Apple Invites

It's always nice to see some first-party apps from Apple[0], but historically the "iPhone-only social networking" hasn't been very successful — iTunes Ping or Game Center haven't been a huge hit, while group messaging in iMessage has only gained some traction within the US and virtually non-existent almost everywhere else.

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[0] One can even say "first first-party party app" in this case :)

Fortunately you don't need everyone to be on iOS to reply. So you can send your Android using friends invited and they'll just get a weblink.

Unfortunately you need an iPhone to create the invite, or contribute anything else than a reply. They have to know their uncoolness is tolerated but not welcomed in the walled garden.

Mission Accomplished. iOS is a significantly large enough market that it will have some success for those looking to replace FB/evite.

You can say the same thing about FB/Whatsapp or any other social network - you have to be in-network to get the invite even.

Looking forward to testing this out for some events.

Most social networks don't have a $5-600 buy-in cost though.

I just spent $70 to send out birthday party invites to 40 parents on Evite. The free version sends an invite with ads, links to Amazon, and other tacky stuff. As an iPhone user with two kids switching to iCloud+ is cheaper than the alternatives. And I think many other parents will agree.

...Why?

The competition I see for this is partiful (https://partiful.com/), which is free, handles invites for folks without accounts (I don't have one, I am invited to parties via text message), and is clearly the inspiration/competition apples for this app given the visual similarities.