Apple's New Invites App Is Another Nail In Facebook's Coffin
Apple has just launched a new iPhone app that is going to take away one of Facebook's core appeals, especially among its earliest adopters. The app in question is Invites, and as the name makes it abundantly clear, it lets users create and send invites with a social twist. You can create a digital invitation card for any event of your choice, decorate it, have fun when the humans gather around, and let every participant contribute photos to the shared album.
Sounds like Facebook, yet? Or maybe, eating the whole Facebook lunch? Well, there is more. To accept an invitation from the Invites app, you don't need an iCloud presence, or even an Apple account. Heck, you don't necessarily need an iPhone to even create an invite. All you need is access to iCloud with a subscription, and you can create a fancy invitation card from a web browser by visiting the icloud.com/invites dashboard.
Apple is, of course, throwing its emotional marketing pizzazz into its latest product. So, here's the deal. When you whip up an invite, and seek to give it a sentimental touch, you can pick any picture from your photo library. After all, nothing goads schoolmates into saying "yes" to a long overdue get-together than a fun (read: embarrassing) picture of a mate with a terrible haircut a decade, or two, in the past. Or, if you're feeling lazy, you can pick one from Apple's own curated gallery with different themes for specific occasions and types of events.
An emotional ride to subscription hell
Since the new Apple event is all about setting up meets and organizing events, it offers all the basic logistic tools. You can add the address, date, time, a little written detail of what it's all about, and even a dynamic weather ticker to the card. For the recipients, well, they can pick between "Going," "Not Going," and "Maybe" options without having to dig into any complex settings. All the invited members can also check the real-time status of how many people have agreed to attend, which is neat.
Each event you create in the Invites app has its own Shared Album system where all participants can add their pictures and videos, turning them into a shared catalog of sweet memories, one you can easily access in the future. The idea here is to save users the hassle of scrolling feverishly into their photo gallery or crowded drive folder.
Of course, it's 2025, which means AI will be shoehorned into our chaotic digital lives. In the case of Invites apps, Apple Intelligence will let you generate catchy descriptions and fun images using the Image Playground tool. And for the truly lazy, Writing Tools will fix their grammar and make those invite descriptions sound more appealing.
The Apple Invites app is now available to download for free from the App Store. The only requirements are iOS 18 on the software side and an iCloud+ subscription, which starts at $0.99 per month in the U.S., and offers benefits such as extra cloud storage, private relay (which is not really a VPN), the facility of hiding email address, and the ability to share the subscription with family members.