Subscribing between Google and Nextcloud calendars

ℹ️ Support
1

First post on this forum and new to Nextcloud (v18.0.3). Calendar app version 2.0.2.

I’m a long time Google user and will continue as one into the foreseeable future. At this stage, I’m trying to subscribe to my primary Google calendar in Nextcloud, and vice versa with my primary Nextcloud calendar in Google. In both directions, I’m having issues, but more so with the Nextcloud calendar in Google.

Subscribe to Google calendar in Nextcloud

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This has gone well except for past recurring events, which I understand is a current issue Long repeating events not correct shown on web-calender, if they begin before current view

Subscribe to Nextcloud calendar in Google

screenshot.240

I should be seeing Nextcloud calendar events in Google calendar, but I’m not seeing anything. Have I missed something?

2

Nextcloud refreshes calendar subscriptions every week (by default, can be changed), and Google Calendar refreshes calendar subscriptions every 24 hours or so, did you wait that long ?

3

Well, that is interesting! Based on the default refresh rates for both Google and Nextcloud, this would seem to suggest that calendar subscriptions are a pretty useless feature for dynamic calendars as changes to ‘near events’ (within a week for calendars subscribed in Nextcloud, and within a day for calendars subscribed in Google) would not be picked up. No biggie, as long as I can understand what I’m observing. So, a little test…

When I set up the initial subscription of the Google calendar, I can see pre-existing events on the subscribed calendar. If I then add an event on the Google calendar, that event does not appear on the subscribed calendar in Nextcloud. That ties in with what you’re saying. I didn’t have the patience to wait a week to find out, but removing and readding the subscribed calendar did make the new event appear.

No, I haven’t waited that long yet. The difference here though is that when I set up the initial subscription of the Nextcloud calendar, I can’t see pre-existing events on the subscribed calendar. I would have hoped to at least see these; if only to serve as some visual feedback that the subscription worked. Or do I have to wait 24 hours to see those as well?

Google Calendar and Nextcloud apps on Android

To understand the observed behaviour for the phone apps, I’ve unsubscribed calendars in the web applications (on the desktop). This is what I’m observing:

An event added to the Nextcloud app calendar appears in the Nextcloud web calendar (on the desktop). Similarly, for an event added to the Google calendar app. However, those events do not appear in the other app’s calendar.

After a refresh in DAVx5, events from the Nextcloud app calendar do appear in the Google calendar app, but not in the Google web calendar. The reverse is not true. Events from the Google calendar app do not appear in the Nextcloud app calendar.

Based on this observation, I’d have to conclude the following:

  1. Of the four calendar views (Google and Nextcloud web and app calendars), the most accurate view will be from the Google calendar app (with DAVx5 installed) on the smartphone.

  2. If, for whatever reason, I had to rely on both Google and Nextcloud calendars on the smartphone, the only way to accurately schedule a Nextcloud calendar event without doubling-up appointments is to have the Google calendar app open at the same time to look for free time slots.

  3. Even with a Google calendar subscription enabled in the Nextcloud web calendar, which would make Google calendar events appear in Nextcloud app calendar on the smartphone, there is no guarantee that appointment overlaps can be avoided due to the refresh rate (default of 1 week) on the subscribed calendar.

Please let me know if there’s something wrong with my reasoning.

4

There’s no such thing as a Nextcloud calendar app on smartphones. There’s only apps to display your calendar (Google Calendar, Etar, Android Stock Calendar app, SImple Calendar Pro…) and apps to provide calendar data (Google Play Services that syncs with your Google Calendar account, and DAVx5 that syncs with Nextcloud and other CalDAV servers).

5

Yes, I had a problem with terminology when I wrote my subsequent post. I used Google Calendar app and Nextcloud app calendar, a subtle, but significant difference that wasn’t clear enough now I think about it. Nextcloud app calendar, was meant to signify ‘the calendar view in the Nextcloud app’.

This is a useful distinction. Thank you. I assume the Nextcloud app falls in the former category as well.

6

I now have and still can’t see any events on the subscribed Nextcloud calendar in Google Calender. Either, I’ve done something wrong, or there is an issue.

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7

@tcit Scratch everything I’ve said above. I must have sounded like a deranged madman. Turns out I was on 2.0.2 of the Nextcloud app, which had a calendar view. As of tonight, I’m on 3.11.0 of the Nextcloud app, which, surprise! surprise! doesn’t have a calendar view. This makes scheduling a lot clearer. Please confirm that the following now make sense?

‘Don’t bother about reciprocally sharing web calendars. With DAVx5 operating in the background, the Google calendar app will show merged events from both Google and Nextcloud calendars. This merged view in the Google calendar app is what’s used to avoid conflicts when scheduling an event on either Google or Nextcloud web calendars’

8

I don’t understand this, can anyone translate? How can I get my Nextcloud Calendar events to show up on my Google Calendar?

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9

I agree. This doesn’t solve the issue of not being able to see, from the web, my Nextcloud calendar events in my Google Calendar. I’m trying to move away from using my Google Calendar, but would like to be able to both have my wife see my Nextcloud calendar events in her Google Calendar, and for me to see her Google Calendar events in my Nextcloud calendar. Both directions seem a bit flawed at the moment.

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