The Calendar app on your iPhone is one of the best apps to manage your everyday life. Whether you have a lot of meetings or want to keep track of your events, Calendar has all the tools you need and more.

Of course, you’ll need to know how to use the app to its full capacity. If you want to get the most out of Calendar on your iPhone, here are some tips to get you started.

1. Ask Siri to Add Calendar Events

The Calendar app is so easy to use that adding a new event is just as easy as taping your iPhone a few times, but there’s an even faster way to do it. If you're just getting started with the Calendar app on your iPhone, you probably don't know that you can ask Siri to add or change calendar events without even touching your iPhone.

All you need to do is activate Siri, either by saying, “Hey, Siri,” or by long-pressing the side button. Then say something like, “add an event to my calendar.” Siri will then ask you for the name and date of the event. And that’s it; next time you check your Calendar app, you'll see the event on the date you chose.

2. Add Birthdays to Your Contacts

Sure there are many great calendar apps for iPhone, but the first-party Calendar app works really great with other iPhone apps from the get-go. For instance, with the Calendar app, you won’t have to worry about forgetting another birthday ever again. You can easily add birthdays to your most important contacts like this:

  1. Go to your Contacts.
  2. Search for the contact you want.
  3. Tap Edit in the top right corner of your screen.
  4. Scroll down and select add birthday.
  5. Set the date and then tap Done in the top right corner.

After you repeat the same steps with all the contacts you want, their birthdays will automatically appear on your calendar.

Do you want to take it one step further? Just follow the steps above, and instead of adding a birthday, try using add a date. Then select or create your own label and set the date. That way, you won’t forget about anniversaries or other important events ever again.

3. Set Alerts and Reminders

If you aren’t used to looking at your calendar every day, your iPhone can still remind you of important events before they happen.

First, you'll need to create a new event. Then, to set a reminder, you need to follow these steps:

  1. Select the event you want.
  2. Tap Edit in the top right corner of your screen.
  3. Scroll down and tap Alert.
  4. Select when you want to receive the alert.

If you feel like you need more than one reminder, consider setting a Second Alert and a different time, so you’ll get reminded a couple of times before the event. Unfortunately, the Calendar app only adds up to two alerts, but if you want more consistent reminders, you also need to start mastering the Reminders app on your iPhone.

4. Change How You View Your Calendar

Believe it or not, there are many ways to view your Calendar app. The Calendar app can show you a day, week, month, or year view of your calendar in an instant. It's even possible to see a list of your upcoming events on any day. This is what you need to do:

To view the whole year, all you need to do is tap the year in the top left corner of your screen. Then, select any month to zoom in and get a monthly view.

If you want to zoom in even more and see all your daily events, you'll have to tap any day, and you'll immediately go to the daily view. Also, try rotating your iPhone sideways to get a weekly view.

Last but not least, tap the list button near the top of the screen to see a list of all the upcoming events.

And remember that if you want to go back to the present day, just tap Today in the bottom left corner of your screen.

5. Organize Your Events by Dragging Them

If you used the wrong date for any of your events, you could quickly move it to the correct day with just one finger.

All you need to do is press and hold any event on your calendar and move it around to the time you want. If you want to move your event to a different day, tap the date you want near the top of your screen. Then, release the event on the day and time you want.

And, if you got the year or month wrong, just tap month or year in the top left corner of your screen while still holding the event. Then, select the correct year/month/day, and release the event.

6. Share a Calendar With Friends and Family

You don’t have to use your calendar alone. You can share any iCloud calendar with friends, family, or coworkers and let them see and interact with your events. This is how:

  1. Open the Calendar app.
  2. Tap Calendars at the bottom of your screen.
  3. Select the calendar you want to share and tap the i icon to the right of the calendar.
  4. Tap Add Person.
  5. Select who you want to share your calendar with.
  6. Tap Add.

Depending on what you choose, the other person will be able to create or change events on your calendar. If you don't want that, it's possible to share a read-only version of your calendar too.

And if you don’t want to share your calendar with any person, just repeat the steps above, select the person’s name, and then toggle Allow Editing off or select Stop Sharing.

7. Start Your Week Whenever You Want

Some people consider Monday to be the beginning of the week, while others think Sunday is the correct answer.

However, you don’t need to follow these conventional rules with the Calendar app or your iPhone. The Calendar app lets you start your week with any day you want. This is how:

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Scroll down and select Calendar.
  3. Scroll down again and tap Start Week On.
  4. Select the day you want.

Keep in mind that this will only change the Calendar settings, and the other apps will keep using the regular system settings.

If you want to change the system settings, open the Settings app and go to General > Language & Region > First Day of Week, and select the day you want.

Master Your iPhone’s Calendar

Now it’s your turn. These are just some tips for you to make the most out of the Calendar app on your iPhone. Of course, there are many other tips that you'll learn down the road.

However, this is only the beginning; there are many other apps on your iPhone that you can take advantage of if you want to make the most out of your iPhone.