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Guide

Setting up Zulu.

Zulu is currently open to a small group. With an invitation, setup takes about fifteen minutes: connect Google accounts, open the Mac app, connect the iPhone, create a rule. After that, everything runs in the background.

As of:

The steps

  1. 01

    Request access

    Use the form to tell us briefly how you use Google Calendar: which accounts, whether personal and work are separate, whether you’re coming from Notion Calendar. We reply within a few days with everything you need for the next steps: the address of your Zulu backend and an access key.

  2. 02

    Connect Google accounts

    You connect each Google account whose calendars Zulu should show once, through the regular Google sign-in (OAuth). Google asks for the Google Calendar permission. Because Zulu isn’t registered as a verified app with Google, Google first shows the notice “Google hasn’t verified this app”; continue via Advanced. Right after, Zulu loads the calendars for the past 30 and the next 180 days.

  3. 03

    Install the Mac app

    You get Zulu as a DMG for Macs with Apple Silicon. Open it and drag Zulu into Applications. The app isn’t notarized by Apple, so the first time, right-click Zulu › Open in the Finder. If macOS offers no “Open” there, start it normally once, dismiss the notice, and click Open Anyway under System Settings › Privacy & Security. After that, Zulu starts with a double-click.

  4. 04

    Enter the connection

    On first launch, Settings opens in the Connection section. Enter the backend address and the access key from step 1. “Save” checks the connection and shows the current week. Later, you reach Settings with ⌘, or the gear in the sidebar.

  5. 05

    Connect the iPhone

    The iPhone app asks for the same two details on first launch and checks them before saving; they live in the device keychain afterward. It asks once for notification permission, for “time to leave.” The app isn’t in the App Store yet; we’ll sort out how you get it with your invitation.

  6. 06

    Roles and the first rule

    Right-click a calendar in the sidebar to set its role (personal, work, other) and the default calendar for new events. Then Settings (⌘,) › Rules › “Neue Regel”: source, target, time window. The grid shows dashed previews of what would be created. Save, done. How rules work in detail is under Blocking.

What runs on its own afterward

  • Changes in Google reach Zulu via push; as a safeguard, Zulu also polls every minute. Mac and iPhone update live.
  • The backend maintains travel times and blockers, overnight and with the apps closed.
  • Zulu doesn’t touch existing events. It only writes what you create or change yourself and what rules and travel times generate, and only in calendars that were set as writable during setup.

If something’s stuck

The Mac app shows a notice page instead of the calendar.

The app loads its interface from the backend. If the backend isn’t reachable (for example because the connection to it is missing), the page with “Erneut versuchen” (try again) appears. Check the network connection to the backend; the address is in Settings under Connection.

A calendar is missing from the sidebar.

Calendars can be removed from Zulu’s list. Settings › Calendars shows all calendars of the connected accounts with the switch “In der Liste” (in the list). If a whole account is missing, it isn’t connected yet (step 2).

A rule doesn’t create blockers.

Open the rule in Settings: it shows the last error if Google rejected something, for example an out-of-office event outside the primary calendar. Also check that the target calendar is writable and the events fall within the time window.

How do I disconnect a Google account from Zulu?

In your Google account under Security › Third-party apps, remove Zulu’s access. Zulu can then neither read nor write. Travel times and blockers already created remain in Google as regular events. More under Your data.