Block It Out

Features

Block It Out offers powerful calendar synchronization with privacy at its core.

Core Features (All Tiers)

Shadow Event Creation

When an event appears in your source calendar, Block It Out creates a corresponding “shadow event” in your destination calendar. The shadow blocks your time while protecting sensitive details.

Background Synchronization

The app syncs automatically in the background, even when closed. iOS controls the exact timing based on your usage patterns and battery life.

Multi-Platform Calendar Support

Works with any calendar accessible through your iPhone:

iCloud
Google Calendar
Microsoft Exchange
Outlook
Any CalDAV-compatible service

Recurring Event Support

Recurring events maintain their recurrence patterns in shadow events. Weekly meetings, monthly reviews, annual reminders—all handled correctly.

On-Device Processing

All synchronization happens locally on your device. No calendar data is ever transmitted to external servers.

Shadow Event Management

Fine-grained control over individual shadow events:

Show/Hide toggle - Eye icon in calendar view to show or hide shadow events
Visual indicators - Shadow events display with 40% opacity and a small square indicator
Delete with choice - When deleting a shadow, choose to let it recreate or suppress it permanently
Per-destination suppression - Suppress a shadow in one destination while allowing it in another
Suppression management - View and unsuppress shadows from rule detail screen
Smart cleanup - Suppressed shadows won’t recreate on future syncs

Perfect for when you need specific shadow events to disappear permanently, not just until the next sync.

Source Event Ignore

Prevent specific source events from creating shadows:

Ignore from event detail - Tap a source event and choose “Ignore” to stop it from syncing
Recurring event support - Ignore a single occurrence or the entire series
Immediate effect - Automatic re-sync after ignoring to reflect changes

Perfect for excluding specific meetings you don’t want blocked across calendars.

Instance-Based Recurring Sync

Precise handling of recurring calendar events:

Per-instance shadows - Each occurrence gets its own shadow event for accurate tracking
Moved occurrence tracking - Rescheduled occurrences update their shadows automatically
Stable identity - Moved exceptions maintain identity while their blocked time slot updates
Automatic migration - Legacy recurring shadows seamlessly upgrade to per-instance format

Find Free Time

Discover available time slots across all your calendars:

Smart slot detection - Finds gaps between events during your working hours
Flexible filters - Set minimum duration (30m, 1hr, 2hr), date range, and include/exclude weekends
Multiple timezone support - Add timezones to see slots in different time zones
24-hour format toggle - Switch between 12h and 24h display
One-tap copy - Copy individual slots or all slots for easy sharing
Extensive timezone search - Find timezones by city, country, or abbreviation (PST, GMT, etc.)

Perfect for scheduling meetings across time zones or sharing your availability.

Free Tier

Feature	Included
Sync rules	1
Destination calendars per rule	1
Background sync	Yes
Shadow event title	“Block”

Perfect for simple personal→work sync.

Essential Tier

Everything in Free, plus:

Multiple Rules

Create up to 2 sync rules for different calendar pairs.

Custom Shadow Titles

Replace the generic “Block” with your own title:

“Busy”
“Hold”
“Personal”
“Do Not Book”
Any text you choose

Privacy Filtering

Control how private events are handled:

Sync all events regardless of privacy setting
Skip events marked as private
Only sync events marked as private

Advanced Tier

Everything in Essential, plus:

Unlimited Rules

No limit on the number of sync rules. Manage complex multi-calendar setups with ease.

Multiple Destinations

Sync a single source calendar to multiple destination calendars with one rule.

Advanced Filtering

Create sophisticated conditions to control which events sync:

Filter by Title

Contains / Does not contain
Equals / Does not equal
Starts with / Ends with
Matches regex pattern

Filter by Duration

Less than X minutes
Exactly X minutes
More than X minutes

Filter by Attendee Count

Meetings with specific participant counts

Combine Conditions

AND logic: All conditions must match
OR logic: Any condition can match
Nested groups for complex rules

Template Variables

Create dynamic shadow event content using placeholders:

Variable	Replaced With
`{shadowTitle}`	Your configured shadow title
`{originalTitle}`	The source event’s title
`{location}`	The source event’s location
`{duration}`	Event duration (e.g., “60 min”)
`{attendeeCount}`	Number of attendees

Example: {shadowTitle}: {duration} meeting → “Busy: 60 min meeting”

Time Padding

Add buffer time around shadow events:

Before padding: Add prep time, travel time, or context-switching buffer
After padding: Add wrap-up time, debrief, or transition buffer

A 1-hour meeting with 15 minutes padding before and after becomes a 1.5-hour shadow block.

Custom Notifications

Configure alerts for shadow events independently from source events:

Enable or disable notifications per rule
Choose from presets: 5 min, 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, 1 day
Set custom alert times

Dry Run Preview

Before syncing, preview exactly what will happen:

See events that will be created
See events that will be updated
See events that will be deleted
Review per-destination breakdown
Compare original titles with shadow titles
Confirm or cancel before executing

Undo Last Sync

Made a mistake? One-tap revert:

Instantly undo the most recent sync for any rule
Confirmation shows exactly how many events will be removed
Transaction history tracks all operations

OE Obfuscation

Enhanced privacy with believable randomized titles:

Select activity categories (Health, Fitness, Errands, Social, etc.)
System generates realistic random titles from your selections
Frequency tracking prevents suspicious patterns

Optional Calendar Analysis: The app can examine your existing calendars to learn your typical activity patterns, then generate shadow titles that match your real frequencies. If you have ~4 gym-related events per month, it won’t suddenly create 20 “Gym” shadows.

Transaction Rollback

Full audit trail with selective undo:

View history of all sync operations
Roll back specific transactions
Configurable retention size
Confirmation dialogs prevent accidents

Feature Comparison

Feature	Free	Essential	Advanced
Sync rules	1	2	Unlimited
Destinations per rule	1	1	Multiple
Background sync	✓	✓	✓
Custom shadow titles	—	✓	✓
Privacy filtering	—	✓	✓
Advanced filters	—	—	✓
Template variables	—	—	✓
Time padding	—	—	✓
Custom notifications	—	—	✓
Dry run preview	—	—	✓
Undo last sync	—	—	✓
OE obfuscation	—	—	✓
Transaction rollback	—	—	✓

Privacy & Security Features

Zero Data Collection

Block It Out collects no analytics, no usage data, no personal information. Period.

No Network Transmission

Calendar data never leaves your device. There are no external API calls with your event information.

Source Events Protected

The app never modifies source events. Only shadow events in destination calendars are created or changed.

Secure Frameworks

Built on Apple’s EventKit framework with iOS security best practices.

Hardened Runtime

Enhanced security protections enabled:

Hardened process protection against code injection
Checked memory allocations with hardened heap
DYLD read-only protection
Platform restrictions for defense in depth

Transparent Operation

View detailed sync logs in the app to see exactly what happened.

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