Make a Plan

You are already making plans with people in your texts. "Dinner next week?" "Thursday could work." Make a plan picks that up. Groupthink reads the plan out of your conversation with someone, shows you the times that work, puts the one you pick on your calendar, and gives you a reply to paste back into Messages.

Groupthink never sends anything for you. The reply is yours to copy and send.

Make a plan reads the text conversations you have already given Groupthink. If you have not captured any texts with this person, see Capture a Text Conversation or Import Your Messages History on a Mac. You can still make a plan without them; you just type it yourself.

Start a plan from a person

1. Open the person's page in Relationships.
2. Click Plan, next to Log, Schedule, and Draft.

A card opens at the top of their page and walks you through four steps.

Start a plan from Projects

1. Go to Projects.
2. Click New plan.
3. Type a name to find the person the plan is with.

From there the card works the same way.

The four steps

1. Who the plan is with

If you started from a person's page, the card skips this step and opens on step 2.

2. What the plan is

Groupthink reads your recent texts with that person and writes down the plan it sees, for example "Dinner with Maya Okonjo sometime next week". Under From your texts it shows the messages it read, quoted word for word, so you can check it did not make anything up. A message it could not quote exactly shows as the name of the conversation instead.

• If it is right, click That's the plan.
• If it is not, click Something else, type the plan yourself, and click Make this plan.
• When there is nothing to go on, the card says it didn't see a plan being made and asks what the plan is. Type it and click Make this plan.

3. Times that work

Groupthink shows times that are open for both of you. Anything that clashes with your calendar is left out and listed after Your conflicts, so you can see why a time is missing. If no time works, the card says Nothing lines up yet and lists the times you are busy. Not ready to pick? Click Pick a time later, or Open the plan to see it in Projects.

If your calendar is not connected, the card says it couldn't check your calendar, so the times shown are only the ones the other person said they are free, or 9am to 9pm each day if they didn't say. Click Connect a calendar to check yours too.

A calendar whose account has needed reconnecting for more than 7 days is not checked either. Its meetings stop counting as conflicts until you reconnect it, so look at that calendar yourself before you pick a time. The card names each calendar it left out, for example "Your Work calendar wasn't checked: it needs reconnecting.", with a Reconnect link next to it.

Correcting when they're free

Under the times, the card shows When [name] is free: each time Groupthink read from your texts, with their own words quoted next to it. If it got that wrong, or they've told you something since, click Correct these times (or Add when [name] is free if there are none yet).

• Each time is a from and to. Change one, remove one with its delete button, or click Add a time.
• Click Save. Groupthink re-checks the times that work for both of you against your correction.
• A time you changed or added shows a Your correction chip instead of a quote. A time you left alone keeps their words.

The correction is saved on the plan, so it's still there when you come back. You can make the same correction from the plan's own page in Projects.

4. Pick a time

Pick one of the times. Groupthink then:

• Adds the event to your own calendar. The event has no guests, so the other person does not get a calendar invitation. Click Open it to see the event in Google Calendar or Outlook. If there is no connected calendar to write to, the card says the time is saved on the plan but isn't on your calendar.
• Tells you when your calendar won't take the event. The card says the time is saved on the plan but isn't on your calendar, and asks you to add it yourself before you send the reply.
• Looks for the event when your calendar is slow to answer. Sometimes Google or Outlook doesn't answer in time. Groupthink then looks at your calendar for the event. If it is there, the card shows it on your calendar as usual. If it isn't there, the card says the time is saved on the plan but isn't on your calendar, and asks you to add it yourself.
• Tells you when it can't be sure. Sometimes Groupthink can't tell either way: it couldn't read your calendar after the slow answer, or your calendar took the event and Groupthink couldn't read it back. Groupthink doesn't guess, and it doesn't try a second time. The card says your calendar accepted the event but Groupthink couldn't confirm it landed, and asks you to check your calendar before you send the reply. The time is still saved on the plan.
• Files the plan under Projects. The person shows up in the plan's Time picked stage.
• Gives you a reply to copy. Click Copy reply, then paste it into Messages yourself.

Picking a time twice

Once a plan has its event on your calendar, or might have, Groupthink won't add a second one. If you pick a time again, the card says "A time is already on the calendar for this plan. To change it, reschedule the touchpoint from the person's page." and the times on the card stop being clickable. To change it, reschedule it from the person's page. This is what stops a slow calendar from leaving you with two events for the same plan.

Where plans live

A plan is a kind of project. It shows in Projects, and its page has a Plan chip next to its name and the plan's own stages on the people board. A new plan starts with four stages: Proposed, Time picked, Confirmed and Happened. See Projects for how projects work.

Once you have picked a time, the plan's page shows it after Picked:, with one line about your calendar:

• It's on your calendar.
• Your calendar accepted the event, but Groupthink couldn't confirm it landed. Check your calendar.
• It isn't on your calendar, because your calendar wouldn't take the event. Add it yourself.
• It isn't on your calendar, because there is no connected calendar to write to. Click Connect one.

The plan's page has no button to put the time on your calendar a second time.

Below that, the page shows when the other person is free, with the same Correct these times option as the card.

You can also choose Plan as the type when you create a project with New project.

On iPhone

Make a plan needs you to be signed in.

Start a plan on iPhone

Tap the Advisor button (the sparkle in the middle of the tab bar), then Plan in the row of buttons at the top. Then:

1. Who is the plan with? Pick the person.
2. Here's the plan I can see. Groupthink reads your texts with them and shows the plan it found, the texts it came from, and when they said they're free, in their own words. Tap That's the plan. If it got it wrong, tap Something else and type the plan yourself, or tap Someone else to start over with a different person. If it didn't find a plan, type one in What's the plan?.
3. Times that work for both of you. Groupthink checks when they're free against your calendar and lists the times that fit. Anything on your calendar that ruled a time out is listed under Your conflicts. Tap a time to pick it.
4. Done. The event is on your calendar, and Groupthink has a reply ready for you to send.

Correcting when they're free on iPhone

Under the times, When [name] is free lists the times the other person is free. Times taken from their texts show their words in quotes. Times you entered yourself say Your correction.

If Groupthink read it wrong, or they told you something in person, tap Correct these times (or Add when [name] is free if the list is empty). For each time you can change From and Until, tap Remove this time, or tap Add a time. Tap Save. The correction is kept on the plan, and the times that work for both of you are checked again.

Each time needs to end after it starts, and you need at least one.

Your calendar, and theirs

Groupthink puts the event on your calendar only. It has no attendees, and the other person gets no invitation. You tell them, with the reply.

If you allow Calendar access, Groupthink also checks the calendar on this phone. That check happens on the phone, and those events aren't sent to Groupthink.

Sometimes the event doesn't make it onto your calendar. The last step says so:

• Check your calendar before you send the reply: the time is saved on the plan, but Groupthink couldn't confirm the event landed. Look before you send, so you don't end up with two.
• Your calendar wouldn't take the event: the time is saved on the plan. Add the event yourself.
• There's no connected calendar to write to: connect a calendar on the web, or add the event yourself.

Sending the reply

Groupthink never sends messages. On the last step you'll see a short reply that names the time you picked. Tap Send in Messages to open it in Messages, ready to send. If Groupthink has no phone number for the person, tap Copy reply and paste it wherever you talk to them.

The person also moves to Time picked on the plan. Plans show up under Projects on the web.