Tech Tip for International Travelers with iPhones: Floating Time for Your Calendar
07 February 2024
Traveling internationally is an adventure, it can turn your carefully planned calendar into a chaotic mess with all the time zone changes. Have you ever shown up to a virtual meeting only to realize you're hours early or late? Yeah, me too. I have stumbled upon a nifty little feature called "Floating Time" after my recent trip to Mexico and my calendar was a mess.This Floating time zone may become your best friend when traveling and you want 8am on your calendar to be 8am on your calendar no matter where you are..
Don't get too excited, there's a small catch – you can't set this up directly on your iPhone (Why Apple???). You'll need to use your desktop or iCloud via a web browser. But it's worth the extra step.
Step 1: The Setup
Fire up your laptop or computer and head over to iCloud.com. Log in with your Apple ID – the one you always need to remember the password for. Argh
Step 2: Launch the Control Center
Once you're in, click on the Calendar icon.
Step 3: Floating Time
Click on the plus sign to create a new event (or choose an existing one if you're editing). Fill in the details: what's happening, who's involved, and the usual suspects. But here's where the magic happens: look for the "Time Zone" option. Instead of choosing a city or time zone, select "Floating." You can also just edit your already existing calendar item events to Floating such as Shared calendar items.
Step 4: Deploy and Enjoy
Complete the setup for your event and save it. Congratulations! You've just set your event to Floating Time, which means it doesn’t shift with time zones. Your event will always show at the same time on your calendar, no matter if you're sipping a frozen mojito on Isla Mujeres or enjoying sushi in Tokyo.
Bonus Tip: The Ripple Effect
Remember, any event set to Floating Time will stay put across all your Apple devices synced with iCloud. It’s like having a personal assistant who’s got your back.
Floating Time is a game-changer for international iPhone travelers. It keeps your schedule consistent and your mind at ease, so you can focus on the more important stuff. Give it a shot, and your calendar will thank you. I just hope Apple adds this feature to your iPhone calendar app as well as that other frustration of not being able to edit the fixed 9 minute snooze time on the alarm.
Safe travels, and may your meetings always begin at the intended time!