What Countdowns are
Countdowns keep important dates visible without creating a second calendar. Link an existing event when the date already belongs on your calendar, or add a standalone date for a birthday, anniversary, trip or milestone.
The closest active date leads automatically. You can feature one date as the default hero when a farther-away moment matters more.
Add a calendar event
Open the event, open its actions menu and choose Add to Countdowns. Event detail shows Shown in Countdowns after the link is created.
The countdown follows the source event’s title, date, time, end and calendar color. Renaming or rescheduling the event updates the linked countdown after InstaCal refreshes. The event’s normal calendar alerts remain in charge; linking it does not create a duplicate alert.
To unlink it without deleting the event, return to the actions menu and choose Remove from Countdowns.
Add a standalone date
Open Settings → Countdowns, choose Add Date, enter a name and select the date.
- Enable Include a Time when the exact hour matters.
- Enable Repeat Yearly for birthdays and anniversaries.
- Choose a symbol and color, then save.
Standalone dates are local to the device. Edit or remove them from the Countdowns manager.
Manage and feature dates
Open Settings → Countdowns to see the featured date and the upcoming lineup. Use a row’s actions menu to edit a standalone date, remove a countdown or choose Feature in Widgets.
Choose Stop Featuring to let the nearest active date lead again. Featuring changes the Smart Upcoming default; it does not move, rename or otherwise edit the underlying event.
Add and configure the widget
Enter the system’s widget editing mode, search for InstaCal and choose Countdowns. The system offers small, medium, large and extra-large layouts where supported, plus compact Lock Screen families on iPhone.
Small and accessory widgets show one date. Larger families add more upcoming dates while keeping the hero prominent.
Long-press or right-click a placed widget and choose Edit Widget. Leave Featured Date on Smart Upcoming, or choose one saved date for that placement. Different widget instances can pin different dates. If a pinned date is removed, the widget returns to Smart Upcoming.
Open a countdown
Select a calendar-linked countdown to open its exact event. Select a standalone date to open it in the Countdowns manager. Selecting the widget header or an empty state also opens the manager.
Date-only and distant entries use calendar-day counts with labels such as Today and Tomorrow. Near timed dates use relative time, and a linked event reads Now until its calendar end time. Annual dates advance to their next occurrence automatically.
Note: Countdowns, featured choices and per-widget selections are device-local. Configure them separately on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
