Apple today announced the launch of a new app called "Invites," which is designed to allow users to plan events like birthday parties, graduations, vacations, baby showers, and more.
"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. "Apple Invites brings together capabilities our users already know and love across iPhone, iCloud, and Apple Music, making it easy to plan special events."
The app supports creating invitations that can be sent out to people. There are options to choose a background image from the Photos app, choose one of Apple's built-in images, or select an emoji background, with font customization available. Apple automatically adds in information from the Maps and Weather apps so that invitees have all of the data they need for an event, such as weather conditions and directions.
Apple designed Invites with Apple Intelligence in mind. When creating an invite, there is an option to take advantage of Image Playground to create original images using text-based descriptions. Writing Tools can also be employed to find the ideal phrasing for an invitation.
People who receive invites can RSVP, and there is a built-in method that allows the sender to track who has responded. When the event happens, there's an option to create a collaborative event soundtrack so everyone can contribute music, and a dedicated shared album lets event goers see photos and videos and contribute their own.
Invites is an iCloud+ service, which means that it is available to iCloud+ subscribers. iCloud+ is priced starting at $0.99 per month, and it provides users with additional iCloud storage over the free 5GB that comes with any device.
While anyone is able to respond to an Invite that's sent out, creating invites is limited to iCloud+ subscribers. Apple Invites is available for all iPhone models that run iOS 18 or later, and the app can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
