Updated on February 5th using the New Invites app details. This has been confirmed by Apple. We’ve also seen how the new app works.
Apple has just released a surprising new iPhone feature as part of its improvements to Apple’s calendar app. And it’s available now. This is an iPhone app that is also available on the web for those who want to send invitations, but it is open for most people to receive it.
Apple Invites.
apple
What sets the app apart is that it integrates with the iPhone for iCloud+ users anyway, but it also offers value for those who don’t have an iCloud+ or iPhone or who don’t subscribe.
On Tuesday, February 4th, Apple announced that Apple had made its app live. It described it as “a new app that brings people together at special moments in life.” This is the app predicted by Bloomberg’s Mark Garman on Sunday, February 2nd. You can read all about his report below.
Here are the details that Garman didn’t have: It is an iPhone only app, free to download and only available to iCloud+ subscribers. It is designed to allow users to create invitations. However, you do not need an iCloud+ subscription for RSVP or an Apple device subscription. Anyone can reply.
“To get started with Apple Invites, users can select images from the photo library or the app’s background gallery. This is a curated collection of images representing a variety of occasions and event themes,” Apple says . And there are some cool details. Thanks to its integration with Apple Maps and weather, “weathers are “directed towards guests towards events and forecasts for the day.”
Users can also make the most of Apple Intelligence on a compatible iPhone and create original images from the image playground.
In the invitation, “Share with friends and generate a simple digital invitation so that you can collect all the information about the event, RSVP, and add it to your calendar. This includes your Android friends. Android friends can access invitations using the web-based version of the iCloud site,” Verge explains.
What’s particularly useful is that you don’t have to try out all the details in texting or WhatsApp chat. Adding details such as time, date, location is easy. And you can go to town with images of your own creations and your own curated curation.
There is detailed control over who can invite others and you can send notes to invited people. For example, you can add photo albums and music playlists via Apple Music.
For Android users, it’s not a seamless experience as they need to enter an email address, but it’s still very easy.
This app is currently available and is free to download for iCloud+ subscribers. Here’s how we first heard about the app:
“As soon as next week, Apple plans to internally introduce a new iCloud-based service called “confetti.” With the latest power in Bloomberg’s Mark Garman’s newsletter, the service offers new ways to invite people to parties, features and meetings, as the celebration code names suggest.
Since Gurman calls it a service, it could probably be a calendar app or an enhanced part of Imessage, rather than a standalone app.
“For years, Apple has been trying to improve its calendar app. This new initiative could be the beginning of a wider effort. This release was released on iOS 18.3, which just rolled out last Monday. It’s tied together,” Garman continues.
This chimes in a 9to5mac report that references what is known as Invites discovered in iOS 18.3 code. This suggests that the Invites app will integrate with iCloud and have a web version on iCloud.com. The new app is integrated with a new iOS 18 daemon called Group Kit. It manages a database model for groups of people. This daemon has been around since the first release of iOS 18.0 and has not been used in Apple apps so far. ”
It appears to work by displaying a list of people invited to the event and showing which event saw attendees. “Apple has plans to integrate with other parts of the system (such as the mini Imessage app). Perhaps the app has a more fun interface than what the calendar app currently offers to invite someone to an event. You’ll have it,” continues the 9to5Mac.
Most interestingly, Apple never dropped the slightest hint that it was working on this update. This means it won’t be displayed. But Garman’s belief is that it could be a few days away from the employee testing. This could mean that the public release will soon follow. Details will appear.
