Our family lives in three time zones. How do we share one calendar?
Last updated: 2026-08-29
Put the event on one shared board and let each person's device display the time. Family Magnet stores the moment itself, so whoever opens the calendar sees it in their own time zone: you enter “Saturday 3pm” in California and your family in Shanghai sees Sunday 6am. Nobody converts anything, and nobody has to write “(Beijing time)” in the title.
The hard part isn't the time difference, it's agreeing on it
Families spread across time zones rarely fail because the arithmetic is hard. They fail because someone has to redo it every single time, and then say in the chat which side's clock they meant. One slip and the doctor's appointment, the video call or the airport pickup lands at the wrong hour. Letting each device do the display makes that whole class of mistake disappear.
One event, everyone's own clock
Family Magnet's calendar records a specific moment rather than a fixed string of digits. Every device renders that moment in the time zone it is set to. So nobody in the family converts anything — what each person sees is already “what time it is here”.
Language and currency follow each person too
On that same board, the interface follows each person's device language — fifteen of them, including right-to-left Arabic — and expenses show in the currency of each person's device region. A child abroad reads English and dollars while a parent at home reads Chinese and yuan, and they are looking at the same note and the same expense.
How to do it
1. Create a board and bring the family in
You sign up with an email; everyone else joins with a six-digit code — no signup, no app to install.
2. Enter the event in your own local time
Type the time as it is where you are. Don't convert it into anyone else's zone.
3. They see it in their time
When they open the calendar, the time is already the one on their clock. There is nothing to configure.
4. Ask “are you coming?”
You can ask on the event itself, and family answer with one tap — no separate round of group chat.
Where the limits are
One thing worth knowing: when the gap is large enough to cross midnight, the same event lands on a different calendar day on each side. Sunday 6am in Beijing is Saturday 3pm in California, so the two of you see different dates — that isn't a bug, you really are on different days. Events marked “all day” show no time at all and simply appear on that day for everyone.
Related questions
Does each person have to set their time zone?
No. The display uses the device's own time zone setting, so it follows a family member who travels, moves city, or goes home for a visit.
Do my parents overseas need to install anything?
No. The web version opens in a browser, and joining takes only a six-digit code — no signup, no email address, no app store.
Can it handle different currencies?
Each person sees amounts in the currency of their own device region. To be precise: that is a display setting, not a live exchange-rate conversion.
What if the family speaks different languages?
The interface is available in fifteen languages and follows each person's device language — nobody has to configure it. One board, each person's own language.
More answers
You can try this now
Creating a board takes about a minute. Then send the six-digit code to family in other time zones.
Get started