How to Access iCloud Calendar with Alexa

Thanks to the recent Alexa update, you can now access your iCloud calendar via Amazon Echo, other Alexa-enabled devices, and the Alexa app. To do this, however, you will need to do some work behind the scenes.

RELATED: How to Link Your Google Calendar to Your Amazon Echo

We showed you how to link your Google Calendar to Alexa, but now we’re back to help iCloud users get the same functionality. To use an iCloud calendar with Alexa, you need three things: two-factor authentication enabled for your Apple account, an app-specific iCloud password for Alexa only, and, naturally, your Alexa device to accept voice input.

Step One: Create an App Password for Your Apple ID

CONNECTED: How to set up two-factor authentication for your Apple ID

We won’t be setting up two-factor authentication on your Apple account, but we have a detailed guide on the subject for those of you who haven’t enabled it yet. Instead, let’s jump right into creating this app-specific password.

Sign in to your Apple account at appleid.apple.com. Confirm your login by entering the two-factor identification code sent to your primary device. Once logged in, find the section in your Apple ID control panel labeled «Security» and click «Create a password» as shown below.

When prompted, provide a password for the Alexa app and click Create.

Apple will give you a randomly generated alphanumeric string in the format xxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx. Highlight and copy the password as we will enter it in the next step of the tutorial.

Step Two: Link Your iCloud Calendar to Alexa

With the app-specific password at hand, it’s time to add your iCloud calendar to Alexa. To do this, you can either open the Alexa app on your mobile device or visit alexa.amazon.com by logging into your Amazon account to access the Alexa dashboard from any web browser. (The latter is easier since we have to paste this password from the first step.)

After entering the dashboard, select «Settings» from the left sidebar and then select «Calendar».

Step Three: Set Up Your Calendars If Needed

If you don’t want to use certain calendars with Alexa, you can uncheck them now.

Then tap Settings > Calendar to return to the previous Calendars menu. Here we need to make a final choice once. From the «Alexa will add new events to this calendar:» drop-down menu, choose which of your iCloud calendars you want Alexa to use as the default for any commands that add events.

With that last detail crossed out, we can start using Alexa with iCloud.

Manage your iCloud calendar with voice commands

RELATED: How to listen to podcasts on your Amazon Echo

Now that the installation is behind, it’s a smooth ride. You can access your iCloud calendar with natural language commands just like any other Alexa feature (like podcast podcasting). While calendar commands can definitely benefit from some flexibility (for example, Alexa can’t answer the question «Alexa, do I have a free weekend?»), there are many more things it can do.

However, you use commands like:

«What’s on my calendar?» Or «What is my next event» to find out what the next scheduled event is.

«What’s on my calendar tomorrow at [время]? Or What’s on my calendar [день]?”, To get an overview of this timeslot.

«Add [событие] on my calendar [день] in [время].», To create an entry like «Add a charity run to my calendar for Tuesday at 2pm».

Although the functionality is basic, it gets the job done and allows you to check (and add to) your calendar using just voice commands.