Adding Emily to your iCloud calendar
Prerequisites: an Emily account (start a free trial at emily.whiterabbitfoundry.com), an Apple Account with iCloud Calendar switched on, and two-factor authentication enabled. Apple requires two-factor authentication before it will issue an app-specific password.
Apple does not offer a "sign in with Apple" option for calendar access, so you create a dedicated password that works only for this connection. Your normal Apple password is never used and never reaches us.
- Go to account.apple.com and sign in.
- Under Sign-In & Security, choose App-Specific Passwords.
- Create a new password and give it a name you will recognise, such as "Emily calendar".
- Copy the password Apple shows you. It is displayed once.
- Open Emily's Calendars & scheduling settings - you will be asked to sign in first if you are not already - then select Apple iCloud.
- Enter your iCloud email address and paste the app-specific password.
- Select Connect. Your iCloud account appears in Emily's settings, confirming the connection.
Your app-specific password is encrypted before it is stored and is used only to reach your calendar. Trouble connecting? See troubleshooting below, or email help@emily-wrf.com.
Using Emily with Apple iCloud
Ask Emily in plain English, in the dashboard chat or by email. Each feature and its prerequisites:
| Feature | What to say | Prerequisites |
|---|---|---|
| Arrange a meeting with someone | "Find 30 minutes with alex@example.com next week" | iCloud connected |
| See your day or week | "What's on this week?" | iCloud connected |
| Block time out | "Block Friday afternoon for focus time" | iCloud connected |
| Add a video link to a meeting | "Book a call with Sam on Thursday and add a Zoom link" | iCloud connected, plus Zoom or Microsoft connected for the link |
| Cancel a meeting | "Cancel my 3pm tomorrow" | iCloud connected |
| Mirror busy time to another calendar | "Keep my work calendar in sync with my personal one" | Two calendars connected |
Access used: the app-specific password gives Emily calendar access over CalDAV, which she uses to read your availability and to create, update and cancel the events you ask for. It does not give access to iCloud Mail, Photos, Drive, Contacts or anything else in your Apple account, and it can be revoked by you at any time without changing your Apple password.
Two differences from Google and Microsoft: Apple has no built-in video meeting service, so a meeting on your iCloud calendar takes its link from Zoom or Microsoft Teams if you have one connected, or from a link Emily hosts. And because iCloud handles changes differently, rescheduling an existing iCloud event is more limited than on the other providers. If a change cannot be made in place, Emily will tell you rather than risk losing the guest list.
Removing Emily from your iCloud calendar
You can remove the connection from either side, and both fully revoke access:
- From Emily: Settings → Calendars & scheduling → Disconnect beside your iCloud account.
- From Apple: go to account.apple.com → Sign-In & Security → App-Specific Passwords, and revoke the password you created for Emily.
What happens when you disconnect:
- Emily's access to your calendar ends immediately.
- Your stored app-specific password is deleted from our systems.
- Emily can no longer see your availability or create events. Asking her to arrange a meeting will prompt you to reconnect.
- Events Emily already created remain in your calendar and invitations already sent keep working. Delete them in your calendar app if you no longer want them.
- Any calendar mirroring you set up stops. Copies already written to the other calendar remain until you remove them.
- We keep no copy of your calendar contents after disconnection.
Revoking the app-specific password in your Apple account is worth doing as well as disconnecting in Emily, so the credential can never be used again from anywhere.
To delete your Emily account and all associated data, email Emily "delete my account", or contact help@emily-wrf.com.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Resolution |
|---|---|
| The password is rejected | Make sure you pasted the app-specific password rather than your normal Apple password, and that you copied all of it including the hyphens. |
| No App-Specific Passwords option in your Apple account | Apple only offers it once two-factor authentication is switched on. Enable it, then create the password. |
| Connection stopped working | Changing your Apple password or revoking the app-specific password ends the connection. Create a new one and reconnect in Settings. |
| Emily cannot find your calendar | Check iCloud Calendar is switched on for your Apple Account, then disconnect and reconnect. |
| No video link on a meeting | Apple has no built-in video service. Connect Zoom or Microsoft, or ask Emily for a link she hosts. |
| Events appear at the wrong time | Check your timezone in Emily. Tell her "set my timezone to London" or update it in Settings. |
| Can't sign in | Email help@emily-wrf.com and we will respond promptly. |