Apple is taking on Evites. On Tuesday, the company unveiled Apple Invites, an app that lets users share invitations and RSVP to events via iCloud+. Invited guests can add to a shared photo album and even contribute to the music playlist.
“With Apple Invites, an event comes to life from the moment the invitation is created, and users can share lasting memories even after they get together,” said Brent Chiu-Watson, Apple’s senior director of worldwide product marketing for Apps and iCloud, in a press release. “Apple Invites brings together capabilities our users already know and love across iPhone, iCloud, and Apple Music, making it easy to plan special events.”
Apple Invites hopes to simplify event planning
Screenshots: Apple
Suppose your birthday is coming up and you want your friends and family to come to an event. You could text, email or call all of them and tell them the plan, but that’s a huge hassle. Apple Invites is there to make it easier.
Creating an invitation in the new iPhone/iPad application starts with choosing a picture to use as the background. Users can pull this from their Photos library or from the app’s gallery of backgrounds. Alternatively, they can create a completely new image using Apple’s AI-powered Image Playground.
Next, the Apple Invites app lets you add essential info. Enter the event’s address, and Apple Maps gives guests directions. Enter the date, and guests get the weather forecast for the day.
Good for hosts, good for guests
Hosts can view and manage their events, share invitations with a link, review RSVPs, and choose the details they want included in the event preview.
Guests can view and respond to an invitation using the new Apple Invites app for iPhone and iPad. However, they are not required to have an Apple device. They can even RSVP on the web without an Apple Account or an iCloud+ subscription.
Collaborative playlists allow Apple Music subscribers to create a soundtrack for the event right from within Apple Invites. During and afterward, participants can contribute photos and videos to a dedicated Shared Album within each invite.
Planning a watch party for the big game? Apple Invites, the new app for iPhone, can help you throw a great one! It's available from the App Store and on the web now! pic.twitter.com/JJausS2mjO
— Greg Joswiak (@gregjoz) February 4, 2025
Start partying with Apple Invites app!
The Apple Invites app is free to download. Currently, there’s only an iPhone app. This first version runs on an iPad locked into an iPhone-shaped window.
Apple Invites is a new feature of iCloud+, which means sending out invitations requires a subscription to this service. Pricing starts at 99 cents a month. But that also brings 50GB of additional iCloud storage, more-secure web browsing and other features.
Obviously, this is the iCloud-based event planning service mentioned in a leak over the weekend.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
