Maintaining your Shift-Life Balance
Need a day off for something that matters? ShiftHawk is your own pocket swap-finder. It scans your coworkers' schedules in a second, finds someone who can cover you — fairly, and properly rested — and writes the text for you. All with our proprietary algorithm, all from your own phone.
ShiftHawk saves 2–4 hours of phone/text coordination.
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Finding one person to cover you is harder than it looks.
Say you need next Saturday off. You don't just need anyone — you need someone who's actually free that day, who's allowed to do your shift, who won't end up overworked or short on sleep, and whose own week doesn't fall apart because they helped you.
Keeping the whole team balanced is the hard part. In a group chat you can't see all of that at once, so the trade that would really work usually never gets found.
ShiftHawk checks everyone at the same time — right on your phone — and only shows you swaps that keep everyone balanced. Nobody else installs a thing.
See it for your own job → pick your industry and role on the right, and watch ShiftHawk solve it.
Already have a scheduler? On a computer, hovering any industry or job reveals the platforms it usually runs on — each links to a step-by-step guide. The full How to connect page has them all.
How it works
The four steps
Paste your schedule link
Copy the calendar link your workplace already gives you — it works with almost anything (Amion, QGenda, When I Work, Deputy, Homebase, Google Calendar, and more). ShiftHawk just reads when you're working.
Add your coworkers
The same easy way. They never need the app — no invites, no sign-ups, no permission. ShiftHawk only needs to see who's working when, so it can find a trade that works for everyone.
Tap the shift you want off
ShiftHawk checks every possible swap across your whole team — even clever ones where three, four, or five people pass shifts around — and lists them best-first, so the easiest one is right on top.
Send the text
It writes the message to the right person for you. You read it, and hit send. That's it — your day off, sorted.
The settings that shape your swaps
Tap any setting to watch it play out on a calendar.
Every kind of swap — found for you.
Sometimes the answer is a simple trade. Sometimes it's a little chain of people passing shifts around a circle so everyone wins. ShiftHawk spots them all — but only the ones that follow the rules. Tap a swap on the left to watch it work, and open the rule book on the right to see exactly what ShiftHawk checks.
The swaps it finds
What ShiftHawk checks
One shift, or a whole block.
A swap doesn't have to be a single day. ShiftHawk thinks in Swap Units — and a Swap Unit can be one shift or a run of days that move together. So whether you're trading a Tuesday night or a whole week-long rotation, it's the same easy ask.
A single shift
The classic. Pick one day you need off, and ShiftHawk finds a fair trade for it.
A multi-day block
A whole stretch that moves as one — handled as a single Swap Unit, so you ask once for the entire block.
- Residency rotations — swap a week or a month-long block, not day by day.
- Rotating cycles — fire, EMS, and hospitalist patterns that repeat in blocks.
- Across periods — trade a block in one stretch for one in another.
Single Swap vs Bulk Swap
Two simple ways to ask. Pick whichever fits what you're trying to move.
Single Swap
When you want to give up one day. Pick the shift, and ShiftHawk finds a trade for that single day.
Bulk Swap
When you want to move two or more days at once. ShiftHawk finds one bundle that covers as many of them as it can — so you ask once instead of many times.
More matches, found faster.
The matching engine keeps getting sharper. It looks across more of the trades that are actually possible — including the longer chains where three, four, or five people pass shifts around — and brings back the best ones first, in seconds.
Faster doesn't mean looser: every match still clears the same checks — properly rested, allowed to cover, and fair to everyone.
Ask in the app. They get a ping. Done.
Found the swap you want? Send it as a real request, right from the calendar. Your colleague gets an instant notification on their phone, sees exactly which shifts are moving, and answers in one tap. The moment they accept, it's settled — for both of you.
One tap to ask
Pick the swap ShiftHawk found and hit request. Nothing to compose — the ask carries the exact shifts, dates, and times.
It reaches them instantly
A push notification lands the second you ask — not a message buried in a group chat, hoping to be seen.
One tap to answer
They see both sides of the trade and accept or decline right there. An accepted swap updates both calendars on the spot.
When a swap involves you, you'll know.
When a coworker asks to trade a shift with you, a Swap Request lands right on your phone — not buried in a group chat. You'll see exactly which shifts are moving and who's asking.
One tap to answer. Accept, and it's settled for both of you — both calendars update on the spot.
- A push the moment a coworker asks — no chat-scrolling.
- See both sides of the trade before you decide.
- Accept or decline in a tap; requests hold for a couple of days, so there's no rush.
Swap requests ride the same light, optional sign-in that powers teams and sharing — see how accounts work ↓
Handshake — lock in a swap without trading phone numbers.
Standing right next to the person who'll take your Friday? Agree it on the spot. One of you shows a code, the other scans it with their camera — or types it in — and you both confirm. The swap is locked, and neither of you handed over a number, an email, or anything else.
Show a code
Your phone makes a one-time code and QR for the swap. It carries the shifts — never your personal details.
Scan it — or type it
They point their camera at it, or key the short code in. Their phone shows the very same swap, side by side.
Both confirm — it's locked
Two quick confirmations and the swap is agreed. Fast, private, and impossible to mis-hear at a busy nurses' station.
Each code is made for that one swap — it's useless anywhere else.
Invite a colleague — the setup spreads itself.
Going it alone means you add and maintain every coworker's calendar by hand. With a team, the work distributes itself: your colleague's schedule uploads once, and everyone's calendar fills in automatically — so each person connects their own schedule a single time, and everyone's app stays current with none of it kept up by hand.
You collect, paste, and keep each colleague's calendar link up to date yourself.
Everyone connects their own schedule once — and a team invite earns you each a free swap, too.
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Invite by email or a share link. Send a colleague an invitation — no link-collecting on your end.
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They connect their own schedule. They join and add their calendar themselves, so there's no link to paste or maintain on your end.
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It appears for the whole team — instantly. A new joiner inherits the team's schedules on day one. Join a 16-person team and 15 colleagues' schedules are ready, with zero setup.
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Everything stays current on its own. Each schedule is kept up to date by its owner — they change it once, and everyone's app reflects it.
A team invite is about free tokens — the price drop comes from a separate subscription invite: when a colleague subscribes at $4.99 $2.99 for their first 6 months, the same $2.99 opens up for you too. See the pricing ↓
Running the schedule for a group?
Group Admin lets you look for swaps on any member's behalf, post open shifts to your team, and keep coverage moving — all from your own phone, while every final yes stays with the member.
$49.99 / 6 months · a separate add-on, on top of your membership.
Your app. Not your workplace's.
ShiftHawk is a personal app — like a budgeting or fitness app, except it works on your shift schedule. You download it for yourself, and that's the entire setup. Nobody else has to do anything.
What ShiftHawk is not
- Not a team subscription. Your coworkers don't join, don't pay, and don't even have to know you use it.
- Not employer software. There's no rollout, no IT department, no manager approval. Your workplace doesn't install — or control — anything.
- Not a new scheduling system. Your workplace keeps whatever scheduler it already uses. ShiftHawk simply reads the calendar link it already gives you.
What it actually is
- One person, one phone, one tiny subscription. You install it from the store yourself, like any other app.
- Built on links you already have. Paste the schedule your workplace already publishes, and ShiftHawk does the rest on your device.
- In your control, start to finish. You pick the day you need, you pick the swap you like, you hit send.
If a coworker sees your swap land and wants ShiftHawk too, they grab their own copy — their choice, never a requirement.
Get your schedule in — any way you have it.
The easiest start is a calendar link. But not every workplace hands one out — and some just post a printout or a spreadsheet. So ShiftHawk takes your schedule in whatever shape it comes. No link to copy? You're still in.
Calendar link
.ics · webcalThe feed your scheduler publishes. Paste it once and your shifts keep flowing in on their own. The smoothest path when it's available.
Spreadsheet
XLSXHanded an Excel roster? Import it and ShiftHawk pulls out your shifts. It's read right on your phone — the file never leaves your device.
A PDF schedule works too. It's read by Schedule Scan — your choice of reader — which pulls out your shifts and hands back just the text.
Photo of a printout
Camera · ImageOnly a paper schedule on the wall? Snap a photo and Schedule Scan reads the shifts for you — no link, no typing.
However it comes in, the swap-finding works exactly the same from there. See how the photo scan works ↓
Snap it — and you choose how it's read.
Point your camera at a printed schedule and ShiftHawk reads the shifts into your calendar. To turn a picture into text, it uses a reader — and here's the part that's yours to decide: you pick which one. A plain, non-AI reader for the privacy-minded, or a smarter AI reader for trickier schedules.
Basic reader
Straightforward, clearly-laid-out schedules
- A standard, no-AI text reader (AWS Textract)
- Reads the grid, hands back the text — nothing more
- The natural pick if you'd rather keep AI out of it
Your image goes only to the reader you chose, just long enough to pull out the text — it isn't kept afterward.
AI reader
Messy, dense, or unusual layouts
- An AI reader (Mistral AI) for harder schedules
- Makes better sense of cramped or odd layouts
- Reach for it when the Basic reader struggles
Same promise: the image goes only to the reader you chose, only to extract the text, and isn't kept afterward.
Each scan uses one Bulk Swap token — and your first one is free when you sign up. After that, the next token is just $1.49. You always choose the reader before anything is sent, and nothing scans on its own.
When a shift changes, your calendar keeps up.
Real schedules move around. Tap the pencil and you can add a shift, change its time or type, or take one off — on a single day or several at once, for your own shifts or a coworker's.
Nothing's ever stuck: Revert puts any day back to exactly what your synced calendar shows.
Add, edit, or remove
Change a shift in a few taps — add a new one, adjust its time or type, or take one off the day.
One day, or a run of days
Do a single shift, or a whole stretch of days together — the same easy edit either way.
Revert any time
Your synced calendar is always the safety net — put any day back to exactly what it shows.
Your work calendar and your life — finally side by side.
ShiftHawk isn't just about covering shifts. It's about protecting the parts of life that shifts keep stealing.
Your Life Calendar
Add the things that matter — your kid's game, a class, a doctor's visit, a date night — to your Life Calendar. ShiftHawk puts them right next to your work shifts and quietly protects those days, so a swap never lands on top of something important.
ForeSIGHT looks ahead for you
ForeSIGHT is your little lookout. It scans the weeks ahead and spots when a work shift is about to crash into something in your life — before it becomes a problem — so you can swap it away early, while there's still plenty of time.
An optional Pro add-on for $0.99/month. Everything else in ShiftHawk is included in the base plan.
Favour Mode
Sometimes a friend just covers your shift — no trade needed. Favour Mode turns that on. Flip the switches below to see exactly what shows up, and how your personal days stay protected.
Want a shift with a buddy? ForeSIGHT finds one.
Sometimes the goal isn't a day off — it's a day on, next to someone you like working with. ForeSIGHT looks ahead through both your weeks and surfaces the shift that lands you both on the same day.
Pick a buddy, and ForeSIGHT quietly watches for the chance to put you side by side — so a good shift with a good colleague isn't left to luck.
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Choose who you'd like a shift with. A friend, a mentor, someone whose pace matches yours.
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ForeSIGHT looks ahead for both of you. It scans both your weeks at once, the same way it spots clashes before they happen.
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It surfaces the day that fits you both. When a swap can put you on the same shift, ForeSIGHT points it out — so you can set it up early.
Smart where it counts.
Finds swaps nobody could spot
ShiftHawk checks your whole team at once and finds trades — even ones with three, four, or five people in a chain — that you'd never line up by texting.
ACGME standards baked in
It only suggests swaps that keep everyone properly rested and never double-booked — the same rest rules good schedules follow (ACGME duty-hour standards for medicine, plain common-sense rest for everyone else).
It writes the text
One tap drafts the message to the right coworker. You read it and approve it — nothing is ever sent without you.
Your data stays on your phone
Your schedule and your coworkers' details live on your device. ShiftHawk does its thinking right there, so your information isn't shipped off somewhere.
Swaps you can actually talk about
Every swap gets a friendly name, so you can say "it's a Mirror" instead of explaining a five-person chain out loud.
Works with the calendar you have
If your scheduler can share a calendar link (almost all of them can), ShiftHawk works. Nothing new to set up at your workplace.
Your schedule stays yours.
- Your calendar is read straight onto your phone, and the swap search happens right there on your device.
- The text it writes is put together on your phone too — you're always the one who hits send.
- Private bits like your calendar link and coworkers' phone numbers are tucked away in your phone's secure storage (iOS Keychain / Android Keystore).
- Nothing is shared with your workplace, your team, or anyone else.
ShiftHawk is a personal scheduling helper. It doesn't store or send any patient or health information, and it works completely outside HIPAA scope.
One small price to live a large life.
A personal subscription, yours alone. No team plan, no per-seat pricing, no employer billing — your coworkers never pay a cent.
A team invite gives you a free swap. When a colleague joins your team, you each receive one free Single Swap token — no subscription needed, on either side.
A subscription invite unlocks the price drop. When a colleague subscribes at $2.99 for their first 6 months, the same one-time $2.99 opens up for you too — so that first invite brings both of you from $4.99 down to $2.99. See how invites work ↑
- Every swap that works, ranked best-first
- Writes the text to your coworker for you
- Life Calendar + all the rest & fairness rules
- Just your own account — no one else joins or pays
- No ads. No upsells. We don't sell your data.
Follow a big roster? You can expand how many coworkers' calendars your copy tracks — a one-time $2.99 in-app add-on. Still just your account; coworkers never sign up or pay.
ForeSIGHT
Your look-ahead lookout. It scans the weeks ahead and warns you when a shift is about to clash with something in your life — so you can swap it away early.
A separate, optional in-app add-on, billed monthly. Everything else is already in the base plan — add this only if you want the early heads-up.
If you work shifts, this is for you.
Built by physicians who lived the group-chat chaos — and just as handy for nurses, pilots, line cooks, dispatchers, warehouse crews, and anyone whose schedule keeps changing. See it for your job →
Questions, answered
Does my employer have to set this up or approve it?
No. ShiftHawk is a personal app — you install it on your own phone, like a budgeting or fitness app. There's nothing for your workplace to roll out, buy, approve, or administer. Your workplace keeps using whatever scheduler it already has; ShiftHawk just reads the calendar link it already gives you.
Does my whole team have to subscribe?
No — one subscription covers you, and that's all that's ever needed. Your coworkers don't join, don't pay, and don't install anything. ShiftHawk works by reading the schedule links your workplace already shares, so you get full swap-finding power even if you're the only person on Earth using the app.
Do I have to work in healthcare?
Not at all. ShiftHawk was built by physicians who were tired of the group-chat scramble, but the problem is the same everywhere people work shifts — nursing, emergency services, flying, factories, warehouses, hotels, restaurants, stores, power plants. If your hours change and you swap shifts with coworkers, ShiftHawk is for you.
How does ShiftHawk know my shifts?
You paste the calendar link your workplace already gives you. It works with almost every scheduler — Amion, QGenda, MedRez, ShiftAdmin, Symplr, Lightning Bolt, When I Work, Deputy, Homebase, Google Calendar, and more. ShiftHawk simply reads when you're working; it never logs in to your scheduling system. There's a step-by-step guide for getting your calendar link from every major platform.
What if my workplace doesn't give a calendar link?
You're still covered. Plenty of schedulers don't hand out a link — and some workplaces just post a printout or a spreadsheet. ShiftHawk takes your schedule however you have it: a calendar link (.ics), a spreadsheet (XLSX), a PDF, or simply a photo of your printed schedule. A spreadsheet is read right on your phone; a PDF or a photo is read by Schedule Scan (your choice of reader). So having no feed to copy never leaves you out. See all the ways to bring your schedule in ↑
Can I just take a photo of my schedule?
Yes — that's Schedule Scan. Snap a picture of your printed schedule and ShiftHawk reads the shifts into your calendar. To turn the picture into text it uses a reader, and you choose which one: a plain Basic reader with no AI (AWS Textract) if you'd rather keep AI out of it, or a smarter AI reader (Mistral AI) for trickier layouts. Either way, your image goes only to the reader you picked, just long enough to pull out the text, and isn't kept afterward. Each scan uses one Bulk Swap token — your first one is free when you sign up, and the next is $1.49. Nothing ever scans on its own.
Does it handle rotations and multi-day blocks?
It does. ShiftHawk thinks in Swap Units, and a Swap Unit can be a single shift or a whole run of days that move together. That means you can swap a week- or month-long residency rotation, a rotating fire / EMS / hospitalist cycle, or a block in one period for a block in another — all as one ask, instead of trading day by day. See how blocks work ↑
Where does my information go?
It stays on your phone. ShiftHawk reads your calendar onto your device, figures out the swaps right there, and writes the text right there. Private things like your calendar link and coworkers' phone numbers are kept in your phone's secure storage.
Do my coworkers need the app?
Nope. You add coworkers by pasting their calendar links, the same way you add your own. They don't need to install anything — ShiftHawk just needs to see who's working when, so it can find a swap that works for everyone.
How does it keep swaps fair and safe?
ShiftHawk only ever suggests swaps that keep people rested and never double-booked: enough rest between shifts, no flipping from a day shift to a night shift on the same day, time off protected, and you only cover roles you're meant to. In medicine those are the ACGME rest standards; for everyone else it's plain common-sense rest. Any swap that would break a rule simply never shows up.
What is ForeSIGHT?
ForeSIGHT is an optional Pro add-on ($0.99/month) that acts as a lookout. It scans the weeks ahead and warns you when a shift is about to clash with something in your Life Calendar, so you can swap it away early — long before it turns into a stressful last-minute scramble.
Registration & sharing
ShiftHawk lives on your phone. Your schedule and personal details stay on your device, and the heart of the app — seeing your shifts and finding swaps — works with no account at all. A lightweight cloud account only enters the picture if you choose to use something that reaches beyond your own phone.
Works with no account
The everyday app asks nothing of you — open it and go.
- Viewing your own schedule and Life Calendar
- Finding swaps across your team
- Seeing exactly what ShiftHawk checks for rest and fairness
When an account helps
A quick, optional sign-in is offered only for the features that connect you with others.
- Inviting a colleague to ShiftHawk
- Sharing calendars within your group or network
- A heads-up when someone asks you for a swap
- Email is optional and light — there's no sign-up wall, and if the connected features are never used, no account is ever created.
- Sharing is consent-based: your schedule is only ever visible to colleagues you've personally connected with — never sold, never shown publicly.
- Everything can be removed whenever you like — Settings → Delete all data clears both what's on your device and any cloud record tied to it.
Give it one shift.
Try ShiftHawk on a single day you need off. You'll see the swap you would have missed — and get your time back. There's no team to convince and nothing for your workplace to set up. It's just you.