Short answer
A school calendar feed is a private link (often ending in .ics or starting with webcal://) that shares the dates on your school calendar in a standard format any calendar app can read. Canvas, Schoology, Blackboard, Brightspace, Moodle and most other school platforms give every student one. It shows due dates, but not grades or whether you’ve submitted, and anyone with the link can read it, so keep it private.
Almost every learning platform has a page where it offers to put your schedule into “your calendar app”. Behind that button is a calendar feed: one web address that always serves your current list of dates. Calendar apps, and reminder apps like Nudge, subscribe to it and check it again over time.
What’s inside a calendar feed
The feed uses the iCalendar format, the same one Apple Calendar, Google Calendar and Outlook use to share events. For each dated item it typically includes:
- a title, such as the assignment or quiz name, often with the course name;
- the due date and time (or the event’s start and end);
- sometimes a description and a link back to the item on your school’s site.
What it doesn’t include matters just as much: no grades, no submission status, and nothing without a date. That’s why any app built on a feed, including Nudge, needs you to mark work done after you hand it in.
https, webcal, iCal, .ics: are they different?
No. iCal, iCalendar and .ics are names for the same format. A link that starts with webcal:// is the same address as its https:// version; the different start just tells your phone to subscribe rather than download a one-time file. Nudge accepts both.
Is it safe?
A feed link has a long random token in it instead of a password. That makes it convenient, and also means anyone who gets the link can read what’s on it. Some sensible rules:
- Only paste it into apps you trust, and never post it in a group chat, a forum or a screenshot.
- It can’t be used to sign in to your school account, see grades, or submit or change work.
- Never give an app your school password to “connect” your calendar. A feed link is all a reminder app needs.
Nudge reads the feed from your phone and never signs in to your school. Without an account, the link stays on your device. If you choose to sign in, Nudge saves the link to your account so it can restore your setup on a new phone; deleting your account deletes it. The Nudge privacy policy has the details.
Where to find yours
| Platform | Where the link is |
|---|---|
| Canvas | Calendar Feed |
| Schoology | iCal link |
| Blackboard | Share Calendar |
| Brightspace (D2L) | D2L calendar feed |
| Moodle | Export calendar |
| Sakai | Publish (private) |
| ManageBac | Subscribe to Calendar |
| Veracross | Class Assignments |
| Blackbaud (myschoolapp) | myschoolapp |
Using something else? Open your school’s calendar in a browser and look for Subscribe, Export, iCal or Calendar Feed. If the link ends in .ics, or starts with webcal://, Nudge can almost certainly read it.
Questions
What is a school calendar feed?
A private web link, usually ending in .ics or starting with webcal://, that shares the dates on your school calendar (assignments, quizzes, exams and events) in the standard iCalendar format any calendar app can read. Apps that subscribe to it check it again over time, so new and moved due dates come through.
Is it safe to share my calendar feed link?
Treat it like a key to your calendar. Anyone with the link can read the dates and titles on it without a password, so only paste it into apps you trust and never post it. It can’t be used to sign in to your school account, see grades, or submit or change work.
Is an iCal link the same as an .ics link or a webcal link?
Yes. iCal, iCalendar and .ics all describe the same format. webcal:// is the same link with a different start that tells calendar apps to subscribe instead of downloading a one-time file.
Does Google Classroom have a calendar feed?
Google Classroom puts due dates on a Google Calendar, but school Google accounts usually hide that calendar’s private address, so apps like Nudge can’t subscribe to it.
Let Pip keep watch.
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