Apple Invites Is Ready to Help Plan Your Summer Fun
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Earlier this year, Apple released Apple Invites, a new first-party app that ties into iCloud to help you plan a party without the fuss of emails, social media, or traditional calendar appointments.
While rumors leading up to the app’s release suggested it would be an extension to the Calendar app or something else built into iOS, it turns out that Apple released it as an entirely standalone app. It doesn’t come preinstalled on your iPhone; instead, you’ll have to download it from the App Store like most other apps.
The standalone nature of Apple Invites likely helps Apple avoid any needless antitrust scrutiny. After all, Apple already “Sherlocks” enough apps with each major software release, so it’s good to see that it’s avoiding this in at least some areas. There are plenty of other party-planning apps on the App Store, but Apple Invites is unique for its simplicity. Still, as a separate download, you may never even know it exists if you’re already perfectly happy using something else.
The other benefit of releasing Apple Invites as a separate app is that it lets Apple update it more frequently than it could if it were tied to iOS releases. Apple already updated Invites late last month with a new Link Tile feature that lets you embed a rich graphical link into your invites so you can direct guests to gift registries, lists of things to bring to a potluck, and more.
Less than a month later, Apple is getting everyone ready for summer fun with another update that includes an expanded collection of backgrounds to dress up your events.
New event backgrounds help bring to life your next pool day, drinks with friends, watch party for the big game, and more!
Although Apple Invites can tie into Image Playground to let you create your own unique backgrounds, that’s not an option for everyone, since Apple Intelligence requires an iPhone 15 Pro or later. The dozens of new backgrounds should help even folks with older iPhone models (or those who can’t be bothered using Image Playground) to find something suitable for their event without the fear of following the rest of the crowd.
The Photographic section now includes 45 backgrounds, including appropriate seasonal entries like a lime slide, a frosty beer, fruit punch, watermelon slices, flowers, a disco ball, sports balls from pickleball to football, beach scenes, and more. There’s a good balance here to let you pick something that will fit nearly any event while zeroing in on whatever theme you’re going for.
If you can’t find something suitable in the new collection, you can still use any image stored in your Photos app or call up the camera to snap something of your own. However, one of the great things about Apple Invites is that it’s designed to let you throw together a party invitation with minimal fuss, and the predefined backgrounds should save most folks from wasting time hunting around for something appropriate.
While Apple Invites continues to be a free download from the App Store, you’ll need to be an iCloud+ subscriber to create and send out invitations. That’s not a high bar, since even the base $1 monthly 50 GB tier qualifies. However, even folks who aren’t paying anything for iCloud can still use the Invites app to RSVP to your party or even just respond via the web link that goes along with the invite using any modern browser.
