Shiftpup guide · October 14, 2026

How to put your class timetable and syllabus dates in your calendar

Treat them differently: a timetable is a week that repeats, and a syllabus is a list of one-off dates. Add one week of classes and set each to repeat until the last day of term, then add every deadline and exam as its own event. Shiftpup for iPhone reads a photo or screenshot of either on your phone and adds the events to Apple Calendar; it doesn't set anything to repeat, so you turn on Repeat in Calendar afterwards.

First, look for a calendar link

Many schools, colleges and universities publish timetables as a calendar subscription. If your student portal offers one, subscribe to it: it updates when a room or a time changes, and no photo can do that. Apple's Calendar app can subscribe to a calendar link (Apple's guide to calendar accounts). Use photos for what only comes as a printout, a slide or a PDF.

A weekly timetable

With Shiftpup for iPhone

1. Snap the timetable or choose a screenshot. Pip reads it on your phone: each class's day, time and title.
2. Check the week. A timetable often shows weekdays with no dates, so Shiftpup puts the classes in a single week. Check that it's the week you want to start from.
3. Check each class: its times, a title you'll recognise on your lock screen, and the room. Remove free periods and anything you've dropped.
4. Add them to Apple Calendar.
5. Make them repeat. In Calendar, open each class, tap Edit, set Repeat to Every Week and End Repeat to the last day of term.

By hand

Create the first class, add the room as its location, set Repeat and End Repeat, and add an alert if you'd like a nudge before it starts. Then do the next one. It's slow the first time and quick after that.

Syllabus dates

A syllabus or course outline lists one-off dates: essays, labs, quizzes and exams. They don't repeat, so each one is its own event.

• With Shiftpup: snap or screenshot the schedule page. Pip reads each line's date and title. Keep the deadlines and exams, remove the weekly reading topics if you don't want them, and add the rest.
• With your iPhone's own tools: iOS 26 can offer Add to Calendar on a screenshot with event details, one event at a time. That's fine for a single exam; see the built-in options compared.
• By hand: add each date as an all-day event, or a timed one if the deadline has a time.

Things that trip people up

• Term breaks. A class set to repeat every week also appears in reading week and over the holidays. Delete those with Delete This Event Only, so the rest of the series stays.
• Week A and Week B. If your timetable alternates, set those classes to repeat Every 2 Weeks and start each one in the right week.
• Periods instead of times. "P3" means nothing to a calendar. Look up the bell times and type the real times in.
• 24-hour times. 14:00 is 2 pm. Many UK and Australian timetables use the 24-hour clock, which at least settles the am or pm question.
• "Week 5" dates. If a syllabus counts weeks instead of giving dates, find the date of week 1 and count forward. Watch for a break week that doesn't count.
• The year. A course that starts in autumn often lists January dates without a year. They belong to next year.
• Midnight deadlines. "Due 11:59 pm" is still that day, not the next. For an online course run from another time zone, check whose midnight it is.
• Changes. Rooms move and exams get rescheduled. A photo won't follow those changes, so keep an eye on announcements and edit the event.

Common questions

Can Shiftpup make my classes repeat every week?

No. It adds the dates it reads from the photo. Set Repeat in Apple Calendar afterwards, as in step 5.

Can I share my timetable with a parent or a housemate?

Shiftpup can share the events as a calendar file, or you can add them to a calendar you already share.

Is there a version for students without an iPhone?

The web version is built for work schedules, not timetables. Without an iPhone, a subscription link from your school or the by-hand steps above are the best routes.