The short answer: yes. Dictate one text to alfred_: “Move my 2:00 at 14 Oak Street to 2:30 and reply to the listing agent’s email: running 30 minutes behind, does 2:30 still work?” alfred_ texts back the calendar change and the email it wrote. Nothing changes until you say yes. Turn on “Something moved” for the other side’s changes.
What ShowingTime already does
If the showing was booked through ShowingTime, that’s where the listing agent and often the seller are watching it, so change it there too. As the buyer’s agent you can open a confirmed appointment and click Reschedule to request a different day or time (ShowingTime help, SmartMLS). From the listing side, Propose New Time lets them suggest another slot without cancelling, and “the existing appointment remains intact until the new time is confirmed by the buyer’s agent and listing representative” (ShowingTime help).
Where it stops:
- Showings that were never in ShowingTime. A for-sale-by-owner, a new-construction site visit, a listing agent who books by email or text. There’s no appointment to reschedule, just a calendar entry and an email thread.
- Your own calendar and the thread. Rescheduling in one app doesn’t write the email you’d normally send, “running behind, still OK for 2:30?”, and it doesn’t move the rest of your afternoon.
- The car. Tapping through an app at a red light is exactly what you shouldn’t be doing.
The alfred_ way: one dictated text
alfred_ has no CarPlay app. It’s a text thread, so you send it the way you send any text from the car, with your phone’s voice-to-text:
Move my 2:00 at 14 Oak Street to 2:30, and reply to the listing agent’s email about the showing: running about 30 minutes behind, does 2:30 still work? If not, I can do 4.
What comes back is a preview: the change alfred_ is about to make to the event, and the email as written, addressed to the listing agent on that thread. Moving an event previews first, and so does every email. When you’re stopped, read it and reply yes (on iMessage, a thumbs-up on the preview also works). The event moves on your calendar and the email goes out from your own Gmail or Outlook.
Two habits make this smoother:
- Name the showing the way your calendar does. If the event says “Showing, Patel” rather than the address, say that.
- Let the reply find the thread. “Reply to the listing agent’s email about 14 Oak” lets alfred_ find the thread you already have, so the email goes to the right person.
Adding a showing is even simpler: “Add a showing at 22 Birch Lane Thursday at 4 for 30 minutes” goes on your calendar right away, since there are no guests to invite. You’ll also get a text 15 minutes before each event by default. More examples are in What you can ask via text, and the texting side of alfred_ is on the SMS page.
When the listing agent moves it: “Something moved”
Turn on “Something moved” once, on the Routines page on the desktop or in the iPhone app. After that, alfred_ texts you when someone else cancels an event on your calendar, moves it by five minutes or more, changes the location, or sends a new invite. Your own edits stay quiet, so the 2:30 you just set doesn’t text you back.
It watches your calendar, not your inbox. If the listing agent emails “sellers need everyone out by 3” instead of updating the invite, that’s an email, and a rule is how you catch it: “Text me when a listing agent emails to change or cancel a showing.” That’s a content rule, alfred_’s judgment after reading the email, so it’s less certain than the calendar alert.
Where each step happens
- Car, by text: the dictated ask, then the preview and your yes at the next stop.
- iPhone app, parked: the calendar day view to see how the rest of the afternoon now lines up; answer invites with Going, Maybe or Decline.
- Desktop, in the morning: book the day’s showings, turn on “Something moved”, and write any rules. The emails you sent from the car are in your Sent folder.
The honest caveat
The yes needs your eyes. alfred_ previews every calendar move and every email so it doesn’t reschedule the wrong showing or send words you didn’t mean, and reading a preview at 45 miles an hour is exactly what not to do. Send the ask by voice if that’s hands-free for you, then confirm at the next stop. If you’re already late, that means the email to the listing agent goes out a few minutes after you’d like. It’s still a few minutes before you’d have written it yourself.