If you’ve ever fumbled around with your phone while trying to add an upcoming event to your calendar, this tip should be a lifesaver.
If This Then That, a popular trigger-based service, can help you add events to Google Calendar by sending a text message to a dedicated number. This was incredibly useful before Google released a dedicated iOS Calendar app, but it can still be easier than opening that app on its own.
First, go to My Recipes on the top bar of IFTTT. Then select Create a Recipe. You’ll be prompted to set up your trigger. In this case, select SMS. You’ll then be asked to active your phone, and IFTTT will send your phone an activation pin from a designated number (think of this as your digital butler’s number).
IFTTT will then ask you to set up a trigger phrase. For this purpose, you should select something like GCal, which means every time you text #Gcal to this number, you’ll be setting off the Gcal trigger you’re about to set up.
Then you’ll be asked to pick your Then trigger, for which you’ll select the Google Calendar thumbnail. IFTTT will ask to access your Google account, which you should activate. Once this trigger is good to go, you can text any jumbled phrase, like “#Gcal Dinner with Anna May 7 8pm,” and IFTTT will put the event into your Google Calendar.
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