Google Calendar ends support for SMS alerts
If you’re a Google Calendar user and you currently rely on the service’s text message notifications to keep your life in order, it’s time to start rethinking your scheduling habits – because Google is about to flick the power switch on those alerts for most users. As of June 27, Google Calendar will no longer send SMS notifications of upcoming events, and your choice of notification will be reduced to an email, a popup dialog on your desktop, or a smartphone or tablet notification. Here’s what you need to know.
Google says that, in 2015, SMS notifications of upcoming diary engagements are no longer needed. It’s true that you no longer even need an internet connection on your phone or tablet in order to receive alerts.
With Google’s announcement, if you currently use SMS notifications then you’ll instead see pop-up notifications on your mobile or desktop device. These only function on mobile devices if you have a calendar app installed – either Google Calendar or a rival app native to your device – and on desktop devices if you have the web version of Google Calendar running in your browser.
If you’re not already a smartphone user, the transition is less simple – and now might be the time to make the move to a smartphone. The alternative is to manually switch your SMS notifications out for email alerts within the settings for individual events, both recurring ones and those that you create going forward. But bear in mind that, without an internet-connected smartphone, you won’t have access to email notifications of event alterations while you’re on the move.
If you are using a corporate Google account designed for education, government or business, you’re safe – for now, support continues for SMS notifications for users of these services. But if you rely on a personal account to power your Google Calendar scheduling, you’ll need to adapt to the change in time for the June 27 switchover.
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