Calendar

Busy Days’ calendar view brings your events and tasks together. You can also import other calendars into Busy Days or subscribe to the Busy Days calendar in another calendar app to keep all your events easily in one view.

Calendar sync (ICS)

Busy Days supports calendar integrations in ICS/iCal format.

  • Import into Busy Days (ICS feed): You can see events from an external calendar in Busy Days in read-only mode, and they will update automatically.
  • Export from Busy Days (ICS feed / subscription link): You can subscribe to your Busy Days calendar in e.g. Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook.

❗Note: An ICS subscription is essentially one-way. You can only make changes to events in the source system. In other words, if the events were imported into Busy Days from another system, edit the events in the source system. Likewise, if you exported Busy Days events to another calendar, make changes to the events in Busy Days.

Import an external calendar into Busy Days (ICS feed)

When you add an ICS feed to Busy Days, the app fetches the feed in the background and updates events automatically.

Settings

  1. Open Settings in Busy Days
  2. Find the section that manages Calendar feeds
  3. Add the new feed’s URL (iCal/ICS link)
  4. Save

After this:

  • The external calendar’s events will appear in Busy Days as read-only events.
  • The feed updates automatically in the background (typically about once an hour).
  • You can add multiple different ICS feeds.

Export the Busy Days calendar to another app (ICS subscription)

You can create your own calendar feed in Busy Days and subscribe to it in another calendar app.

ICS export

  1. Open Settings in Busy Days
  2. Find Calendar Feeds
  3. Create a new feed (if needed, you can limit which events are included in the feed)
    • You can include either only upcoming events or also past events.
    • You can choose to include private events, group events, or specific event types (e.g. events and meetings) in the feed.
    • You can include events from the groups or just your personal events.
  4. Copy the feed’s ICS URL

❗Security: If the feed URL contains an identifier/token, treat it like a password. Anyone who has the link can view the feed contents in their calendar app.

Note: The feed is updated automatically on the Busy Days side when your events change, but your calendar app may refresh the feed on its own schedule.

Add the Busy Days feed to Google Calendar

  1. Open Google Calendar (web browser)
  2. Select Other calendars → Add → From URL
  3. Paste the Busy Days ICS URL
  4. Save

Add the Busy Days feed to Apple Calendar (iPhone/iPad/Mac)

  1. In the Calendar app, choose Subscribe to Calendar / New Calendar Subscription
  2. Paste the Busy Days ICS URL
  3. Save (and choose a refresh interval if the app offers it)

Add the Busy Days feed to Outlook

  1. In Outlook, choose Add calendar
  2. Select Subscribe from web / From URL
  3. Paste the Busy Days ICS URL
  4. Save

Vacations

Mark a date range as a vacation to let Busy Days adjust chores, meal plans, and Busy Bee's calendar answers for that period. Vacations are always available, even without access to Chores, Events, or Meals.

Add a vacation

  1. Open Calendar and use the Add button.
  2. Select Add Vacation.
  3. Choose a start and end date.
  4. Select which modules the vacation applies to: Chores, Events, Meals, or any combination.
  5. Optionally share the vacation with a group:
  6. Leave assignees empty (or select everyone) to apply the vacation to the whole group.
  7. Select specific members to apply it only to them.
  8. Save.

What a vacation does per module

  • Chores: Chores are not scheduled for you, or the selected group members, during the vacation.
  • Meals: Vacation dates are highlighted in the meal plan grid. Meal suggestions skip these dates automatically, but you can still add meals manually. See Meal planning.
  • Events: Busy Bee sees your vacation dates and avoids scheduling new events during them unless you ask for one anyway. See Chat.

Edit or delete a vacation

The vacation's creator, or a group admin for a group vacation, can edit or delete it. Other group members can view the vacation but not change it.

❗Note: Child accounts can see group vacations but cannot add, edit, or delete them.

Find upcoming vacations

  • Home: A card lists all upcoming vacations when any exist.
  • Settings: The Vacations section lists all future vacations.
  • Calendar: Vacations appear on the days they cover.