The rumor mill was abuzz yesterday (February 3) with the idea that Apple was developing a new iCloud service for managing events. It didn't take long for rumor to become reality, as Apple took to its newsroom to announce Apple Invites, an app the company says "brings people together for life’s special moments."
“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.
The event-making process looks very Apple-like. Photos represent the event, and icons represent the invited parties. You can add the photos of people you've invited to the event.
It's very visual compared to Facebook and other event-management tools, though it has the same core features in place. Even Apple Intelligence is involved, letting you produce AI-generated images that make your invitation pop (or terrify invitees, depending on how cooperative it's being).
The new app also taps into Apple's Writing Tools to help create more inviting language for an event.
Once an event is set, guests can RSVP as they would with similar apps or services, and hosts can go back and manage RSVPs. The key with Apple Invites is that you don't need an iCloud Plus subscription or an Apple Account to RSVP to an event, nor do you need an iPhone, as the service works with a web browser. If Apple had only limited it to iOS users, the divide between blue and green messages could have grown even more expansive.
It'll be interesting to see if this trend catches on or if people are too tied up with Facebook and other services when it comes event creation. And how long before we see a wedding invitation completely done in Apple Invites?
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