has to manually put appointments into their device in order to not miss anything or double book with re-occuring personal scheduled events.
Thank you @Goldneye but it looks like this is just for "Google Calendar". I use the calendar feature in my iphone for personal use and was hoping to sync this one and square together somehow so all my info will be in one place. Anyone know if this is possible?
I would use this feature if it synced with ical. I echo the frustration and dismay of other comments - Leaving ical out? Won't be using it unless this changes.
Why is only Google calendars a feature and not ICal for Mac and Outlook for PC to sync appointments?
I have no end of problem with customers confirming appointments and unless I daily log in to Square appointments, I cannot see if customers have confirmed, and nor can I set any reminders that I have customers attending.
Furthermore, there is no ability to receive a text message to my phone when customers confirm thier appointments?
Google calendar requires yet another log in to be continually opened and is a clunky third party software. ICal is on my Mac and iPhone which I use daily.
Therefore at present, I have to make an appointment in Square, and then replicate that same appointment information in my personal ICal calendar which then allows me to set alerts and reminders. Very inefficient process
Thanks for getting in touch and providing this feedback!
When using Square Appointments, the expectation is that you would be using the Appointments platform itself either on the app or dashboard on a daily basis to manage your appointments. While linking external calendars can help give increased visibility across both business and personal calendars, Appointments isn't designed to be managed via external calendars - regularly using the platform to do things like confirm and manage appointments is going to be required here.
In terms of automating some of the process and getting your Appointments into iCal though, a practical workaround would be to set up a Google Calendar to act as an intermediary between your iCal and Appointments. It might take some setting up to begin with, but once done you can have a gCal connected to both Square Appointments and your iCal then Appointments should automatically appear in iCal, ping you reminders etc (depending on your iCal settings). Is this something you'd be willing to give a go to help get your appointments to automatically appear in iCal?
From what I understand most of the notifications you'll receive for appointments will be via email, rather than SMS, however this is feedback I have heard before and a feature request I can pass on to our product team!
