iOS: Birthdays calendar does not display birthdays starting more than 77 Years ago

Products Affected

MobileMe, MobileMe Calendar, iPhone, iPod touch

Symptoms

iCal, iOS 4, and MobileMe all offer a Birthdays calendar. This calendar is automatically generated from birthday information found in your Address Book contacts. Contacts whose first birthday is more than 77 years ago do not display when viewed in the Birthdays calendar on an iOS device, such as an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.  

The Birthdays calendar can be synced via cable (USB) in iOS 4 or earlier versions. In iOS 4, the Birthdays calendar is available directly on the device, either from contacts stored on the iOS device or synced with MobileMe. This issue occurs regardless of whether the Birthdays calendar was created on the iOS device or synced to it via MobileMe or iTunes.

Resolution

You can resolve this issue by updating to iOS 4.2 or later and then syncing your Contacts data to your iOS device. After the new Contacts data is on your device, a new Birthdays calendar will be created when you open Calendars again. Follow the steps below for the method of syncing you are using.

Syncing via iTunes (USB)

  1. Make sure your iOS device has iOS 4.2 or later installed.
    • If you are not sure what version you are using, you can check the version on the device in Settings > General > About > Version.
    • If you need to update your iOS device, simply plug it into iTunes and choose Check for Update, then follow the onscreen instructions.
  2. Open Contacts on your iOS device and review them.
  3. Connect your iOS device to your computer via the USB cable.
  4. Select the your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch in the Devices section of the Sidebar on the left of iTunes.
  5. Click the Info tab and verify that the option to sync Contacts is enabled.
  6. Click Sync.
  7. Open your contacts application (Address Book if you are using Mac OS X, Outlook if you are using Windows) and verify that the contacts data from your device is in sync with the data on your computer. This is very important as you will be using this data to replace what's on your iOS device shortly. If the data does not match, you should troubleshoot syncing your device with iTunes prior to proceeding further. For more information about troubleshooting iOS and iTunes syncing via USB, please see the following articles:
  8. If the data matches on your iOS device and your contacts application, then proceed with resetting the contacts data on the iOS device. To do this:
    1. Return to the Info tab mentioned in step 5.
    2. Scroll to the Advanced section at the bottom of the Info tab.
    3. Place a check in the checkbox next to Contacts under Advanced > Replace information on this Phone (or iPad/iPod touch).
    4. Click Apply.

 

 

Syncing with MobileMe (over-the-air)

  1. Make sure your iOS device has iOS 4.2 or later installed.
    • If you are not sure what version you are using, you can check the version on the device in Settings > General > About > Version.
    • If you need to update your iOS device, simply plug it into iTunes and choose Check for Update, then follow the onscreen instructions.
  2. Open Contacts on your iOS device and review the data.
  3. Visit MobileMe Contacts at http://www.me.com/contacts in your web browser (such as Safari or Firefox). Review the contacts there and verify that the data from your device is in sync with the data on me.com. This is very important as you will be using this data to replace what's on your iOS device shortly. If the data does not match, you should troubleshoot syncing with your device with MobileMe prior to proceeding further. For more information about troubleshooting iOS and MobileMe Sync, please see MobileMe: Troubleshooting iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch sync issues.
  4. If the data matches between your iOS device and MobileMe Contacts, then proceed with resetting the contacts data on the iOS device. To do this:
    1. Open Settings on your iOS device.
    2. Tap Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
    3. Tap your MobileMe Account
    4. Slide the slider for Contacts from ON to OFF.
    5. Choose "Delete from My iPhone" when asked "What would you like to do with the previously synced MobileMe contacts on your device?"
    6. Wait for the "Turning off Contacts" process to complete.
    7. Return the slider for Contacts from OFF back to ON.
    8. Open Contacts on your iOS device.

Additional Information

For more information about the Birthday Calendar, please see:

Important: Information about products not manufactured by Apple is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute Apple’s recommendation or endorsement. Please contact the vendor for additional information.
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