Apple Intelligence is gaining more features with every beta release across iOS, macOS, and iPadOS, but the company surprised pretty much everyone at the start of February when it released the Apple Invites app.
Less an extension of its various operating systems and more a siloed application, it leans on some Apple Intelligence features but mostly feels like a sort of central point for Apple’s own services.
I tested it out since I needed to plan my son’s sixth birthday party, and while I can’t deny it has that Apple ‘sheen’ to it, I find myself struggling to get all that excited about it.
‘Diminishing Returns’
Apple Invites wasn’t perhaps what we were expecting from the company, but just like the Sports app, it’s another app that can dovetail with multiple Apple services.
It’s essentially a fulcrum that can link to your calendar, photos, and even Apple Music to set the tone for your event.
That’s great, but if you’re not tied into any of those, you’ll see diminishing returns. Apple Invites is perfectly usable by anyone outside of the ecosystem to respond, but naturally you can’t build the perfect playlist or drop in that ideal photo if you’re not tied in with Apple.
It makes sense, of course — Apple isn’t going to go out of its way to integrate Spotify, after all, but it’s worth noting before you start loading up your events.
AI for the rest of us?
My favourite thing about Apple’s new Invites app is just how easy it is to use. If you’ve ever used something like Google Meet or Outlook, you’ll know that trying to populate all the required fields the first time can feel a little awkward, leading to follow-up edits.
Naturally, these aren’t necessarily made for a quick video call and are more for ‘IRL’ events, but I appreciate that Apple has made it so easy to use nonetheless.
As long as you have an iCloud+ subscription, you can add a title, event details, and some snazzy generative AI images (or your own), along with a playlist to capture the vibe, and pretty much get it sent out within a few minutes.
It’s a far cry from the e-vites of yesteryear, and while Apple Intelligence’s slogan of “AI for the rest of us” hasn’t rung true for many, it feels like a smart move to integrate it into an app that’ll be used to send glitzy invites to Apple users and non-Apple users alike.
Outside of the Apple ecosystem? No problem
While you need an iCloud+ account to send your invites, anyone can RSVP regardless of their device of choice.
In my use case, that’s particularly handy — sending an invite to my mother-in-law’s iPhone was easy enough, but my parents have Android phones. I appreciate not needing to adjust either way, too, just sending out a barrage of invites all in one go.
If you are in the Apple ecosystem, Invites is merely a nifty bonus on top of Family Sharing, cloud-based storage, and features like Custom email domains.
But who is it for?
The question I kept coming back to while tooling around with the app was “who is this for?” and I don’t think I’ll be alone in that.
It feels like a proof-of-concept rather than a must-have tool, and while I don’t doubt some families will gravitate toward it in the way Genmoji has become more popular with some users, it just feels like a strange time to introduce an event invite service.
I’m also not sure what the future looks like for the app. I’m not entirely sure what I’d want Apple to add outside of additional integrations, but what’s here feels so focused on a single purpose that it feels an oddity next to Apple’s increasingly malleable (and powerful) in-house apps.
Look how Reminders and Notes have grown over the last few years and it’s hard to plot a similar trajectory for Apple Invites. Does it need one? Perhaps not, but the whole thing just feels like it’s in a weird spot when most people just text each other invitations to events anyway.