How to set up a shared family calendar on iPhone using Google Calendar

Haven for Families · Guide

Google Calendar is one of the most popular calendar tools in the world — and you can share it with your family on iPhone. But the setup requires jumping between a browser, the Google Calendar app, and your iPhone settings. Here's every step.

What you'll need

A Google account for every family member you want to share with
The Google Calendar app installed on each iPhone (free on the App Store)
A browser — the sharing setup has to be done on google.com, not in the app

Part 1: Create and share the calendar (on a computer or browser)

Google Calendar's sharing settings can only be configured from a web browser, not the iPhone app. You'll need to do this part on a laptop or through Safari/Chrome on your phone.

Step 1

Go to calendar.google.com and sign in with your Google account.

Step 2

In the left sidebar, find Other calendars and click the + button. Select Create new calendar.

Step 3

Name the calendar (e.g. "Family") and click Create calendar. It will appear in your sidebar.

Step 4

Hover over the new calendar in the sidebar and click the three-dot menu, then select Settings and sharing.

Step 5

Scroll to Share with specific people or groups and click Add people and groups. Enter each family member's Gmail address.

Step 6

Set their permission level. For a family calendar, Make changes to events is usually right — this lets them add and edit events, not just view them. Click Send.

Part 2: Accept the invitation (on each family member's iPhone)

Step 7

Each family member will receive an email invitation. They need to open it and click Accept — this can be done in Gmail or any email app.

Step 8

After accepting, open the Google Calendar app on their iPhone. The shared calendar should appear under their account. If it doesn't, tap the three-line menu, scroll to the calendar name, and make sure it's checked.

Part 3: Make sure events go to the right calendar

Step 9

When creating a new event in the Google Calendar app, tap the calendar name under the event title and switch it from your personal calendar to the shared family one. This step is easy to forget.

Step 10

To set the family calendar as your default, go to Settings → General → Default calendar inside the Google Calendar app and select the shared one. Each family member needs to do this individually.

⚠️ iPhone users: note that Google Calendar is not native to iOS. Events don't sync with Siri, the lock screen, or Apple Watch the same way iCloud calendar events do. If you want full iPhone integration, you'll need to add the Google Calendar account to your iPhone's system Settings → Calendar → Accounts → Add Account → Google — a separate step entirely.

What Google Calendar doesn't do for families

Even with everything set up correctly, Google Calendar has real gaps when it comes to family scheduling:

No morning briefing. There's no daily summary sent to your whole family. Everyone has to open the app themselves.
No event assignment. You can't tag which parent is doing a pickup. That information lives in event titles or notes if you remember to add it.
No photo import. A schedule screenshot from a coach means you're retyping every event manually.
No pickup reminders based on travel time. You set a reminder time and guess whether it's early enough.
Not native to iPhone. Google Calendar is a web-first app. It works on iPhone, but it doesn't feel like it belongs there.
Requires everyone to have a Google account. For families already in the Apple ecosystem, this adds an unnecessary layer.

Or: create a family calendar from a text message

Haven is a family calendar built from the ground up for iPhone. No browser setup, no account juggling — just send your partner a link and you're sharing a calendar in under two minutes.

Haven — built for families, not adapted for them

Everything Google Calendar can't do, without the setup headache.

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Add events from a photo — snap a screenshot of a schedule from a text or email and Haven reads it automatically
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Natural language event creation — type "Soccer Thursdays 4–5pm until March" and Haven creates the full series
🚗
Assigned drivers — tag who's handling each pickup or drop-off so nobody has to ask
🔔
Pickup reminders — Haven calculates when you need to leave based on travel time and reminds you before you'd even think to check
☀️
Daily summary notifications — every morning, your whole family gets a briefing on the day ahead — automatically

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$49/year or $7.99/month after trial · iPhone only