Calendar invites and gmail - help

[ecfinn]

I'm hoping someone can help and android newb understand what's going on here. One of the primary purposes of a smartphone for me has always been calendar/contacts/email. That's why I had a BB. Due to circumstances beyond my control I had to switch to an Android or Iphone to continue to get my corporate email.

I just got a new Droid 3 this past Friday and one of the things that is frustrating me is how to handle calendar invites. On my BB I would get an invite sent to my yahoo account and when I opened it on the BB (no matter where it was sent from or what address it was sent to) I could accept/decline and manage it on the calendar.

The google universe seems to have completely stumped me in this regard. So I can accept that no invites sent to my yahoo account will show up in my calendar (either phone or gmail.) What I can't understand is why invites sent to my new gmail account and viewed in the gmail app on my android are displayed as emails (and not calendar invites.) Why can't I accept an invite sent to me gmail account on my android phone and have it show up on my google calendar? It seems I can login to gmail on a PC and the same invite gives me the option to answer yes/no/maybe to the question of "Attending". I've set google calendar to not auto-accept invites.

So how do I replicate a seemingly simple request? I want my wife (who still has a BB with yahoo email) and myself with the Droid 3 to be able to send each other calendar invites and accept them on our respective phones.

Thanks,
Eric

 

[ecfinn]

I've been consistently searching on this issue and I still can't figure out what's going on here. I would think this is a pretty standard need for smartphone users so why is it so difficult to figure out or find answers to?

 

[ecfinn]

Is there anyone that can help me with my seemingly simple calendar invite problem in google calendar on my Droid 3? Should I be asking somewhere else? Another forum perhaps?

 

[ecfinn]

Ok, I'll bump this one more time to see if anyone can help me figure out how to respond to calendar invites on my Droid 3 sent to my gmail account.

 

[srkmagnus]

This is a feature that the gmail and calendar app lacks. There is a work around posted on the Google help page that requires you to use the samsung mail app. But from what I read, its quite inconvenient.

 

[ecfinn]

Wow, I was afraid that was the answer... Does that not seem like a major oversight on google's part in terms of the specs for the android OS?

It appears after playing with this for a week that my only option is to either auto-accept all invites so I'll never see them in my email (and therefore never know when new ones come in.) Or I'll have to login to gmail on a pc whenever I get an invite in order to accept it on my google calendar.

Thanks for the answer at least.

 

[alb123]

I was just starting a new thread when I saw your thread, ecfinn, in the "similar threads" box...

UGH! I am dealing with the same exact issue. It is critical that I can send & receive calendar invites due to severe health problems I deal with (liver transplant). My mother and I just switched to HTC Rezounds from BlackBerry Bold 9650's and we're both not diggin' how the calendar works on Android. I have a lot of doctor's appointments and when I enter them into my calendar, I like to zip off an invite to my mother so she is aware of the appointment(s) and can have them in her calendar as well. I should add that we are both using Gmail accounts for this. You're right, ecfinn, the BlackBerry handled this brilliantly...regardless of which email account your dealing with. I would certainly think that Android would work just as well, especially considering we're talking about Gmail accounts!!

I start a new Calendar entry and I put my mother's name in the To: field. She receives an e-mail, with the Calendar event as an attachment and when she opens it up it brings her to her web browser where she can accept it there. VERY inconvenient, as the screen has to be resized (pinch zoom). What I can't understand is: there is an icon on my screen that says "Invites", in the lower right corner, when we are in our Calendar's, but nothing ever appears there. What is that "Invites" for then?!

Also, when she does accept my calendar invite, I don't get a response telling me that she has accepted my invitation. If I go into that calendar entry, I will see if she accepted it or not, but I should be notified. I hate to be one of those guys, "well...my BlackBerry did this, this way..." Trust me, I'm beyond thrilled with my new Rezound and I've only had it for 3 days. Android does 95% of things much better than BlackBerry, but Calendar's isn't one of 'em...My Calendar is so very important to me, I hope they "fix" this soon!

ecfinn, if you find a solution, or an easier/better way of working with Calendar invites, would you please let me know? If I find anything, I will let you know!

ALB

 

[androidmaster1]

hi everyone, i saw a distress signal in the air from this thread (lol)... see if this helps..

1. From a browser login to your gmail account and view your calendar.
2. Click on Settings -->Calendar Settings.
3. Click on Mobile Setup.
4. Enter your mobile number and then click send verification code.
5. Once recieved, enter the verification code and click Finish Setup.

You should now be able to view and accept invites on your phone and not through the browser.

 

[alb123]

Thank you very much!! That did the trick for me...

 

[Mr Salad Dressing]

Fixed, Resolved! This configuration worked for me to be able to receive calendar (.ics) invites from Exchange or Outlook and accept them on my samsung galaxy S II (SGS2) SGH-1777 model (AT&T) using a gmail account or google apps account. The configuration has to do with your calendar configuration.

1) Login online to your gmail account,
2) Go to calendar
3) Go to the calendar settings
3) look for automatically accept invites into your calendar and select yes. This setting does not automatically accept and reply to the meeting organizer but simply allows the invite to show up on your calendar.
4) now save

Now you will see the calendar invite on your phone in your calendar and have the option to accept or reject it.

I have spent at least 16 hours trying to figure this solution out. I hope I save you some time and frustration making your calendar invites work.

 

[lordbah]

No luck here. I followed the steps listed by androidmaster and Mr. Salad Dressing. I sent myself a message with a "When: xx" and "Where: xx". On the desktop using the web browser to gmail.com, the "Add to calendar" sidebar is dsiplayed. On the phone, nothing like that appears in the Gmail app and nothing appears on that day in Calendar. What's the secret?

 

[returnofthefro]

i had to restart my phone in order for the changes to take effect.

 

[samfromlv]

There is a free application open email attached ics files directly in Google Calendar application - Invitation Plugin. Android 4+ (ICS) is required to run this application.
https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...com.cleansoft.invitationplugin&token=0iausXBP

Hope it will help you.