EventKit

Accessing different types of calendars

Accessing the array of calendars

To access the array of EKCalendars, we use the calendarsForEntityType method:

Swift

let calendarsArray = eventStore.calendarsForEntityType(EKEntityType.Event) as! [EKCalendar]

Iterating through calendars

Just use a simple for loop:

Swift

for calendar in calendarsArray{
    //...
}

Accessing the calendar title and color

Swift

let calendarColor = UIColor(CGColor: calendar.CGColor)
let calendarTitle = calendar.title

Objective-C

UIColor *calendarColor = [UIColor initWithCGColor: calendar.CGColor];
NSString *calendarTitle = calendar.title;

Requesting Permission

Your app can’t access your reminders and your calendar without permission. Instead, it must show an alert to user, requesting him/her to grant access to events for the app.

To get started, import the EventKit framework:

Swift

import EventKit

Objective-C

#import <EventKit/EventKit.h>

Making an EKEventStore

Then, we make an EKEventStore object. This is the object from which we can access calendar and reminders data:

Swift

let eventStore = EKEventStore()

Objective-C

EKEventStore *eventStore = [[EKEventStore alloc] init];

Note

Making an `EKEventStore` object every time we need to access calendar is not efficient. Try to make it once and use it everywhere in your code.

Checking Availability

Availability has three different status: Authorized, Denied and Not Determined. Not Determined means the app needs to grant access.

To check availability, we use authorizationStatusForEntityType() method of the EKEventStore object:

Swift

switch EKEventStore.authorizationStatusForEntityType(EKEntityTypeEvent){
    case .Authorized: //...
    case .Denied: //...
    case .NotDetermined: //...
    default: break
}

Objective-C

switch ([EKEventStore authorizationStatusForEntityType:EKEntityTypeEvent]){
    case EKAuthorizationStatus.Authorized:
        //...
        break;
    case EKAuthorizationStatus.Denied:
        //...
        break;
    case EKAuthorizationStatus.NotDetermined:
        //...
        break;
    default:
        break;
}

Requesting Permission

Put the following code in NotDetermined case:

Swift

eventStore.requestAccessToEntityType(EKEntityTypeEvent, completion: { [weak self] (userGrantedAccess, _) -> Void in
    if userGrantedAccess{
        //access calendar
    }
}

Adding an event

Creating the event object

Swift

var event = EKEvent(eventStore: eventStore)

Objective-C

EKEvent *event = [EKEvent initWithEventStore:eventStore];

Setting related calendar, title and dates

Swift

event.calendar = calendar
event.title = "Event Title"
event.startDate = startDate //assuming startDate is a valid NSDate object
event.endDate = endDate //assuming endDate is a valid NSDate object

Adding event to calendar

Swift

try {
    do eventStore.saveEvent(event, span: EKSpan.ThisEvent)
} catch let error as NSError {
    //error
}

Objective-C

NSError *error;
BOOL *result = [eventStore saveEvent:event span:EKSpanThisEvent error:&error];
if (result == NO){
    //error
}