Apple has released its own event management app, called Invites. The app allows you to create events, send out invitations, and manage responses. It’s easy to use, and invitees don’t even need to have an Apple device to respond.

How to Create a New Event in Apple Invites

To create an event, you’ll need to download and install the Apple Invites app from the App Store. You also need an iCloud+ subscription to create a new event, although you don’t need one to respond to invitations.

Open the app and click “Create Event.” Tap “Add Background” to create a background image for the invitation. You can select one of the available backgrounds, tap “Photos” to use one of your photos as the background, or tap “Camera” to take a photo to use as the background. If you have Apple Intelligence, you can also tap “Playground” to create an original image using Image Playground.

Once you’ve selected your background, tap “Event Title” and give your event a name. Select “Date and Time” to choose the date and starting time of the event. You can make events all-day and include an end time if you wish. Tap “Location” to add the location for the event; you can search for a location from Apple Maps. Invites will automatically add the weather for that location to the event.

Tap “Add a Description” to describe what will be happening at the event, and you’ve completed all the information you need to create your event. You can add shared albums and playlists if you want, as explained below. Tap “Preview” to see how your invite will look to any recipients.

Creating a Shared Photo Album for an Event

You have the option to add a shared photo album to your event. This lets you and other invitees upload photos that are visible to everyone who receives the invite.

Tap “Create Album” and grant the app access to your photos. Change the name of the shared album if you want and tap “Done.” Tap “Add Photos” and select the photos you want to add to the album. Tap “Post” to add the photos to the shared album. When invitees receive the invite, they’ll be able to add their own photos to the shared album if they want.

Setting Up a Shared Apple Music Playlist

You can also set up a shared Apple Music playlist for your event. However, for invitees to be able to listen to the playlist in full, they’ll need to have their own Apple Music account, otherwise they can only listen to a preview of the playlist.

If you want other people to be able to collaborate on your playlist, you’ll be prompted to set up an Apple Music profile if you don’t have one already. This lets others see your shared playlists and what you’re currently listening to.

In your invite, click “Add Playlist.” You’ll need to grant access to your Apple Music account. You can then select a pre-existing playlist or tap “New Playlist” and give your playlist a name to create a new one from scratch. You’ll need to set up an Apple Music profile if you choose “Add and Collaborate” or you create a new playlist.

If you don’t want to do this, you can add a pre-existing playlist, and select “Add Playlist Only” which will mean that other people can’t edit or reorder the songs.

Adding Your Event to Your Calendar

Bizarrely, considering how integrated the Invites app is with the Apple ecosystem, your event isn’t added to your calendar app by default. You can manually create a calendar event, however.

Open your invite and tap the calendar icon at the top of the screen. You may need to grant access to your calendars if you haven’t already. Check the details of the event are accurate. You can add an alert for your event if you want one by tapping the “Alert” dropdown and selecting a time. When you’re happy with your calendar entry, tap “Add.”

How to Send Out Your Invitation

Once you’ve completed your invite, it’s time to send it out. There are two main options here; you can send out a link that anyone can use to view and respond to your invite, so invitees can share the link with others if they want. Alternatively, you can send a unique invite link to specific people, meaning that only those people you invite can respond.

If you’ve reached the point where you’ve previewed your invite, tap “Next.” If you’ve left it and come back to it, tap “Invite Guests.” To send out a public link that lets anyone with the link view your invite, you can share the link via Messages, Mail, using your iPhone’s sharing options, or by copying the link and sending it out however you want. Toggle “Approve Guests” on if you want to be able to choose who can attend from the people that respond.

You can also opt to send your invite as a one-off link that only the people you send it to can use. This ensures that you don’t have anyone you don’t invite trying to RSVP to your invite. Under “Invite Individuals,” tap “Choose a Guest.” Select someone from your contacts and choose whether to send the link via Messages, Mail, or another sharing option.

Repeat for any other contacts you want to invite. If you want to send a one-off link to someone who isn’t in your contacts, tap “New Guest.” Enter their name and tap “Send Invitation.” You can then choose how to share the unique link.

Responding to an Invitation

You can send invitations to anyone, regardless of whether they have an Apple device or not. Having an iPhone with the Invites app installed does make the process a little quicker, however.

On iPhone, when you open the invite link, you’ll be taken straight to the Invites app. Click “Open Invitation” to see the details. You can then select “Going,” “Not Going” or “Maybe” and add a note to your response if you want.

Tap “Send Reply” and the creator of the event will be notified. The creator can see a full list of the RSVPs at any time by tapping the Guest List section of the event.

If you don’t have an iPhone, you can open the invitation link in any browser. You’ll see brief details of the event. Enter your email, and you’ll be sent a code to confirm your email address, which then grants you access to the full details of the event. Click in the RSVP section and choose “Going,” “Not Going” or “Maybe.” The creator of the event will get a notification of your response, which also appears in the event in the Invites app.

Limitations of Using Apple Invites

If you’re an Apple user who already has an iCloud+ subscription for other reasons, then the Apple Invites app is a really easy way to create or respond to event invitations. If you don’t have iCloud+, you won’t be able to create events, which seems a little mean-spirited.

For Android users, the process isn’t quite as simple. You’ll need to verify your email to be able to see the event details and RSVP, and you’ll have to sign up for an Apple Account to view the shared photo album. If you don’t have an Apple Music subscription, you’ll only be able to hear a preview of the shared playlist, too.

The Apple Invites app is fine, as far as it goes. It works well for Apple users, and it’s workable for Android users even if the experience isn’t quite as frictionless. It does seem a little harsh that you can only create events if you have an iCloud+ subscription, however.

You can sign up for iCloud+ for as little as $0.99 per month for 50GB of storage, but there’s no compelling reason why Apple should restrict Invites in this way. You pay enough for your iPhone in the first place, so you’d expect to be able to use all the features of an event management app without having to pay more on top.