Events aren't syncing between your devices

Applies to: Timepage on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

If Timepage shows different events on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, the devices aren’t set up with the same calendars. Timepage doesn’t store your events itself — it displays whatever your device’s calendar accounts provide, so the fix is to make those accounts, and the calendars they show, match on every device. Work through the checks below in order.

What a calendar account is

A calendar account is a service your device signs in to for its calendars — iCloud, Google, Outlook, Exchange, or similar. A single account can hold several calendars (for example, separate “Work” and “Personal” calendars under one Google account). Timepage reads these accounts through your device rather than connecting to them directly, so an account has to be present and switched on for a device before any of its events can show up in Timepage there.

Match your calendar accounts on every device

If you use more than one device — say an iPhone and an iPad — each one needs an identical set of calendar accounts. If your Google account is set up on your iPhone but not your iPad, its events won’t appear on the iPad.

The easiest way to check is to open Settings > Apps > Calendar > Calendar Accounts on all of your devices side by side and confirm they match. Tap each account you want to use and make sure Calendars is turned on.

If a device is missing an account, tap Add Account in Calendar Accounts settings and add it. Then confirm the same accounts — iCloud, Google, and any others you use — are listed and enabled on every device.

Match your visible calendars

Once your accounts are identical, check that the same calendars are set to visible on each device. A calendar that’s hidden on one device but shown on another is the most common reason events look “missing.”

Put your devices next to each other and open Timepage > Menu > Calendars > Setup Calendars on each. Make sure the list of ticked (visible) calendars is the same everywhere.

Give it time to sync

Timepage syncs your data as often as your device does. iCloud and Google are usually near-instant; Exchange and some other services can take a few minutes, so if your devices fetch on different schedules it may take a little while for everything to match.

Here’s how to check or speed up how often a device fetches new data:

1. On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Apps > Calendar > Calendar Accounts > Fetch New Data.
2. Where it’s available, turn on Push — it’s the fastest, and services like iCloud and Gmail support it.
3. Set the Fetch schedule for accounts that don’t support Push. Some Outlook and Exchange setups only allow Fetch, and the device will then check for updates at the interval you choose.

Check the Apple Calendar app

Timepage relies on Apple’s calendar system rather than talking to your accounts directly, so if something is wrong upstream it shows up in Timepage too. Open the built-in Calendar app on both devices and confirm the events appear there. If they’re missing from Apple’s Calendar app as well, the problem is with the calendar provider (iCloud, Google, Exchange, and so on), not Timepage.

Still stuck?

If you’ve worked through every step and events still differ, email us at timepage@bonobolabs.com. Screenshots from both devices help us most, specifically:

• Settings > Apps > Calendar > Calendar Accounts on both devices
• Timepage > Menu > Calendars > Setup Calendars on both devices

Related:

• Set up your calendars
• Getting Timepage support