Apple’s Invites app is a simple way to throw together an event invitation directly from your iPhone or web browser. The app is free to download from the App Store, and technically you don’t even need an iPhone or an Apple Account to RSVP to an event.
If you want to create your own invitations you will need to be an iCloud+ subscriber, but the barrier to entry is relatively low. The subscription is bundled into Apple’s pricier Apple One plans (the bundle that includes things like Apple TV+, Apple Music, and Apple News+), and you can also pay for it separately starting at $0.99 per month. iCloud+ subscriptions get you extra cloud storage, a custom domain for your iCloud email, and Apple’s Private Relay feature on top of your new invite-creating privileges.
What is Apple Invites?
Apple Invites is Apple’s attempt to offer an event planning and invitation creating service like Partiful or Evite. The app lets you create and RSVP to events, and includes integrations with other Apple services, like collaborative playlists from Apple Music and shared albums from Apple Photos. Invites also supports Image Playground if you want to use AI to create an image for your invite, rather than relying on Apple’s built-in options or one of your own photos.
How to create an event invite with Apple Invites
To create an event invitation with Apple Invites you’ll need to head to the iCloud website or have an iPhone running iOS 18 or later with the Invites app installed. To take advantage of Invites’ integration with Apple Intelligence you’ll also need an iPhone that supports the feature (an iPhone 15 Pro and up).
To create your event, first open the Apple Invites app. Then tap on “Create an Event” if its your first time opening the app or the small “+” in the top right corner of your screen if you already have events you’ve made or been invited to. You should then see an empty invite screen.
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From here, tap on “Add Background” and select from Apple’s premade background (Emoji, Photographic, and Color options) or a new photo, a picture from your photo library, or an Image Playground creation by tapping on one of the circular icons at the top of the screen.
Next, you’ll want to title your event by tapping on “Event Title” and typing in whatever you want to call it. Apple also lets you choose from four different font options to add some extra style. Tap on “Date and Time” to choose the day and time the event starts and ends, then tap on “Location” to search and select the location where you’ll be hosting your event. You can give the location a name if you want, too. Finally, by tapping on “Add a description” you can add an event description with extra information and enter a separate host name if you’d prefer the invitation to not show your first and last name.
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Those are the basics you need to fill out for an invitation, but Invites includes two other features that are specific to Apple software. By tapping on “Create Album” you can create a shared photo album that guests can add to during the event and access after. The album’s name will be the name of the event, but you can enter a new name under Album Name and tap “Done” if you want to save your changes.
You can also tap on “Add Playlist” to create a shared playlist that guests can add songs to before and during the event. You’ll have to select an existing playlist or create a new one from scratch. If you create a playlist, it will have the name of your event by default with the option to edit it if you want.
Once you’re done creating your invitation, to see what it looks like to guests, tap on “Preview” in the top right hand corner and then “Next” to start inviting guests.
How to invite guests to an Apple Invites event
Once your event invite is created you can start sending it to your guests a couple of different ways. You can send the invite as a public link or invite individual people from your contact list. Inside your invitation, tap on Invite Guests to start sending your invitation.
If you tap on the Messages or Mail icons you can send a link to your invitation through those respective apps. By tapping on “Share Link,” you can share a link to the invite through any app in your iOS share sheet. And if you tap on “Copy Link,” your invite link will be copied to your clipboard so you can paste it anywhere.
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You can also send a one time link to individual guests by tapping on “Choose a Guest.” Apple Invites will ask to access your contacts and then display every contact you have saved. Tap on one to share a unique invitation link through Messages, Mail or the iOS share sheet. Unlike public links, these links can only be used once.
How to send a note to guests of an Apple Invites event
If you want to update your guests on information about your event or remind them of something they might need to bring, you can send anyone who’s invited a note directly through the Apple Invites app. From inside your invitation, tap on “Send a Note” and then enter in whatever text you want to send and tap on “Send Note.”
How to delete an Apple Invites event
If you need to cancel your event, you can delete it by tapping on the event, then tapping on the three-dot menu in the top right corner. Tap on “Event Settings,” then scroll down and tap on “Delete Event.” Confirm you want to delete the event by tapping “Delete Event.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/how-to-use-apple-invites-to-plan-your-next-event-204503849.html?src=rss
