How do I get Google Calendar to work (and sync) with my iPad?
Downloading and installing the Google Calendar app is extremely simple via the App Store. However, at the time of writing, Google haven’t made a dedicated iPad version of their Calendar app, which means you’ll have to use the ‘iPhone Only’ app, which doesn’t scale properly on an iPad. (We have a separate article explaining how to get iPad apps to run on iPhones, and vice versa.)
Thankfully there’s a way of adding your Google account and calendar to your iPad, enabling you to synchronise your Google Calendar with the iPad’s default Calendar app.
It’s also possible, of course, to sync Google Calendar with your iPhone.
How to sync Google Calendar with Apple Calendar
Here are the steps to sync your Google Calendar with the Calendar app that comes on your iPad:
Open the Settings app on your iPad
Navigate to ‘Mail, Contacts, Calendars’ and tap on ‘Add Account’. From the options presented, choose ‘Google’.
Enter your Google email address and password (if you have 2-Step verification, you’ll need to enter a separate password) and touch ‘Next’.
You will now be presented with the option to sync emails, contacts, calendar events and notes with your Google account. If you only want to sync your Google Calendar, simply turn off the other listed services.
Note: If you previously added a Google Sync Exchange account, you might need to remove it in order for the calendar to work properly.
You’re good to go! Open the Apple Calendar app on your iPad and you’ll now be able to see your Google Calendar events. Here you’ll be able to customise what you wish to see and change the view and customise which accounts are displayed by tapping the ‘Calendars’ option at the bottom of the Apple Calendar app.
It should be noted that a few Google Calendar features won’t work in the in-built Calendar app, such as email notifications for events, creating new Google calendars and Room Scheduler.
Read next: Best free iPad apps of 2016