Join a call
InstaCal scans an event’s URL, location and notes for supported conference links, including Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, FaceTime, Whereby and Jitsi. A Join button appears in the agenda, event details and eligible notifications, and remains available until the meeting ends.
Select Join to open the installed app or the service’s web link. If no button appears, open event details and confirm the meeting URL is present in a supported field.
Only notifications for events that really have a video call carry the Join Call action, so an ordinary alert no longer offers a button that would do nothing. A departure alert offers Directions instead.
The conference card
Where a provider supplies more than a link, event details show a card headed with the service’s name — Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Webex, or Video Call for anything else. Under the join button it can list a Dial-in number, a SIP address and More ways to join, each with whichever PIN, access code, meeting code, passcode or password came with the meeting.
Add a meeting while you write the event
An event editor on a calendar whose provider offers conferencing shows Add Google Meet, Add Teams Meeting or Add Skype Meeting, according to what that calendar allows — a Microsoft calendar that reports its permitted providers and names none cannot host a call, so nothing is offered.
Connecting a Zoom account adds Add Zoom Meeting to every calendar, whoever the provider is, for any event that does not repeat. When the calendar offers more than one, the control becomes a Video Conference picker with None among the choices. See Zoom Meetings.
A Google Meet link InstaCal added can be taken off again: the editor shows Remove Google Meet link. Microsoft does not allow an online meeting to be switched off once it exists, so no such control appears on an Outlook or Microsoft 365 event.
Open a place
Named places such as a restaurant, gym or studio can show a map card and Get Directions. Generic room names are left as text instead of producing an empty map.
Turn on travel time
On Mac, open Settings → Notifications → Travel Time. On iPhone or iPad, open Settings → Events and Notifications. Enable travel time, choose driving, walking or transit where available, and set any extra buffer.
Event details show the estimated journey and a leave-by time when the location can be resolved.
Receive a leave-by alert
Turn on departure alerts and allow notifications. InstaCal schedules the alert from the event start, current travel estimate and buffer. If the route or start time changes, the plan refreshes with the event.
On iPhone, a departure-aware Live Activity can keep the countdown visible on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island.
Note: Travel estimates require a resolvable place and network access. Always leave extra time for conditions Maps cannot predict.
