Arc’s live calendar button makes it hard to miss your next meeting

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Now Arc can present you with a one-click join button for your next meeting so you don’t have to open Google Calendar.

By Umar Shakir, a news writer fond of the electric vehicle lifestyle and things that plug in via USB-C. He spent over 15 years in IT support before joining The Verge.

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Upper-left corner of Arc window showing a podcast recording join button under the Google Calendar tab

Image: The Browser Company

The Arc browser is getting a nifty new Live Calendar feature that presents your next Google Calendar meeting on the sidebar just before it starts so you won’t miss any important calls. It includes a countdown timer and a Google Meet join button that you can see and access without opening your Calendar tab.

To set up Live Calendar, first make sure you’re updated to the latest version of Arc (version 1.47.1). Then, just open Google Calendar in Arc, log in, and drag the tab into the favorites section directly under the URL. With Google Calendar pinned, you’ll get a new “Live Calendar Available” message confirming the feature is active. You can right-click on the Google Calendar favorite tab to change Live Calendar settings, like how soon you want the next meeting link to appear and the ability to hide the time until the next meeting in case countdowns make you anxious.

Before the update, you’d need to hover over Google Calendar in your favorites bar to join a call.

Before the update, you’d need to hover over Google Calendar in your favorites bar to join a call.
Before the update, you’d need to hover over Google Calendar in your favorites bar to join a call.
Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge
After the update, the join button dynamically appears on the sidebar.

After the update, the join button dynamically appears on the sidebar.
After the update, the join button dynamically appears on the sidebar.
Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge

Arc already had a Google Calendar tooltip feature that let you hover over the tab to see a preview of your upcoming meetings and a button to join them. However, it hasn’t displayed reliably for some Verge staff who use Arc daily. The new Live Calendar feature will hopefully solve that by essentially becoming a widget that you won’t need to hover over.

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