How to disable notifications for a single calendar, in iOS6

Question

I have multiple calendars on my iPhone (iOS 6) and would like to know how to disable event notifications for just my work calendar (it's an Exchange account, if that makes any difference). I still need to be able to view, and add to, my work calendar though, so can't disable the whole thing.

UPDATE: The reason that I want to do this is because if I get a 'work' alert then I will either:

1. be in my office and using Outlook for such things, or
2. be on holiday/at home and not wanting to see work notifications.

The calendar needs to remain enabled because I constantly use it on my phone to plan free time (around work commitments) and also to enter out-of-office entries (e.g. dental appointments).

Answer 1

(This answer was written before iOS version 8 and doesn't reflect changes made in later versions.)

You cannot silence the alerts of a single calendar in iOS. Alerts utilize the Notification Center, and the Calendar options in the Notification Center apply to all calendars. I know this is not the answer you are hoping for.

The best option, as mentioned in the comments above, is to disable the calendar on your work account, when not desired, and re-enable it again when you need it. To do this, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Your Work Mail Account. Slide off Calendars. This isn't a good option, admittedly, as you will have to re-download your calendars every time it's slid back on.

Another option is to keep calendars turned off for this account and use Exchange Outlook Web Access to access your calendars. This may be an even worse interface, however, as the OWA interface is not mobile-optimized.

My last suggestion is to use a third-party app to manage one of your calendars and the built-in Calendar app to manage the other. You can then disable Notifications on one of the two apps. You have to look potentially in two places for your calendar entries, but you will potentially get the granular control you need. Here are some calendar apps to examine: Calvetica, MiCal.

Answer 2

Yes, in iOS 8:

To do this, simply go into the Calendar app, tap the “Calendars” button in the bottom center to bring up your list of Calendars, and then tap the red “i” to the left of the calendar you’d like to change. Scrolling all the way to the bottom will reveal an “Event Alerts” option — simply toggle this OFF to prevent alarms in that calendar from showing up on the current device.

Answer 3

You can go to the following URL to define which calendars sync with your mobile device.

https://www.google.com/calendar/syncselect

That is still a load of messing around each time though.

Answer 4

You could use a 3rd party calendar app just for their notification functions as a bodgy workaround.

I recommend Calvetiva, Agenda, or Tempus.

The workflow would go something like this:

• Choose a secondary calendar app.
• Configure you secondary calendar app to only use the calendars you want alerts for (steps vary on choice of app). Some (like Calvetica) are clever, and extend the alerts function by allowing a snooze option etc.
• Configure secondary calendar alerts and notifications via the normal settings> notifications app to show as you want them. They will only trigger for the active calendars in the app.
• Configure your normal calendar alerts to be off. Remove from Notification Centre, set alert style to none, and also go onto Sounds > alerts and set the calendar alert to none.

Now your existing calendar app will still have access to all calendars but won't alert, the secondary app will do alerting only for the active ones.

Downsides: You will need to periodically open and then shut the secondary calendar every so often in order for it to read the current alerts from the calendar data store and create it's own local notifications from them.

I hoped you could get round this by following the above steps but using the built in calendar as your selective alerting calendar (as it is always running and won't need to be opened to update), and using a replacement calendar app with all calendars shown but no alerts - sadly the normal Calendar app includes all calendars regardless of if you have turned a calendar off or not.