Calendar Spam Is The Latest Problem For iOS Users: Here's How To Stop The Annoying iPhone And iPad Notifications

The rising levels of calendar spam being received by iPhone and iPad users is becoming increasingly annoying, especially with the heightened number of such notifications that were sent out over the Black Friday shopping holiday.

This new form of spam, the latest in a series of problems that iOS users are experiencing, is made possible by the fact that calendar invites can be sent out by unauthenticated users directly to iOS devices. Fortunately, there are several methods that iPhone and iPad users can try to stop receiving the annoying calendar spam.

Calendar Spam For iPhone, iPad Users

Users who are on the receiving end of calendar spam will get a bubble alert on the Calendar app of their iOS device, along with a message in their inbox and, depending on the settings of the iPhone or iPad, a pop-up notification.

The calendar invites that the spammers are abusing to send out advertisements for products are quick to deal with, but the process can be considered tiresome. The increase in spam activity through the iOS calendar has made the problem even more annoying, and if the rise continues it could become painful for iPhone and iPad users to have to deal with the spam.

How To Stop Receiving Calendar Spam, Method 1: Disable The App

There are a few methods that are available to iPhone and iPad users to prevent themselves from receiving calendar spam.

The first method is to disable the Calendar app, which can be done so by going to the iCloud option under the iOS device's Settings. From there, the app can be disabled to prevent calendar spam from reaching the device.

Unfortunately, for users who are using the iOS Calendar for personal or business purposes, this is not a viable option as it will disable all activity on the app.

How To Stop Receiving Calendar Spam, Method 2: Create A Spam Calendar

The second method will require users to create a throwaway calendar where all the spam will be directed. To do so, users will need to open the app and tap the Calendars button at the bottom, and then the Edit option. The Add Calendars options will appear, which the user should then select to create a new calendar.

After creating the calendar, users should select the spam invitation and choose to move it to the newly created calendar. The user should then tap the Calendars button, tap the "i" button next to the created calendar where the spam was moved, and then delete that calendar.

This deletes the spam from the device, and most importantly, does not require the user to respond to the spam calendar invite. If a user responds to the invite by declining it, spammers will know that the account is active, which means that many more spam calendar invites will be incoming. However, this will require users to do the method for each source of spam.

How To Stop Receiving Calendar Spam, Method 3: Change The Calendar Settings On iCloud

For the third method, users will need to log in to their iCloud account on a browser and access the Calendar settings from there. Users should then select to receive calendar invites as emails sent to their inbox as opposed to in-app notifications.

This would make it easier for users to ignore the spam as they will no longer appear as notifications on the iPhone or iPad. In addition, if the email inbox where the spam invites are being directed to has the appropriate filter, the invitations can be automatically moved to the spam folder or deleted.