How the new Apple Invites app works, and when you want to use it

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While the new Apple Invites app and service sounds easy to use, it joins together so many Apple Services that it takes several steps -- and can confuse your invitees. Here's how to use it.

Smartphone screen displaying 'Apple Invites' app with text about creating invitations and a 'Create an Event' button, placed on lined paper.
How to use Apple Invites



Apple Invites has been launched, though at time of writing it's still not rolled out worldwide. If an App Store search does not turn it up for you, try this direct link.

The app is so new that there is no Apple support documentation for it, which means there are certain points that are not yet clear. Specifically, it's not sure what Android users will or will not see when they have accepted an invitation from Apple Invites.

Apple Invites is a free iPhone app, but as the organizer of an event, you have to have a paid iCloud+ subscription in order to use it. Your invitees do not, and they do not have to have an Apple Account, so Android users should be able to sign up to your event.

Whether your invitees are iPhone or Android though, what they see can be confusing. Ultimately, you are sending them a link, via Messages or email, and they get that plus a poster image -- if you have chosen one.

You really must include some explanatory text, not least because of what happens next. When they tap on the link or the poster in Messages, they are taken to icloud.com in Safari and -- if they are iPhone users -- they are prompted to sign in.

There is a small X to close that sign in pane, but they'll have to look for it. It would be much better if Apple presented a bespoke sign-in making it clear that this is optional.

As well as using the standard iCloud sign-in form, Apple is also using the standard prompt for getting an app. So at the top of the screen you see an app you might not want, and in the middle you see a sign-in screen that you may be suspicious of.

Apple could also just point out that if you scroll down the webpage, you get the option to join the party with an email address instead of using the app. But then it should know the email address the invitation was sent to, so it's not clear why it doesn't just populate that email field so that you can simply tap yes or no.

Setting up is easy for the organizer



That all said, creating an event itself, prior to sending out the invitation, is straightforward -- if at times slow. To create your first-ever event:


  1. Open Apple Invites

  2. Tap Create Event

  3. Optionally pick a photo of yours, choose from suggested backgrounds, or skip Add Background

  4. Type in the event title

  5. Enter the date and time

  6. Enter the location

  7. Write a description of up to 1,000 characters

  8. Optionally create a shared photo album for the event

  9. Optionally create a shared Apple Music playlist

  10. Tap Preview at top right to see how the invitation will look to your recipients

  11. Tap Next

  12. Choose how to invite people, and whether to accept them all or approve each one



There's good and bad in these steps. The best is perhaps the date and location picking, because those are well done.

Location is via an Apple Maps style search field. And with date, you get options to include an end time as well as a start.

Creating a shared photo album is straightforward too, but the shared Apple Music one requires an extra step -- and can prove to be slow.

Three smartphone screens show event creation flow with customizable backgrounds, date, time, location, and weather details. Middle screen features birthday candles; right screen includes a map.
L-R starting to set up a new event



You can't share a playlist unless you have an Apple Music Profile. You may think you have one, since you're an Apple Music subscriber but no, this is different.

An Apple Music Profile tells people that you're up for sharing some or all of your playlists, and that for some unfathomable reason you're interested in theirs. To set up this profile:


  1. Open Apple Music on iPhone

  2. Tap your icon (possibly just your initials) at top right on the Apple Music Home screen

  3. Choose Set up Profile

  4. Fill out a username

  5. Tap Continue to Find Contacts

  6. Click Follow if you want to follow a friend's playlists, then Next

  7. Choose whether you can be followed by Everyone or only People You Approve and tap Next

  8. Pick which, if any, of your playlists you're happy to share and tap Done



If you're not already regretting that you wanted a shared playlist for your event, you may do now. Because in AppleInsider testing, Apple Music hung at this point and had to be force quit.

Ignoring that and going back to Apple Invites, you are next prompted to decide "How do you want to share contacts?" -- and this is again not clear.

The reasoning is that people you invite to an event may need to contact each other, but Apple will never give out any private details. You have to make that decision, you have to decide what you want to do -- and it appears that you cannot choose that you don't want to share anything.

It appears that you have to choose between allowing your invitees to see selected contacts that you will specify in a next step, or all of your contacts. In practice, Apple does only allow these two options at this point, but after you've decided on just Select Contacts, you can skip in fact adding any.

Three iPhone screens display Apple Music playlist setup, a birthday event invitation with RSVP options, and invitation sharing features.
Optionally and slowly adding Apple Music before sending an invitation



You don't appear to be able to say that you will only share, say, email addresses, and keep phone numbers or photos private.

Finally sending the invitation



After you've gone through fathoming out how happy you are to share people's contact details, you finally get a Choose a Guest option. Here there are two sorts of guests, either someone you allowed in the contact-sharing stage, or New Guest.

If you now tap on the name of the contact you previously allowed, you're now given the ability to send them a unique invitation link. You can send it via Messages, Mail, or copy the link to send around any other way you like.

Depending on your choice, you now have to pick which phone number to text, or which email address to send to if the recipient has more than one.

The Message or email is shown to you as solely a link, specifically an iCloud link. You can enter some explanatory text, and you should.

After the invitation is sent



Once you've done all of this and sent the invitation, and once the recipient has figured out that you haven't sent them a spam link, they can elect to join your little group. They can tap a Going, Not Going, or Maybe button, and be reminded of how Facebook does it the same way.

When they have made their choice, you are notified as the event organizer.

This is where the real benefit of Apple Invites will come. You could always have sent out invitations by Messages yourself, but managing the replies would have been hard.

Apple Invites lets you see at a glance who has said they're coming. They may still not turn up, you know what people are like, but at least you will have an idea of numbers.

And any of those people who are coming will, at least if they are iPhone users with the Apple Invites app, be able to contribute photos and music to the party.

A mish-mash of services



So far in setting up a first event, Apple Invites has leveraged Apple Maps, Apple Music, Photos, Contacts, and Messages and/or Mail. Much of this has required entering or confirming permissions, turning a simple procedure into a chore.

But then there is one more Apple service that can optionally be used -- and it's the one solitary service you would think would be automatic.

Calendar.

You go through this whole process and nothing at all ends up in your Calendar, or at least not automatically. You're not even prompted to add the event to your Calendar as you're making or editing it.

Instead, you have to choose to go find and tap the Calendar icon at top right of the invitation to create an event.

And of course the first thing it does is ask permission for Apple Invites to access the calendar.

All of this does take far less time to do than to describe, and overall it is a clever way of benefitting from there being so many Apple services. But each step does feel like a barrier, when you're setting up your first event.

The second and subsequent events get to skip certain steps. For some reason, there isn't the same confusing going through of contacts to share, for instance.

Instead, you get the option to create a general link you send to anyone, or you can choose a specific guest.

Except by default, that specific guest can only be one you allowed contact details to be shared for. Tap on Choose a Guest and you are offered their name or names, and a Settings button for you to add more.

So Apple Invites definitely looks good, it does definitely offer a good service in how it manages RSVPs. But there are enough rough edges that maybe it should have gone through in-house user testing as was expected.



Read on AppleInsider

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 23
    this app is HORRIBLE!   Almost unusable, got a lengthy spinning gearwheel, the U/I for adding invitees is nonsensical, it finds locations in distant locales, rather than locally. Feels like an early alpha version, months away from shipping quality.  WTF Apple?
    williamlondonsflagelWesley Hilliardwatto_cobrahhhhhh123
     2Likes 2Dislikes 1Informative
  • Reply 2 of 23
    Xedxed Posts: 2,967member
    this app is HORRIBLE!   Almost unusable, got a lengthy spinning gearwheel, the U/I for adding invitees is nonsensical, it finds locations in distant locales, rather than locally. Feels like an early alpha version, months away from shipping quality.  WTF Apple?
    This has been an issue with Apple Maps since the beginning.
    muthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobrahhhhhh123
     2Likes 0Dislikes 1Informative
  • Reply 3 of 23
    Um... I think Apple needs to hire Apple to make this app.

    This one SUCKS.

    How the heck did this get approved?

    Teh great thing about Apple is that the grandmas of the world can figure it out. But this... this was made for developers to use, not the typical tech-averse.
    edited February 4
    Wesley HilliardStabitha_Christiedutchlordhhhhhh123
     2Likes 2Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 4 of 23
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,775member
    Um... I think Apple needs to hire Apple to make this app.

    This one SUCKS.

    How the heck did this get approved?

    Teh great thing about Apple is that the grandmas of the world can figure it out. But this... this was made for developers to use, not the typical tech-averse.
    The "event creation portion" of this app may not be intended for grandmas. If the "event acceptance portion" of this app is grandma-friendly, that's all that matters to most people.
    9secondkox2
     0Likes 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 5 of 23
    Wait, what was wrong with evite? 
    williamlondon
     0Likes 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 6 of 23
    Um... I think Apple needs to hire Apple to make this app.

    This one SUCKS.

    How the heck did this get approved?

    Teh great thing about Apple is that the grandmas of the world can figure it out. But this... this was made for developers to use, not the typical tech-averse.
    The "event creation portion" of this app may not be intended for grandmas. If the "event acceptance portion" of this app is grandma-friendly, that's all that matters to most people.
    Spoken like a true Steve ballmer Microsoft developer 

    “hey, you can use half of it. That’s good enough, gram.”
    edited February 4
    muthuk_vanalingamChopinBluesWesley HilliardStabitha_Christie
     2Likes 2Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 7 of 23
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,873member
    This app sounds redundant and needlessly complex compared to just sending out invitations using Calendar. I’ve tried different apps and services, e.g., Slack, for coordinating and collaborating informal groups. The tools can be fabulous and seem ideal for the purpose, at least from my perspective, but a lot of non-tech-enthusiasts and regular users simply don’t want to or don’t see the need to learn yet another tool or way to do something they are already doing using tools they already know, even if they suck, e.g., Facebook. The devil you know …

    Perhaps in a corporate environment this app would be more useful, but again, there are plenty of tools and processes already out there in use for event planning. Time will tell, and who knows what other users may see in this app that I don’t see … yet. The “yet” word seems to be applicable to a lot of what Apple is springing on us now that the basics are pretty much covered.
    9secondkox2Wesley Hilliardwatto_cobra
     1Like 1Dislike 1Informative
  • Reply 8 of 23
    JamesCude said:
    Wait, what was wrong with evite? 
    Nothing was wrong with evite!  The real question is, what was wrong with the engineers and project management that thought this product was anywhere near ready for primetime?
    9secondkox2Wesley Hilliardwatto_cobra
     1Like 1Dislike 1Informative
  • Reply 9 of 23
    Wesley Hilliardwesley hilliard Posts: 374member, administrator, moderator, editor
    Well, I'm not sure why there's so much hate, but I for one really like this app. It looks like it'll be a great repository for events over time. Scroll back to previous events and see the information, who attended, photos, and the Apple Music album.

    I like how it joins several Apple properties into one place, operates through iMessage and Mail, and utilizes Calendar, Weather, Apple Music, Contacts, and Photos. Pretty solid for a version one. I hope we get the ability to add events to our Apple Journal.
    jbirdiikunihatescreennames9secondkox2jas99watto_cobra
     4Likes 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 10 of 23
    Looks like we found the engineer responsible - if the random 1 dislike on all honest comments is any indication. 

    There are plenty of invitation apps/services out there - including this built into current Mac apps. 

    If there was going to be another, it need to be dang good and dead simple. 

    This one, like most, can get the job done, but it’s not a better way to do it. 
    edited February 4
    jibWesley Hilliardwatto_cobra
     0Likes 3Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 11 of 23
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,873member
    Well, I'm not sure why there's so much hate, but I for one really like this app. It looks like it'll be a great repository for events over time. Scroll back to previous events and see the information, who attended, photos, and the Apple Music album.

    I like how it joins several Apple properties into one place, operates through iMessage and Mail, and utilizes Calendar, Weather, Apple Music, Contacts, and Photos. Pretty solid for a version one. I hope we get the ability to add events to our Apple Journal.
    I don't see any hate here, it's just people expressing their current opinions for what appears at first glance to be a niche application tailored to a niche audience. As critical thinkers we always have the ability to change our opinions based on new information and feedback from actual users. I feel that Apple and many other companies in the same markets are grasping at way to generate excitement for mature products that are already at an amazing level of refinement. The promise of AI is generating a lot of buzz everywhere, but they're still pushing too hard on selling the technology rather than selling the real, consequential benefits that these ubiquitous extensions to our everyday life actually deliver. Every time I here AI or Apple Intelligence I want to block it out because it's only the features and functionality that really matter. Some of the things that are being stitched together seam like they are demos or parlor tricks just to show off the technology, which in my mind makes them disposable toys. It's perfectly fine to question "Why did they bother building this?" and especially when it's a subscription. 
    9secondkox2muthuk_vanalingam
     2Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 12 of 23
    Wesley Hilliardwesley hilliard Posts: 374member, administrator, moderator, editor
    dewme said:
    Well, I'm not sure why there's so much hate, but I for one really like this app. It looks like it'll be a great repository for events over time. Scroll back to previous events and see the information, who attended, photos, and the Apple Music album.

    I like how it joins several Apple properties into one place, operates through iMessage and Mail, and utilizes Calendar, Weather, Apple Music, Contacts, and Photos. Pretty solid for a version one. I hope we get the ability to add events to our Apple Journal.
    I don't see any hate here, it's just people expressing their current opinions for what appears at first glance to be a niche application tailored to a niche audience. As critical thinkers we always have the ability to change our opinions based on new information and feedback from actual users. I feel that Apple and many other companies in the same markets are grasping at way to generate excitement for mature products that are already at an amazing level of refinement. The promise of AI is generating a lot of buzz everywhere, but they're still pushing too hard on selling the technology rather than selling the real, consequential benefits that these ubiquitous extensions to our everyday life actually deliver. Every time I hear AI or Apple Intelligence I want to block it out because it's only the features and functionality that really matter. Some of the things that are being stitched together seam like they are demos or parlor tricks just to show off the technology, which in my mind makes them disposable toys. It's perfectly fine to question "Why did they bother building this?" and especially when it's a subscription. 
    It's not a subscription, at least you're not paying a subscription solely for the use of this app. It's an added feature for iCloud+ users, which should be pretty much everyone at this point when the 5GB free tier is terrible.

    Why build it? I think it's a proof of concept like Freeform, Journal, and other apps Apple made in recent years to provide functions tied to its ecosystem while giving developers live examples of how to tie it all together. There's also the fact that other event planning tools are likely tied to Facebook events or suck up user data.

    This didn't seem like an AI grab or anything, it's one feature of many that happens to include Image Playground.

    By hate, I mean "this sucks" and "it's horrible" and the general negative reception of the forum members that commented above me. It's their opinions and that's fine, I don't care that they don't like it, I was just surprised by the cynicism and urgency of that dislike in their commentary. And I don't think this is meant to be some kind of desperate attempt to improve the attractiveness of iPhone or a new bragging point during a conference call. It's not that serious.

    I think this could be a really neat app. I already put together a Super Bowl party invite and it's really slick. I like the idea of having a place where I can generate shared playlists and photo albums for specific events and people, all while giving others each access. It removes complications from a lot of aspects of this from the invite system to the features involved. Even the integration with Weather is a nice bonus.

    The negativity here was also surprising because I saw a lot of similar minded people on Bluesky, Mastodon, and other tech publications stating their excitement for the app. This is the only place I saw the outright negativity and rejection. That's all.
    ihatescreennames9secondkox2jas99rundhvidwatto_cobra
     4Likes 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 13 of 23
    I also used it to create an invitation to a Super Bowl party. It was mostly just to try it out as we aren’t having a party and I only sent it to my immediate family. 

    However, aside from granting all the permissions, which takes a trivial amount of time (and I appreciate they ask me!), it was a good experience. I didn’t have any issues setting up a playlist either. 
    Naturally, I used Image Playground to generate an appropriate image and ended up with platter of food with a football “centerpiece” mounted in the middle sitting on a football field surrounded by a stadium with fireworks in the sky. 

    I sent it out and we’ll see how it works from there but so far so good. 
    jas99williamlondonwatto_cobra
     3Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 14 of 23
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,873member
    dewme said:
    Well, I'm not sure why there's so much hate, but I for one really like this app. It looks like it'll be a great repository for events over time. Scroll back to previous events and see the information, who attended, photos, and the Apple Music album.

    I like how it joins several Apple properties into one place, operates through iMessage and Mail, and utilizes Calendar, Weather, Apple Music, Contacts, and Photos. Pretty solid for a version one. I hope we get the ability to add events to our Apple Journal.
    I don't see any hate here, it's just people expressing their current opinions for what appears at first glance to be a niche application tailored to a niche audience. As critical thinkers we always have the ability to change our opinions based on new information and feedback from actual users. I feel that Apple and many other companies in the same markets are grasping at way to generate excitement for mature products that are already at an amazing level of refinement. The promise of AI is generating a lot of buzz everywhere, but they're still pushing too hard on selling the technology rather than selling the real, consequential benefits that these ubiquitous extensions to our everyday life actually deliver. Every time I hear AI or Apple Intelligence I want to block it out because it's only the features and functionality that really matter. Some of the things that are being stitched together seam like they are demos or parlor tricks just to show off the technology, which in my mind makes them disposable toys. It's perfectly fine to question "Why did they bother building this?" and especially when it's a subscription. 
    It's not a subscription, at least you're not paying a subscription solely for the use of this app. It's an added feature for iCloud+ users, which should be pretty much everyone at this point when the 5GB free tier is terrible.

    Why build it? I think it's a proof of concept like Freeform, Journal, and other apps Apple made in recent years to provide functions tied to its ecosystem while giving developers live examples of how to tie it all together. There's also the fact that other event planning tools are likely tied to Facebook events or suck up user data.

    This didn't seem like an AI grab or anything, it's one feature of many that happens to include Image Playground.

    By hate, I mean "this sucks" and "it's horrible" and the general negative reception of the forum members that commented above me. It's their opinions and that's fine, I don't care that they don't like it, I was just surprised by the cynicism and urgency of that dislike in their commentary. And I don't think this is meant to be some kind of desperate attempt to improve the attractiveness of iPhone or a new bragging point during a conference call. It's not that serious.

    I think this could be a really neat app. I already put together a Super Bowl party invite and it's really slick. I like the idea of having a place where I can generate shared playlists and photo albums for specific events and people, all while giving others each access. It removes complications from a lot of aspects of this from the invite system to the features involved. Even the integration with Weather is a nice bonus.

    The negativity here was also surprising because I saw a lot of similar minded people on Bluesky, Mastodon, and other tech publications stating their excitement for the app. This is the only place I saw the outright negativity and rejection. That's all.
    No problem. Just like I said when the consternation was surrounding the Apple Vision Pro, once Apple releases a product it has to stand on its own regardless of what any of us think about it going in. If it’s good it will survive and grow and if it’s not so great it will fall or be forgotten. 

    You’re right about the subscription. I just got an email from Apple saying it’s included with my current Apple One subscription. 
    9secondkox2muthuk_vanalingamjas99watto_cobra
     4Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 15 of 23
    Apple is the new Microsoft! This app is made only to increase its iCloud users! The people you invite will never see the little x and will register to icould et voilà > user increased! Exactly as tv+ ditched the app movies and tv series just to hool you to their services and…. still call the store itunes store! If Steve would be alive…. 
    jas99watto_cobra9secondkox2
     1Like 2Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 16 of 23
    fred1fred1 Posts: 1,150member
    Very good article. Thank you. 
    I’ll never use this.
    ddawson100williamlondonwatto_cobra9secondkox2
     2Likes 2Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 17 of 23
    jas99jas99 Posts: 178member
    Why all the controversy? Apple decided to create a piece of software that integrates well with your entire Apple account.
    I tried it. Seems OK. It might provide a more visually appealing invitation than if it were done through other means.
    This probably did not take much time away from Apple’s other engineering efforts.
    Great! Let’s move on to be upset about things that deserve to raise our hackles. 
    watto_cobra9secondkox2
     1Like 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 18 of 23
    StrangeDaysstrangedays Posts: 13,142member
    Xed said:
    this app is HORRIBLE!   Almost unusable, got a lengthy spinning gearwheel, the U/I for adding invitees is nonsensical, it finds locations in distant locales, rather than locally. Feels like an early alpha version, months away from shipping quality.  WTF Apple?
    This has been an issue with Apple Maps since the beginning.
    Your copy must be broken. Have never had such issues from Apple Maps, going back to the launch. 
    williamlondonwatto_cobra9secondkox2
     3Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 19 of 23
    Wow, I did not expect all the hate I've seen here. I think that Apple needs to continue to incrementally improve their existing apps and bringing out new apps like this. Invitations is sorely, sorely overdue but this really checks a lot of boxes and adds things that other great apps don't do. It will also drive subscriptions for iCloud and that certainly won't hurt Apple's bottom line. I am still waiting for them to boost their base level from 5 GB but I guess I should probably wait a little bit longer for that.
    jas99williamlondonwatto_cobra9secondkox2
     3Likes 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 20 of 23
    fred1 said:
    Very good article. Thank you. 
    I’ll never use this.
    How very adult of you.
    watto_cobra9secondkox2hhhhhh123
     2Likes 1Dislike 0Informatives
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