Skip to content

What is no-app scheduling?

Updated October 2026.

No-app scheduling means your employees never install a scheduling app. The manager still uses a web app to build the schedule, but staff get it through things they already have: text messages and a page in their phone's web browser.

Why skip the app?

  • Getting started. Every app means a download, an account and a password. Some people never get through it.
  • Keeping it working. Phones get replaced, notifications get turned off and passwords get forgotten.
  • Who you're asking. Part-time staff often work more than one job. Another app for a 15-hour-a-week job is a big ask.

How it works in Convey

  1. The manager adds staff. Each person opts in to texts by texting START. Adding their number doesn't opt them in.
  2. The manager builds the week on a grid, from a template or last week, or from an AI draft on Pro, and reviews it.
  3. The manager publishes. Staff who opted in get a text with a link.
  4. The first time they open the link on a phone, they confirm it's them with a 4-digit code. Then they see their week, in English or Spanish.
  5. Later edits stay pending until the manager sends updates. Then only the people whose shifts changed get a text.

Staff who don't want texts can still get the schedule from the manager, who can print it or share a link to the team schedule.

What staff can do without an app

From the schedule page or by text, staff can see their published shifts, mark days they can't work, and call out of a shift. When a day they marked clashes with a shift they already have, both they and the manager see the conflict. Nothing is cancelled quietly. On Pro with automatic coverage on, staff who fit an open shift can also be offered it by text and reply YES to take it.

What you give up is the polish of a native app. For someone who checks their schedule a couple of times a week, that's usually a fair trade.

Where Convey fits

Convey is built for one manager scheduling one location, starting with restaurants. Staff never install anything, the manager reviews every schedule before it goes out, and texts only go to people who opted in.

Related reading: What is shift scheduling? · SMS scheduling · For bars.