A family calendar for different time zones
Written by the makers of Somiya, one of the apps on this page. It says what Somiya does, what other calendars do and when a free calendar is enough.
A father in Berlin, a mother in Lisbon, a child at a grandparent’s home in Kyiv. A calendar that shows “18:00” without saying whose 18:00 it is causes missed calls. This page explains what a family calendar must do to avoid that, and which apps do it.
What a good family calendar does across time zones
- It stores each event once, with its timezone. “Call with grandmother, 18:00 Kyiv” is one event. It is not three copies that drift apart.
- It shows the event in the viewer’s own local time. Each person sees the hour on their own clock and does no maths.
- It sends the reminder at the right local hour. A reminder “one hour before” must count from the receiver’s clock, not from the clock of whoever typed the event.
- It does not wake anyone. A reminder for a call at 09:00 in Berlin should not arrive at 03:00 for someone in New York. Quiet hours handle this.
- It follows a person who travels. When a parent lands in a new country, the calendar changes with the phone’s timezone.
What Somiya does
- One event, each person’s own time. Every event is stored once. Each family member sees it in the timezone of their own phone.
- Reminders arrive in each person’s local time. A task reminder goes to the person assigned, not only to the person who typed it.
- Quiet hours are set per person and counted in that person’s timezone. If a reminder would fall inside them, it is not sent; Somiya does not delay it, because a reminder after the event is worse than silence.
- Events also appear in the iPhone Calendar app (more about the calendar), next to work and school, so a parent who travels sees the family hour beside everything else.
What other calendars do
| App | Time zones |
|---|---|
| Google Calendar (family group) | Supports a timezone on each event and shows it in the viewer’s zone. Free, iPhone and Android. A calendar only, with no shared tasks that have an owner. |
| Apple Calendar (Family Sharing) | Supports a timezone on each event after you turn on time zone support (Time Zone Override on iPhone). Free, Apple devices only. |
| Cozi, TimeTree, FamilyWall | Shared calendars. We have not found timezone behaviour described in their public help pages, so test one event across two phones before you rely on it. |
A simple test works for any app: add an event for 18:00 in another city while your phone is set to your own timezone, and check what the other phone shows.
When a free calendar is enough
If the whole family is on Google accounts, a Google family group calendar handles time zones well and costs nothing. Somiya is for families who also want shared tasks and lists, reminders to the person assigned, quiet hours and photo capture, and who are all on iPhone.
When Somiya is the wrong choice
- Anyone in the family uses Android or needs a web app. Somiya is iPhone-only today.
- You need it free. There is a 14-day trial, then $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year for up to 8 people.
Also read: shared family calendar app · best family organizer apps.
Questions
How does a family calendar handle different time zones?
A good one stores each event once with its timezone and shows it to each person in the local time of their own phone. Somiya does this, and it sends reminders in the receiver’s local time.
Will a reminder wake someone in another country?
Not if quiet hours are set. In Somiya, quiet hours are counted in each person’s own timezone, and a reminder that falls inside them is not sent.
What happens when a parent travels?
The calendar follows the timezone of the phone. After the phone changes timezone, events show in the new local time.
Is there a free family calendar that handles time zones?
Yes. Google Calendar family groups support a timezone on each event and are free on iPhone and Android. It is a calendar only.
Does Somiya work on Android?
No. Somiya is iPhone-only today.