---
title: Creating events and reminders
framework: eventkit
role: article
role_heading: Article
path: eventkit/creating-events-and-reminders
---

# Creating events and reminders

Create and modify events and reminders in a person’s database.

## Overview

Overview Once you have permission to access a person’s Calendar and Reminder data, you can create, display, and edit events and reminders. Create Events Create a new event with the init(eventStore:) method of the EKEvent class. You can edit the details of a new event or an event you previously fetched from the Calendar database by setting the event’s corresponding properties. Some of the details you can edit include: The event’s title with the title property. The event’s start and end dates with the startDate and endDate properties. The calendar with which the event is associated with the calendar property. The alarms associated with the event with the alarms property (see “Setting an alarm” for more details). The event’s recurrence rule, if it is a repeating event, with the recurrenceRules property (see “Creating a recurring event” for more details). note: In iOS, you have the option of letting users modify event data with the event view controllers provided in the EventKit UI framework. For information on how to use these event view controllers, see EventKit UI. Save and Delete Events important: If your app modifies a user’s Calendar database, it must get confirmation from the user before doing so. An app should never modify the Calendar database without specific instruction from the user. Save your changes to the Calendar database with the EKEventStore method save(_:span:commit:). If you want to remove an event from the Calendar database, use the EKEventStore method remove(_:span:commit:). Whether you are saving or removing an event, implementing the respective method automatically syncs your changes with the calendar the event belongs to (CalDAV, Exchange, and so on). If you are saving a recurring event, your changes can apply to all future occurrences of the event by specifying EKSpan.futureEvents for the span parameter of the save(_:span:commit:) method. Likewise, you can remove all future occurrences of an event by specifying EKSpan.futureEvents for the span parameter of the remove(_:span:commit:) method. note: If you pass NO to the commit parameter, make sure that you later invoke the commit() method to permanently save your changes. Create Reminders Reminders are tasks that may be tied to a specific time or location. They are similar to calendar events, but can be marked complete and may not necessarily span an exact period of time. Because EKReminder inherits from EKCalendarItem, you can perform the same methods on a reminder as you would on an event, such as adding an alarm with addAlarm(_:) or setting a recurrence rule with addRecurrenceRule(_:). important: If your iOS app links on macOS and you need to access Reminders data, be sure to include the NSRemindersUsageDescription key in your Info.plist file. You can create reminders using the init(eventStore:) class method. The title and calendar properties are required. The calendar for a reminder is the list with which it is grouped. Like events, reminders can trigger time-based or location-based alarms to alert the user of a certain task. Read “Setting an Alarm” for more information on how to attach alarms to calendar items. Save and Delete Reminders To save a reminder to the Calendar database, call the save(_:commit:) method. To remove an event, call the remove(_:commit:) method. The title and calendars properties must explicitly be set before you save the reminder. note: Just like when saving or removing events, make sure that if you pass NO to the commit parameter, you later invoke the commit() method to save your changes. Edit Reminders To associate a start date or due date with a reminder, use the startDateComponents and dueDateComponents properties. To complete a reminder, set the completed property to YES, which automatically sets completionDate to the current date. important: If your app modifies a user’s Calendar database, it must get confirmation from the user before doing so. An app should never modify the Calendar database without specific instruction from the user.

## See Also

### Events and reminders

- [Retrieving events and reminders](eventkit/retrieving-events-and-reminders.md)
- [Updating with notifications](eventkit/updating-with-notifications.md)
- [Managing location-based reminders](eventkit/managing-location-based-reminders.md)
- [EKEvent](eventkit/ekevent.md)
- [EKReminder](eventkit/ekreminder.md)